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The Forces Shaping Tomorrow's America
Part 1: Lewis Powell and the Making of the Modern Supreme Court
Michael Sullivan
August 24, 2025
Hi,
This is going to sound ridiculous, but beneath the waves, a secret war is occurring. I’m not even kidding. A study found that humpback whales have interrupted over 100 orca hunts, and scientists have no idea why. Like, they are actively stopping orcas from eating their lunch. Frequently.
Anyways.
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Seattle Soundbites
As Seattle’s election season draws closer, Mayor Bruce Harrell and several other incumbents find themself facing a steep hill to climb to remain in power.
Washington officials are responding to a letter from the federal government last week that is demanding they end so-called “sanctuary jurisdiction” policies.
Momentum
Seven months into Trump’s second term, America feels monumentally different. The Overton Window hasn’t just shifted, but been ripped open and pulled in a direction many did not expect. It is easy to get lost in the individual storylines unfolding, and writing about it has been difficult. Rather than attempt to keep up with the gish gallop, I am trying something new.
Society is all about momentum. So it is important to recognize that what is happening today was first set in motion decades ago. And to understand what is happening, you first need to understand the players involved. They range from old money industry titans, Christian nationalist movements, new money tech elites, and populist forces driving the Trump administration
These groups have competing priorities, but also interests that overlap. What I’d like to attempt here is an explanation of their history, the architecture they’ve built, and how they compete and collaborate on building an America that will be far different tomorrow than ever before in our lifetime.
Part 1: Lewis Powell and the Making of the Modern Supreme Court
The transformation of America's federal judiciary from a moderate institution into the conservative majority it is today can be traced to a single memorandum written fifty-four years ago. This story connects a Virginia corporate lawyer, a student organization founded at Yale Law School, and a legal philosophy that would reshape constitutional interpretation for generations.
The Memo
Lewis F. Powell Jr. was a prominent corporate attorney representing major US business interests, including serving as a board member for Big Tobacco company Philip Morris from 1964 to 1971; a time period when Big Tobacco was under immense scrutiny after research proved cigarettes were indeed causing lung cancer.
On August 23, 1971, Powell penned a confidential 6,400-word memo to the chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The memo was written in response to what he and the corporations he represented saw as a rapidly changing America in the 60s and 70s. Powell saw a country that was becoming too progressive, too liberal, and too anti-big-business. Capitalism and profit were under assault.
Titled "Attack on the American Free Enterprise System" the Powell Memo was a call for corporate America to organize against what they saw as a threat to pure, free market capitalism. In his memo, Powell identified threats that you will see mentioned in this series several times over: the college campus, the media, intellectual and literary journals, politicians, and the judiciary.
Just two months later, President Nixon would nominate Powell to the Supreme Court, where he would serve for fifteen years. But it was this secret memo that would prove to be Powell's most consequential contribution to shaping the trajectory of America.
The vision laid out in Powell’s memo was not a strategy that would be achieved in one lifetime. Rather, it was a long term play, targeting all aspects of society where he believed conservative free market principles lacked advocates.