The Cult of the Presidency: America's Dangerous Devotion to Executive PowerCato Institute, 2008 - 367 pages The Bush years have justifiably given rise to fears of a new Imperial Presidency. Yet despite the controversy surrounding the administration's expansive claims of executive power, both Left and Right agree on the boundless nature of presidential responsibility. The Imperial Presidency is the price we seem to be willingly and dangerously agreeable to pay the office the focus of our national hopes and dreams. Interweaving historical scholarship, legal analysis, and cultural commentary, The Cult of the Presidency argues that the Presidency needs to be reined in, its powers checked and supervised, and its wartime authority put back under the oversight of the Congress and the courts. Only then will we begin to return the Presidency to its proper constitutionally limited role. |
From inside the book
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Page 8
... later , in his book Our Chief Magistrate and His Powers , Taft insisted that the president was not responsible for solving every major prob- lem in American life and should not have the power to attempt it . In one speech during the ...
... later , in his book Our Chief Magistrate and His Powers , Taft insisted that the president was not responsible for solving every major prob- lem in American life and should not have the power to attempt it . In one speech during the ...
Page 17
... later , while confess- ing that , looking at Adams , he could not help thinking “ of a monkey just put into breeches . " 13 When it came to the debate on titles , though , Maclay was deadly serious . Not only were such titles anti ...
... later , while confess- ing that , looking at Adams , he could not help thinking “ of a monkey just put into breeches . " 13 When it came to the debate on titles , though , Maclay was deadly serious . Not only were such titles anti ...
Page 18
... later wrote that Adams had acted without his knowledge and contrary to his wis- hes.1 Throughout his presidency , when Washington referred to the office he held , most often he called it the mere " chief magistrate . ' ' 18 The titles ...
... later wrote that Adams had acted without his knowledge and contrary to his wis- hes.1 Throughout his presidency , when Washington referred to the office he held , most often he called it the mere " chief magistrate . ' ' 18 The titles ...
Page 23
... later that kings were no longer to be feared ? James Wilson , the Framer with perhaps the best claim to being the architect of the presidency , took a different view . After the " considerable pause " that followed Wilson's motion for a ...
... later that kings were no longer to be feared ? James Wilson , the Framer with perhaps the best claim to being the architect of the presidency , took a different view . After the " considerable pause " that followed Wilson's motion for a ...
Page 36
... later ones , had strong legislative preferences , and tried to influence developments on Capitol Hill . Despite Washington's reticent public posture , his treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton sent requests for appropriations to ...
... later ones , had strong legislative preferences , and tried to influence developments on Capitol Hill . Despite Washington's reticent public posture , his treasury secretary Alexander Hamilton sent requests for appropriations to ...
Contents
15 | |
49 | |
79 | |
105 | |
Superman Returns | 137 |
War President | 165 |
Omnipotence and Impotence | 197 |
Why the Worst Get on Top and Get Worse | 233 |
Toward Normalcy | 267 |
Other editions - View all
The Cult of the Presidency: America's Dangerous Devotion to Executive Power Gene Healy Limited preview - 2009 |
The Cult of the Presidency: America's Dangerous Devotion to Executive Power Gene Healy Limited preview - 2009 |
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Popular passages
Page 85 - Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty.
Page 71 - I shall ask the Congress for the one remaining instrument to meet the crisis — broad executive power to wage a war against the emergency as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe.
Page 91 - Congress approves and supports the determination of the President, as Commander In Chief, to take all necessary measures to repel any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent further aggression.
Page 41 - Allow the President to invade a neighboring nation whenever he shall deem it necessary to repel an invasion, and you allow him to do so whenever he may choose to say he deems it necessary for such purpose, and you allow him to make war at pleasure.
Page 43 - Of all the enemies to public liberty war is, perhaps, the most to be dreaded, because it comprises and develops the germ of every other. War is the parent of armies ; from these proceed debts and taxes ; and armies, and debts, and taxes are the known instruments for bringing the many under the domination of the few.
Page 304 - Security against foreign danger is one of the primitive objects of civil society. It is an avowed and essential object of the American Union. The powers requisite for attaining it must be effectually confided to the federal councils.
Page 44 - That said Andrew Johnson, President of the United States, unmindful of the high duties of his office and the dignity and proprieties thereof...
Page 49 - ... as a trained and loyal army willing to sacrifice for the good of a common discipline, because without such discipline no progress is made, no leadership becomes effective.
Page 159 - Those who are to conduct a war cannot in the nature of things, be proper or safe judges, whether a war ought to be commenced, continued or concluded. They are barred from the latter functions by a great principle in free government, analogous to that which separates the sword from the purse, or the power of executing from the power of enacting laws.