“Imperial Presidency” Arthur Schlesinger

A Dangerous Precedent Nixon: A Revolutionary Presidency? Constitutional President has become the Imperial Presidency, and threatens to be the Revolutionary President. (221) Shift in Const Balance President has appropriated power “reserved by the Constitution and “long historical practice to Congress.” (222)

A New Presidency? Basis of Expanded Presidential Power: Power to go to War Forces promoting Presidential power were both foreign and domestic, but real sources was foreign policy, presidential power to go to war… Emergency, or a crisis invited expansion of presidential power… (222)

A New Presidency? Conditions Creating Imperial President: Followed from Power in Foreign Policy “A combination of doctrines and emotions – belief in permanent and universal crisis – Specifically: 1) Fear of communism 2) Interventionist foreign policy (leader of free world) 3) Bi-polar war: Cold War

A New Presidency? Historical Pre-Conditions: FDR, Truman FDR: WWII, Truman: Korean War, Steel Seizure, for example. Factors that Enabled Modern Presidents to Become so Powerful 1) Decay of Parties 2) Rise of candidate-centered campaigns 3) Changes in the Economy 4) Rise of Nuclear Age (Cuban Missile Crisis)

A New Presidency? Historical Pre-Conditions: LBJ, Nixon LBJ: Denied reality for a long time about Vietnam, but it finally broke through, forcing him to accept unpleasant truths. Nixon: “displayed more monarchical yearnings than any of his predecessors”… Nixon centralized White House operations, and consequently isolated himself, surrounded himself with supporters

A New Presidency? Nixon: A New Balance of Power: New American Revolution Nixon’s power grab: 1) Appropriation of war-making powers 2) Unilateral determination of social priorities 3) Abolishment of statutory programs 4) Enlargement of executive privilege attacks on press Taken together, Nixon was heading to a “new balance of constitutional powers…a reconstruction of the American Constitution.” (225)

A New Presidency? Nixon: A New Balance of Power: New American Revolution Nixon and Secrecy (226) Secrecy offered the government three things: 1) Power to withhold 2) Power to leak 3) Power to lie

A New Presidency? Nixon and Secrecy (226) Power to withhold Held out the possibility that of “denying the public the knowledge…[needed] for an independent judgment on executive policy.” (226) Power to leak Power to spin the story however the White House desired. Power to lie Together this made it easy to lie.

The Trump Presidency? How might apply to the Trump administration? Power to withhold Held out the possibility that of “denying the public the knowledge…[needed] for an independent judgment on executive policy.” (226) Power to leak Power to spin the story however the White House desired. Power to lie Together this made it easy to lie.