The Imperial Presidency
Encyclopedia
The Imperial Presidency by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. was written in 1973.
This book details the history of the Presidency of the United States
from its conception by the Constitutional Founders
, through the late twentieth century. The author wrote the Imperial Presidency out of two concerns; first that the US Presidency was out of control and second that the Presidency had exceeded the Constitutional limits. A presidency becomes imperial when it relies on powers beyond those allowed by the Constitution. The Constitution established three separate branches of government not for efficiency but to avoid the arbitrary exercise of power. The government outlined by the Constitution was to replace and improve upon the imperial executive government of British King George III. The book links the President’s accumulation of foreign powers during wartimes to the accretion of domestic powers.
The Constitution
and its authors determined that the power to initiate a war belonged to the Congress
. The President had the responsibility to conduct ongoing wars and ongoing foreign relations and respond to sudden attacks if the Congress was not in session. As the United States of America became a great world power, and then a superpower, the Presidency acquired more war powers despite the Constitution. This reduced the Congress’ powers and the separation of powers
, which is necessary to avoid the arbitrary use of power.
Through various means, Presidents subsequently acquired powers beyond the limits of the Constitution. The daily accountability of the President to the Congress, the courts, the press and the people has been replaced by an accountability of once each four years during an election. These changes have occurred slowly over the centuries so that that which appears normal differs greatly from what was the original state of America.
unilaterally determined that the new American Republic was neutral in the war between Britain
and France
during the French Revolutionary Wars
. Alexander Hamilton
supported this action while Thomas Jefferson
and James Madison
objected. The proclamation prohibited American citizens from assisting either Britain or France
. However, grand juries refused to enforce this proclamation.
In 1846, to annex Texas
, President James K. Polk
sent troops between Texas and Mexico
, provoking a war. Polk then manipulated Congress to recognizing a state of war. Congressman Abraham Lincoln
stated if this was allowed then a President could arbitrarily make war just as monarchs do, and that the Constitutional Convention
recognized that war-making power must not be in the hands of one man.
During the American Civil War
, Lincoln assumed war powers as commander-in-chief
of the military however he made no claim that the Constitution allowed him these powers. Without Congressional authorization, Lincoln unilaterally expanded the military, suspended habeas corpus
, arrested citizens, proclaimed martial law, seized property, censored newspapers, and emancipated slaves. Lincoln justified these actions to preserve the country rather than the Constitution. However he stated that these Presidential war powers would cease to exist once the national emergency, the Civil War ended.
After the Civil War, in 1866, the Supreme Court
asserted that the Constitution was the
law of the land in war and peace and that government powers can not exceed those granted by the Constitution. In 1867, the Supreme Court stated that the President must carry out the law and could not break the law. Presidential power was deflated following the Civil War.
With the Spanish American War, in 1898, the United States of America became a great power and also Presidential power expanded. In 1900, President William McKinley
sent 5000 troops to China
(see Boxer Rebellion
) for political purposes without Congressional approval.
sent troops into many Caribbean countries, and established new governments in several without Congressional approval. This included actions in Colombia
, Panama
, Honduras
, Dominican Republic
and Cuba
. See List of United States military history events.
In 1927, President Calvin Coolidge
sent 5000 troops to Nicaragua
without Congressional approval. He was considered a strict constructionist in other matters.
In 1939, after the start of World War II
in Europe
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
declared a limited national emergency. The concept of limited national emergency seems to rest on implied and assumed powers of the President and the assertion of it by the President. On May 27, 1941, Roosevelt had determined that the nation was in a state of unlimited national emergency. Congress ended the national emergency in 1947, two years after the end of World War II. National Emergency powers are defined as “the President may seize property, organize and control the means of production, seize commodities, assign military forces abroad, institute martial law, seize and control all transportation and communication, regulate the operation of private enterprise, restrict travel, and, in a variety of ways, control the lives of United States citizens.” See Congressional Research Service Reports 98-505.
In 1942, Roosevelt threatened Congress that if a provision of the Emergency Price Control Act were not repealed within three weeks that he would block its implementation. World War II was used to justify this threat. Like Lincoln, he added that when the war ended, the war powers would return to the people. Congress repealed the provision and the threat was not acted upon.
Over the history of the US, a pattern emerged that the President assumed greater powers during the emergency. After the emergency had passed, then Congress would assert itself. This occurred after the Civil War and World War I
but after World War II Congress did not assert itself as much because of the Cold War
. In 1946 Democratic President Harry S. Truman
wanted the Republican
Congress to approve aid to Greece
and Turkey
. He found that by turning a reasonable program into the Truman Doctrine
and exaggerating the issue, he got the appropriation.
without Congressional approval. In 1952, Truman feared a national strike by the steel industry would impair the military’s ability to fight the Korean War. He ordered the Secretary of Commerce to seize and operate the steel mills without Congressional approval. The Supreme Court found the actions unconstitutional. The majority of justices stated that the Commander-in-Chief clause of the Constitution did not apply to domestic matters and that the President must comply with existing laws on this matter.
By 1952, Truman increased the Armed Services to 3.6 million and that by itself resulted in an increase in presidential power. Before this only Lincoln had increased the Army without Congressional approval. The addition of 50 treaties increased presidential responsibilities and power in the 1950s. The Central Intelligence Agency
(CIA) under the direction of the President overthrew the governments of Iran
(1953), Guatemala
(1954). The CIA attempted but failed to overthrow the government of Indonesia
. The CIA installed new governments in Egypt
(1954) and Laos
(1959). Also the CIA organized Cuban refugee to overthrow the Cuban government (1960–1961). The Presidency’s control of foreign policy vastly increased while constitutional separation of powers decreased. In the decade after the Korean War, most liberal and conservative members of Congress agreed on Presidential control of foreign policy.
The Cuban Missile Crisis
showed that independent and unilateral presidential action in extreme circumstances is at times required. However this was a unique situation of threat and secrecy in the nuclear age and should not have been used to justify the imperial Presidency.
In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson
sent 22,000 troops to the Dominican Republic
without Congressional approval. The same year he sent combat troops for the first time into Vietnam
. This war lasted the longest in US history and resulted in the fourth largest number of US deaths after the Civil War and the two World Wars. The Tonkin Gulf resolution authorized the President to use the military, as he required. This was transfer of war powers from the Congress to the President. Lincoln believed that if the President could bring the country to war then he held the power of a king. In 1970, President Richard Nixon
ordered the invasion of Cambodia
, without Congressional approval. By 1971, the Tonkin Gulf resolution was revoked by Congress. However the Vietnam War
continued solely due to Nixon’s authority. Nixon claimed war powers as Commander-in-Chief of the military. Before Lincoln that title only indicated the topmost officer of the armed forces. Lincoln used it for greater authority and so could future Presidents in the event of a civil war. Nixon justified his authority to order the invasion of Cambodia
with his Commander-in-Chief title.
and Laos
were neutral countries, but were being used as a base of operations by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong. Laos was unilaterally and secretly bombed from 1964 to 1973. In 1971, Congress passed an amendment to the defense-spending bill to terminate all military operations in
Indochina
(Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam) and Nixon signed it but he continued the Indochina War. Under Nixon Congress had no war powers. By 1971, Congress discovered seven secret bases, and 32,000 troops in Thailand
. Nixon had made defense agreements with Thailand and the Federal Government was secretly funding the Ethiopian Army, all without Congress’ knowledge or approval. The Constitution requires 2/3 Senate
approval of treaties before they become law.
The imperial Presidency was created in response to foreign policy issues. This resulted in the exclusion of the Congress, the press, the public and the Constitution in foreign policy decisions. Once established, the imperial Presidency then expanded into domestic issues. Starting in 1947, Presidential power over the federal budget with slight modifications by Congress gave the President important controls over the economy and social priorities. Strong Presidents should have strong-minded advisors.
Nixon dismissed the opinions of the public, the press, and foreign nations. He used price controls, tax relief, and subsides, tariffs, import quotas and fiscal policy to manage the economy. These economic powers were used to reward economic sectors that supported his actions and punish those sectors that opposed his actions. Rather than veto Congressional legislation that he opposed,
he would impound the funds. The only option the Constitution allows if President opposes a law is the veto. The Constitution empowers the Congress to determine the level of spending, not the President. The President is not allowed to selectively enforce laws, which Nixon did.
Nixon's Presidential model resembled the plebiscitary Presidency. Plebiscitary democracy is defined as where a leader is elected but once elected has almost all of the power. See Bush's Plebiscitary Presidency Another explanation of the Nixon model would be a personal dictatorship or an elective kingship under the Constitution
where the President represents the democratic majority and any opposition is considered antidemocratic. Public responses are limited to voting during elections.
In 1970, Nixon authorized investigating peaceful protesters but found nothing. Agents of the Treasury Dept. went to public libraries to examine the book borrowing records of citizens. Breaking and entering was authorized by Nixon to investigate suspects. The National Security Agency was authorized to monitor conversations of citizens making international phone calls.
Citizens’ letters were opened and copied. Nixon authorized his own private outfit, which burglarized, wiretapped, bugged, and used secret agents and political blackmail contrary to the laws and Constitution. The Watergate scandal was the most public part of these activities.
Nixon claimed that the President was not required to obey certain laws. He nearly succeeded but for the actions of hardline opponents. The courts, the press, executive agencies, and Congress cannot take credit for blocking the imperial presidency however they benefited from less powerful Presidency. Blocking the imperial presidency did not change the conditions that made it possible.
Schlesinger writes, “The weight of messianic
globalism
was indeed proving too much for the American Constitution. If this policy were vital to American survival, then a way would have to be found to make it constitutional; perhaps the Constitution itself would have to be revised. In fact, the policy of indiscriminate global intervention
, far from strengthening American security, seemed rather to weaken it by involving the United States in remote, costly and mysterious wars, fought in ways that shamed the nation before the world and, even when thus fought, demonstrating only the inability of the most powerful nation on earth to subdue bands of guerrillas in black pajamas. When the grandiose policy did not promote national security and could not succeed in its own terms, would it not be better to pursue policies that did not deform and disable the Constitution?” on page 299.
Congress and the President should reduce US interests abroad and lower military spending. This would lower the pressure on the national government and allow Congress to act. Only two requirements would be needed to resolve the
situation. First, the President must report to Congress immediately with all information and justification when troops were sent into battle and continue while reporting during the conflict.
Second, a joint declaration by Congress at anytime can terminate the conflict. Another option during peacetimes is allowing Congress to control troops overseas. The history of US war-making in the 20th century suggested that it was a shared power between the President and the Congress.
The CIA is exempt from Congressional oversight and spending rules and regulations. If Congress wished to bring the CIA under control, it could prohibit covert operations except during wartime.
National emergency powers allow the President unilaterally to control any business activity or person within the country. Once a national emergency is proclaimed, it should get Congressional approval within 30 days if it is to remain in effect. A joint resolution of Congress should be able to cancel a national emergency. The national emergency power can only be used when the nation is at risk of being lost. Only the Civil War, WWII and possibly the Cuban Missile Crisis qualify as true national emergencies. The national emergencies claimed by Jefferson, Truman and Nixon do not meet this standard.
Foreign policy conducted by the President only is self-defeating if the people do not support it. If the Congress does not understand the foreign policy neither will the people.
Presidential secrecy can be justified with either claims of national security or executive privilege. These claims do not rely on statues but they do depend on unchecked executive judgment. National security claims were developed from the classification of documents. Executive privilege claims were originally used by the President to protect personal communications from Congress.
As early as 1795 the following pattern recurred. First the President kept some facts secret when facing difficult foreign policy decisions. A citizen discovered these facts and felt it was their duty to make these facts public. A member of the free press then would disclose the facts. By the 1950s, Congress was at odds with the military over secrecy. Reports on bows and arrows, shark repellent, and monkeys in outer space were classified secrets
. In 1966, a secret CIA memo complained that the publication of classified secrets could be successfully defended with the ‘public had a right to know’ argument. By 1972 some newspaper clippings were deemed to be secret.
Secrecy appeals to leaders of nation that value openness and accountability. The power to withhold, leak and lie about information seems fleeting when the information is publicly revealed. ‘If you only know what we know’ remarks are temping for officials. The power to withhold and leak leads to the power to lie. Examples of this were found in President Eisenhower CIA actions, President Kennedy’s Bay of Pigs and Vietnam actions, President Johnson’s Vietnam operations, and President Nixon’s Cambodia bombing. Between 1965 and 1975, the number of US citizens that believed their government was lying had greatly increased due to the government’s secrecy system. Perhaps the US would have benefited from leaks about the CIA in the fifties, the Bay of Pigs operation, war crimes in Vietnam, and wars in Laos and Cambodia by avoiding these disasters.
Congressional members often prefer to be poorly informed to avoid responsibility and accountability for foreign policies. Although many are shocked when secret foreign policy documents are revealed, the information was often previously published. Congress could be better informed if it wished.
The revolutionary transformation to the plebiscitary Presidency is a Presidency that is accountable only during elections or impeachment rather than daily to the Congress, the press and the public. Plebiscitary democracy is defined as where a leader is elected but once elected has almost all of the power. See Bush's Plebiscitary Presidency The plebiscitary President would govern by decrees such as executive orders.
The Nixon administration was unique in the extent of probable criminal offences it committed. Burglary, forgery, illegal wiretapping and electronic surveillance, perjury, obstruction of justice, destruction of evidence, tampering with witnesses, giving and taking bribes, and conspiracy to involve government agencies in illegal actions. Nixon denied knowledge about these actions. Nevertheless he was found officially responsible for these actions.
In an effort to rein in the imperial Presidency, Senator Sam Ervin of North Carolina proposed that Congress have the ability to veto executive agreements within sixty days. Executive agreements are used by Presidents to make international arrangements without involving Congress. If enacted it would change the balance of power between the Presidency and Congress as well as affecting foreign policy decisions.
A balance of power can be achieved when all great decisions are shared decisions. Although shared decisions may often be wise, they are always democratic. Great Presidents understood that their rule required the consent of the Congress, the press, and the public.
President Nixon's errors resulted in the expansion and abuse of Presidential power. If future Presidents govern by decree then impeachment would be necessary to rein in the Presidency and support the Constitution. With a constitutional Presidency, any actions by a President’s administration that are illegal or unconstitutional must be exposed and punished. Schlesinger writes “A constitutional Presidency, as the great Presidents had shown, could be very strong Presidency indeed. But what kept a strong President constitutional, in addition to checks and balances incorporated within his own breast, was the vigilance of the nation. Neither impeachment nor repentance would make much difference if the people themselves had come to an unconscious acceptance of the imperial Presidency. The Constitution could not hold the nation to ideals it was determined to betray.”
This book details the history of the Presidency of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
from its conception by the Constitutional Founders
Founding Fathers of the United States
The Founding Fathers of the United States of America were political leaders and statesmen who participated in the American Revolution by signing the United States Declaration of Independence, taking part in the American Revolutionary War, establishing the United States Constitution, or by some...
, through the late twentieth century. The author wrote the Imperial Presidency out of two concerns; first that the US Presidency was out of control and second that the Presidency had exceeded the Constitutional limits. A presidency becomes imperial when it relies on powers beyond those allowed by the Constitution. The Constitution established three separate branches of government not for efficiency but to avoid the arbitrary exercise of power. The government outlined by the Constitution was to replace and improve upon the imperial executive government of British King George III. The book links the President’s accumulation of foreign powers during wartimes to the accretion of domestic powers.
The Constitution
United States Constitution
The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
and its authors determined that the power to initiate a war belonged to the Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
. The President had the responsibility to conduct ongoing wars and ongoing foreign relations and respond to sudden attacks if the Congress was not in session. As the United States of America became a great world power, and then a superpower, the Presidency acquired more war powers despite the Constitution. This reduced the Congress’ powers and the separation of powers
Separation of powers
The separation of powers, often imprecisely used interchangeably with the trias politica principle, is a model for the governance of a state. The model was first developed in ancient Greece and came into widespread use by the Roman Republic as part of the unmodified Constitution of the Roman Republic...
, which is necessary to avoid the arbitrary use of power.
Through various means, Presidents subsequently acquired powers beyond the limits of the Constitution. The daily accountability of the President to the Congress, the courts, the press and the people has been replaced by an accountability of once each four years during an election. These changes have occurred slowly over the centuries so that that which appears normal differs greatly from what was the original state of America.
1793 - 1896
In 1793, President George WashingtonGeorge Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
unilaterally determined that the new American Republic was neutral in the war between Britain
Kingdom of Great Britain
The former Kingdom of Great Britain, sometimes described as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain', That the Two Kingdoms of Scotland and England, shall upon the 1st May next ensuing the date hereof, and forever after, be United into One Kingdom by the Name of GREAT BRITAIN. was a sovereign...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
during the French Revolutionary Wars
French Revolutionary Wars
The French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
. Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton was a Founding Father, soldier, economist, political philosopher, one of America's first constitutional lawyers and the first United States Secretary of the Treasury...
supported this action while Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
and James Madison
James Madison
James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...
objected. The proclamation prohibited American citizens from assisting either Britain or France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. However, grand juries refused to enforce this proclamation.
In 1846, to annex Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, President James K. Polk
James K. Polk
James Knox Polk was the 11th President of the United States . Polk was born in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. He later lived in and represented Tennessee. A Democrat, Polk served as the 17th Speaker of the House of Representatives and the 12th Governor of Tennessee...
sent troops between Texas and Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, provoking a war. Polk then manipulated Congress to recognizing a state of war. Congressman Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
stated if this was allowed then a President could arbitrarily make war just as monarchs do, and that the Constitutional Convention
Philadelphia Convention
The Constitutional Convention took place from May 14 to September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to address problems in governing the United States of America, which had been operating under the Articles of Confederation following independence from...
recognized that war-making power must not be in the hands of one man.
During the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Lincoln assumed war powers as commander-in-chief
Commander-in-Chief
A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...
of the military however he made no claim that the Constitution allowed him these powers. Without Congressional authorization, Lincoln unilaterally expanded the military, suspended habeas corpus
Habeas corpus
is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...
, arrested citizens, proclaimed martial law, seized property, censored newspapers, and emancipated slaves. Lincoln justified these actions to preserve the country rather than the Constitution. However he stated that these Presidential war powers would cease to exist once the national emergency, the Civil War ended.
After the Civil War, in 1866, the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
asserted that the Constitution was the
law of the land in war and peace and that government powers can not exceed those granted by the Constitution. In 1867, the Supreme Court stated that the President must carry out the law and could not break the law. Presidential power was deflated following the Civil War.
With the Spanish American War, in 1898, the United States of America became a great power and also Presidential power expanded. In 1900, President William McKinley
William McKinley
William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
sent 5000 troops to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
(see Boxer Rebellion
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, also called the Boxer Uprising by some historians or the Righteous Harmony Society Movement in northern China, was a proto-nationalist movement by the "Righteous Harmony Society" , or "Righteous Fists of Harmony" or "Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists" , in China between...
) for political purposes without Congressional approval.
1900 - 1949
President Theodore RooseveltTheodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
sent troops into many Caribbean countries, and established new governments in several without Congressional approval. This included actions in Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, Honduras
Honduras
Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...
, Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
and Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. See List of United States military history events.
In 1927, President Calvin Coolidge
Calvin Coolidge
John Calvin Coolidge, Jr. was the 30th President of the United States . A Republican lawyer from Vermont, Coolidge worked his way up the ladder of Massachusetts state politics, eventually becoming governor of that state...
sent 5000 troops to Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
without Congressional approval. He was considered a strict constructionist in other matters.
In 1939, after the start of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
declared a limited national emergency. The concept of limited national emergency seems to rest on implied and assumed powers of the President and the assertion of it by the President. On May 27, 1941, Roosevelt had determined that the nation was in a state of unlimited national emergency. Congress ended the national emergency in 1947, two years after the end of World War II. National Emergency powers are defined as “the President may seize property, organize and control the means of production, seize commodities, assign military forces abroad, institute martial law, seize and control all transportation and communication, regulate the operation of private enterprise, restrict travel, and, in a variety of ways, control the lives of United States citizens.” See Congressional Research Service Reports 98-505.
In 1942, Roosevelt threatened Congress that if a provision of the Emergency Price Control Act were not repealed within three weeks that he would block its implementation. World War II was used to justify this threat. Like Lincoln, he added that when the war ended, the war powers would return to the people. Congress repealed the provision and the threat was not acted upon.
Over the history of the US, a pattern emerged that the President assumed greater powers during the emergency. After the emergency had passed, then Congress would assert itself. This occurred after the Civil War and World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
but after World War II Congress did not assert itself as much because of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
. In 1946 Democratic President Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his...
wanted the Republican
Congress to approve aid to Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. He found that by turning a reasonable program into the Truman Doctrine
Truman Doctrine
The Truman Doctrine was a policy set forth by U.S. President Harry S Truman in a speech on March 12, 1947 stating that the U.S. would support Greece and Turkey with economic and military aid to prevent their falling into the Soviet sphere...
and exaggerating the issue, he got the appropriation.
1950 - 1964
In 1950, Truman had sent troops to the Korean WarKorean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
without Congressional approval. In 1952, Truman feared a national strike by the steel industry would impair the military’s ability to fight the Korean War. He ordered the Secretary of Commerce to seize and operate the steel mills without Congressional approval. The Supreme Court found the actions unconstitutional. The majority of justices stated that the Commander-in-Chief clause of the Constitution did not apply to domestic matters and that the President must comply with existing laws on this matter.
By 1952, Truman increased the Armed Services to 3.6 million and that by itself resulted in an increase in presidential power. Before this only Lincoln had increased the Army without Congressional approval. The addition of 50 treaties increased presidential responsibilities and power in the 1950s. The Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
(CIA) under the direction of the President overthrew the governments of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
(1953), Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
(1954). The CIA attempted but failed to overthrow the government of Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
. The CIA installed new governments in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
(1954) and Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
(1959). Also the CIA organized Cuban refugee to overthrow the Cuban government (1960–1961). The Presidency’s control of foreign policy vastly increased while constitutional separation of powers decreased. In the decade after the Korean War, most liberal and conservative members of Congress agreed on Presidential control of foreign policy.
The Cuban Missile Crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
showed that independent and unilateral presidential action in extreme circumstances is at times required. However this was a unique situation of threat and secrecy in the nuclear age and should not have been used to justify the imperial Presidency.
In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
sent 22,000 troops to the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
without Congressional approval. The same year he sent combat troops for the first time into Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
. This war lasted the longest in US history and resulted in the fourth largest number of US deaths after the Civil War and the two World Wars. The Tonkin Gulf resolution authorized the President to use the military, as he required. This was transfer of war powers from the Congress to the President. Lincoln believed that if the President could bring the country to war then he held the power of a king. In 1970, President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
ordered the invasion of Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, without Congressional approval. By 1971, the Tonkin Gulf resolution was revoked by Congress. However the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
continued solely due to Nixon’s authority. Nixon claimed war powers as Commander-in-Chief of the military. Before Lincoln that title only indicated the topmost officer of the armed forces. Lincoln used it for greater authority and so could future Presidents in the event of a civil war. Nixon justified his authority to order the invasion of Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
with his Commander-in-Chief title.
1965 - 1973
CambodiaCambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
and Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
were neutral countries, but were being used as a base of operations by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong. Laos was unilaterally and secretly bombed from 1964 to 1973. In 1971, Congress passed an amendment to the defense-spending bill to terminate all military operations in
Indochina
Indochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
(Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam) and Nixon signed it but he continued the Indochina War. Under Nixon Congress had no war powers. By 1971, Congress discovered seven secret bases, and 32,000 troops in Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
. Nixon had made defense agreements with Thailand and the Federal Government was secretly funding the Ethiopian Army, all without Congress’ knowledge or approval. The Constitution requires 2/3 Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
approval of treaties before they become law.
The imperial Presidency was created in response to foreign policy issues. This resulted in the exclusion of the Congress, the press, the public and the Constitution in foreign policy decisions. Once established, the imperial Presidency then expanded into domestic issues. Starting in 1947, Presidential power over the federal budget with slight modifications by Congress gave the President important controls over the economy and social priorities. Strong Presidents should have strong-minded advisors.
Nixon dismissed the opinions of the public, the press, and foreign nations. He used price controls, tax relief, and subsides, tariffs, import quotas and fiscal policy to manage the economy. These economic powers were used to reward economic sectors that supported his actions and punish those sectors that opposed his actions. Rather than veto Congressional legislation that he opposed,
he would impound the funds. The only option the Constitution allows if President opposes a law is the veto. The Constitution empowers the Congress to determine the level of spending, not the President. The President is not allowed to selectively enforce laws, which Nixon did.
Nixon's Presidential model resembled the plebiscitary Presidency. Plebiscitary democracy is defined as where a leader is elected but once elected has almost all of the power. See Bush's Plebiscitary Presidency Another explanation of the Nixon model would be a personal dictatorship or an elective kingship under the Constitution
where the President represents the democratic majority and any opposition is considered antidemocratic. Public responses are limited to voting during elections.
In 1970, Nixon authorized investigating peaceful protesters but found nothing. Agents of the Treasury Dept. went to public libraries to examine the book borrowing records of citizens. Breaking and entering was authorized by Nixon to investigate suspects. The National Security Agency was authorized to monitor conversations of citizens making international phone calls.
Citizens’ letters were opened and copied. Nixon authorized his own private outfit, which burglarized, wiretapped, bugged, and used secret agents and political blackmail contrary to the laws and Constitution. The Watergate scandal was the most public part of these activities.
Nixon claimed that the President was not required to obey certain laws. He nearly succeeded but for the actions of hardline opponents. The courts, the press, executive agencies, and Congress cannot take credit for blocking the imperial presidency however they benefited from less powerful Presidency. Blocking the imperial presidency did not change the conditions that made it possible.
Problems and solutions
Foreign policy challenges the separation of powers. The Presidency reigns supreme in foreign policy. That one person should not commit the nation to war nor continue a war is valid and Constitutional. However usually those raising Constitutional questions do so for political reasons.Schlesinger writes, “The weight of messianic
Messianic democracy
Messianic democracy is a neologism originally used by Jacob Talmon is his book The Origins of Totalitarian Democracy to describe the "democracy by force" doctrines of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and its philosophical descendants, as an effective tyranny that demotes democratic principle to rhetorical...
globalism
Globalism
Globalism can have at least two different and opposing meanings. One meaning is the attitude or policy of placing the interests of the entire world above those of individual nations...
was indeed proving too much for the American Constitution. If this policy were vital to American survival, then a way would have to be found to make it constitutional; perhaps the Constitution itself would have to be revised. In fact, the policy of indiscriminate global intervention
Interventionism (politics)
Interventionism is a term for a policy of non-defensive activity undertaken by a nation-state, or other geo-political jurisdiction of a lesser or greater nature, to manipulate an economy or society...
, far from strengthening American security, seemed rather to weaken it by involving the United States in remote, costly and mysterious wars, fought in ways that shamed the nation before the world and, even when thus fought, demonstrating only the inability of the most powerful nation on earth to subdue bands of guerrillas in black pajamas. When the grandiose policy did not promote national security and could not succeed in its own terms, would it not be better to pursue policies that did not deform and disable the Constitution?” on page 299.
Congress and the President should reduce US interests abroad and lower military spending. This would lower the pressure on the national government and allow Congress to act. Only two requirements would be needed to resolve the
situation. First, the President must report to Congress immediately with all information and justification when troops were sent into battle and continue while reporting during the conflict.
Second, a joint declaration by Congress at anytime can terminate the conflict. Another option during peacetimes is allowing Congress to control troops overseas. The history of US war-making in the 20th century suggested that it was a shared power between the President and the Congress.
The CIA is exempt from Congressional oversight and spending rules and regulations. If Congress wished to bring the CIA under control, it could prohibit covert operations except during wartime.
National emergency powers allow the President unilaterally to control any business activity or person within the country. Once a national emergency is proclaimed, it should get Congressional approval within 30 days if it is to remain in effect. A joint resolution of Congress should be able to cancel a national emergency. The national emergency power can only be used when the nation is at risk of being lost. Only the Civil War, WWII and possibly the Cuban Missile Crisis qualify as true national emergencies. The national emergencies claimed by Jefferson, Truman and Nixon do not meet this standard.
Foreign policy conducted by the President only is self-defeating if the people do not support it. If the Congress does not understand the foreign policy neither will the people.
Presidential secrecy can be justified with either claims of national security or executive privilege. These claims do not rely on statues but they do depend on unchecked executive judgment. National security claims were developed from the classification of documents. Executive privilege claims were originally used by the President to protect personal communications from Congress.
As early as 1795 the following pattern recurred. First the President kept some facts secret when facing difficult foreign policy decisions. A citizen discovered these facts and felt it was their duty to make these facts public. A member of the free press then would disclose the facts. By the 1950s, Congress was at odds with the military over secrecy. Reports on bows and arrows, shark repellent, and monkeys in outer space were classified secrets
Classified information in the United States
The United States government classification system is currently established under Executive Order 13526, the latest in a long series of executive orders on the topic. Issued by President Barack Obama in 2009, Executive Order 13526 replaced earlier executive orders on the topic and modified the...
. In 1966, a secret CIA memo complained that the publication of classified secrets could be successfully defended with the ‘public had a right to know’ argument. By 1972 some newspaper clippings were deemed to be secret.
Secrecy appeals to leaders of nation that value openness and accountability. The power to withhold, leak and lie about information seems fleeting when the information is publicly revealed. ‘If you only know what we know’ remarks are temping for officials. The power to withhold and leak leads to the power to lie. Examples of this were found in President Eisenhower CIA actions, President Kennedy’s Bay of Pigs and Vietnam actions, President Johnson’s Vietnam operations, and President Nixon’s Cambodia bombing. Between 1965 and 1975, the number of US citizens that believed their government was lying had greatly increased due to the government’s secrecy system. Perhaps the US would have benefited from leaks about the CIA in the fifties, the Bay of Pigs operation, war crimes in Vietnam, and wars in Laos and Cambodia by avoiding these disasters.
Congressional members often prefer to be poorly informed to avoid responsibility and accountability for foreign policies. Although many are shocked when secret foreign policy documents are revealed, the information was often previously published. Congress could be better informed if it wished.
The revolutionary transformation to the plebiscitary Presidency is a Presidency that is accountable only during elections or impeachment rather than daily to the Congress, the press and the public. Plebiscitary democracy is defined as where a leader is elected but once elected has almost all of the power. See Bush's Plebiscitary Presidency The plebiscitary President would govern by decrees such as executive orders.
The Nixon administration was unique in the extent of probable criminal offences it committed. Burglary, forgery, illegal wiretapping and electronic surveillance, perjury, obstruction of justice, destruction of evidence, tampering with witnesses, giving and taking bribes, and conspiracy to involve government agencies in illegal actions. Nixon denied knowledge about these actions. Nevertheless he was found officially responsible for these actions.
In an effort to rein in the imperial Presidency, Senator Sam Ervin of North Carolina proposed that Congress have the ability to veto executive agreements within sixty days. Executive agreements are used by Presidents to make international arrangements without involving Congress. If enacted it would change the balance of power between the Presidency and Congress as well as affecting foreign policy decisions.
A balance of power can be achieved when all great decisions are shared decisions. Although shared decisions may often be wise, they are always democratic. Great Presidents understood that their rule required the consent of the Congress, the press, and the public.
President Nixon's errors resulted in the expansion and abuse of Presidential power. If future Presidents govern by decree then impeachment would be necessary to rein in the Presidency and support the Constitution. With a constitutional Presidency, any actions by a President’s administration that are illegal or unconstitutional must be exposed and punished. Schlesinger writes “A constitutional Presidency, as the great Presidents had shown, could be very strong Presidency indeed. But what kept a strong President constitutional, in addition to checks and balances incorporated within his own breast, was the vigilance of the nation. Neither impeachment nor repentance would make much difference if the people themselves had come to an unconscious acceptance of the imperial Presidency. The Constitution could not hold the nation to ideals it was determined to betray.”
See also
- Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.
- Commander-in-ChiefCommander-in-ChiefA commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...
- Constitutional lawConstitutional lawConstitutional law is the body of law which defines the relationship of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the legislature and the judiciary....
- Constitution ProjectConstitution ProjectThe Constitution Project is an non-profit think tank in the United States that builds bipartisan consensus on significant constitutional and legal questions. Founded and led by Virginia Sloan, the Constitution Project’s work is divided between two programs: the Rule of Law Program and the Criminal...
- Executive branch
- Fourth branch of governmentFourth branch of governmentIn the American political system, the fourth branch of government refers to a group that influences the three branches of governance defined in the American Constitution . Such groups can include the press , the people, and interest groups. U.S...
- Imperial PresidencyImperial PresidencyImperial Presidency is a term that became popular in the 1960s and that served as the title of a 1973 volume by historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. to describe the modern presidency of the United States...
- Signing statementSigning statementA signing statement is a written pronouncement issued by the President of the United States upon the signing of a bill into law. They are usually printed along with the bill in United States Code Congressional and Administrative News ....
- Separation of powers under the United States ConstitutionSeparation of powers under the United States ConstitutionSeparation of powers is a political doctrine originating from the United States Constitution, according to which the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the United States government are kept distinct in order to prevent abuse of power. This U.S...
- Unitary executive theoryUnitary executive theoryThe unitary executive theory is a theory of American constitutional law holding that the President controls the entire executive branch. The doctrine is based upon Article Two of the United States Constitution, which vests "the executive power" of the United States in the President.Although that...
- United States constitutional lawUnited States constitutional lawUnited States constitutional law is the body of law governing the interpretation and implementation of the United States Constitution.- Introduction :United States constitutional law defines the scope and application of the terms of the Constitution...
- War Powers ClauseWar Powers ClauseArticle I, Section 8, Clause 11 of the United States Constitution, sometimes referred to as the War Powers Clause, vests in the Congress the power to declare war, in the following wording:...
Further reading
- Reining in the Imperial Presidency: Lessons and Recommendations Relating to the Presidency of George W. Bush House Committee on the Judiciary January 13, 2009
- Takeover: The Return of the Imperial Presidency and the Subversion of American Democracy by Charlie Savage Amazon Books
- The Imperial Presidency By Arthur Meier Schlesinger Amazon Books
- The Imperial Presidency By Arthur Meier Schlesinger Google Books
- The Imperial Presidency By Senator Gary Hart January 18, 2010, Huffington Post
- The New Imperial Presidency: Renewing Presidential Power after Watergate by Andrew Rudalevige Amazon Books
- The New Imperial Presidency: Renewing Presidential Power after Watergate by Andrew Rudalevige Google Books