The Presidents and the Constitution: A Living History

Published by New York University Press 2016

The Presidents and the Constitution

A Living History

Edited by: Ken Gormley

https://doi.org/10.18574/nyu/9781479872077.001.0001

Overview
Contents

About this book

Shines new light on America's brilliant constitutional and presidential history, from George Washington to Barack Obama.

In this sweepingly ambitious volume, the nation’s foremost experts on the American presidency and the U.S. Constitution join together to tell the intertwined stories of how each American president has confronted and shaped the Constitution. Each occupant of the office—the first president to the forty-fourth—has contributed to the story of the Constitution through the decisions he made and the actions he took as the nation’s chief executive.

By examining presidential history through the lens of constitutional conflicts and challenges, The Presidents and the Constitution offers a fresh perspective on how the Constitution has evolved in the hands of individual presidents. It delves into key moments in American history, from Washington’s early battles with Congress to the advent of the national security presidency under George W. Bush and Barack Obama, to reveal the dramatic historical forces that drove these presidents to action. Historians and legal experts, including Richard Ellis, Gary Hart, Stanley Kutler and Kenneth Starr, bring the Constitution to life, and show how the awesome powers of the American presidency have been shapes by the men who were granted them. The book brings to the fore the overarching constitutional themes that span this country’s history and ties together presidencies in a way never before accomplished.

Author / Editor information

Gormley Ken :

Ken Gormley is President and Professor of Law at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. He is the award-winning author of the New York Times best seller The Death of American Virtue: Clinton vs. Starr, and Archibald Cox: Conscience of a Nation.Ken Gormley is President and Professor of Law at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. He is the award-winning author of the New York Times best seller The Death of American Virtue: Clinton vs. Starr, and Archibald Cox: Conscience of a Nation.

Reviews

John Harris:
Gormley and his impressive roster of collaborators have abundantly delivered on the promise of this book's title. The balance between presidential power and presidential accountability is indeed a living history. And good thing, too, as the past generation alone has given us countless examples of how new conflicts and crises create new demands to revise and clarify the practical meaning of constitutional principles. Readers familiar with Gormley's authoritative work on the Clinton impeachment drama will recall how he blended scholarly detachment and fluency with the legal principles at stake with a journalistic gift for making political characters come to life, illuminating their human strengths and frailties, their mix of high and low motives. Here he has replicated that achievement and coaxed his fellow contributors to do the same. Their brisk and readable survey of 44 presidencies puts present-day controversies in context and shows how living history isn't about legal abstractionit is about ambition, conflict, and the consequences and limits of presidential power.

Nina Totenberg,correspondent for NPR:
Everything you ever wanted to know about the Supreme Court and the Presidency but were afraid to ask.

Bob Woodward, Associate Editor, The Washington Post:
Ken Gormley and 44 writers on all our presidents have connected the Constitutional dots brilliantly, demonstrating the immense concentration of power in the chief executive and the different, often contradictory, ways it has been used or misused. The book is a class in Constitutional Law all by itself. In several crucial ways this is what the 2016 race for the White House is aboutwho has precisely what power, who shares it, how is it going to be exercised, and what, if any, are its limits.

E.J.Dionne, Jr.,author of Why the Right Went Wrong:
In our system of divided powers, presidents shape Constitutional interpretation with their appointments and by the arguments they make. But often, they have looked on helplessly as the Constitution was used to curb their powers and foil their hopes. This remarkable collection of writers captures the drama of this history, president-by-president. A great idea, well and gracefully executed.

Doug Wead,author of The Raising of a President: The Mothers and Fathers of Our Nation's Leaders:
An indispensable book on a touchy subject. The American Constitution is not abstract art, it is the foundation of all of our laws. We cut ourselves adrift at great risk to the survival of our civilization. Reviewing the constant, ongoing battle between each successive president and the laws that limited his power offers a perspective that we haven't seen. Gomley has connected the dots and the results offer lessons beyond American history. This is a book about human nature and the struggle for power. As we can see, getting to the White House was not the end of that struggle. It was just the beginning.

The collection of presidential essays leaves readers understanding the extent of the evolution that occurs with each new president.

Gormleyhas assembled a first-rate group of scholars of the American presidency...This book deserves close scrutiny by any student of the U.S. presidency and political development.

As an author, Gormley is adept at bringing objectivity to controversial subjects, while also highlighting the human motivation behind significant historical events.

This volume helpfully spans the gamut of presidents and should be of interest to literate lay persons as well as academics looking for a comprehensive text for classroom use.

A fluidly fashioned collection of essays about how the roster of American presidents shaped the executive duties as defined in the Constitution....an evenhanded consideration of each president's operating style and effectiveness...A useful...tome featuring top-drawer contributors.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vi
Introduction: An Unfinished Presidency Ken Gormley Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part I The Founding Era
1 George Washington Richard J. Ellis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	17
2 John Adams Louis Fisher Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	34
3 Thomas Jefferson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	47
4 James Madison Ralph Ketcham Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	61
5 James Monroe Gary Hart Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	75
6 John Quincy Adams Jonathan L. Entin Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	89
Part II The Age of Jackson
7 Andrew Jackson Mark A. Graber Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	103
8 Martin Van Buren Michael J. Gerhardt Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	116
9 William Henry Harrison David Marks Shribman Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	126
10 John Tyler Robert J. Spitzer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	136
11 James K. Polk Frank J. Williams Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	149
Part III The Pre–Civil War Era
12 Zachary Taylor Paul Finkelman Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	161
13 Millard Fillmore Joseph F. Rishel Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	173
14 Franklin Pierce Paul Finkelman Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	181
15 James Buchanan Thomas A. Horrocks Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	194
Part IV Civil War and Reconstruction
16 Abraham Lincoln William D. Pederson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	211
17 Andrew Johnson Michael Les Benedict Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	227
18 Ulysses S. Grant John F. Marszalek Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	239
Part V The Gilded Age
19 Rutherford B. Hayes Michael A. Ross Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	253
20 James A. Garfield Thomas C. Sutton Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	266
21 Chester A. Arthur Thomas C. Sutton Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	276
22 Grover Cleveland: First Term: 1884–1888 Donald Grier Stephenson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	288
23 Benjamin Harrison Allan B. Spetter Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	297
24 Grover Cleveland: Second Term: 1892–1896 Donald Grier Stephenson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	308
25 William McKinley Thomas C. Sutton Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	316
Part VI The Progressive Era
26 Theodore Roosevelt William D. Bader Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	331
27 William Howard Taft Francine Sanders Romero Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	343
Part VII World War I and the Great Depression
28 Woodrow Wilson Saladin M. Ambar Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	357
29 Warren G. Harding James D. Robenalt Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	371
30 Calvin Coolidge John W. Johnson and Dale E. P. Yurs Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	385
31 Herbert Hoover John Q. Barrett Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	395
Part VIII The New Deal and World War II
32 Franklin Delano Roosevelt William D. Pederson Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	409
33 Harry S. Truman James N. Giglio Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	427
Part IX The Civil Rights Era
34 Dwight D. Eisenhower Richard V. Damms Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	443
35 John F. Kennedy Barbara A. Perry Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	459
36 Lyndon B. Johnson John L. Bullion Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	473
Part X The Watergate Era and Reform
37 Richard M. Nixon Stanley Kutler Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	491
38 Gerald R. Ford Jeffrey Crouch Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	507
39 Jimmy Carter Scott Kaufman Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	521
Part XI New Conservatives, New Democrats, and Polarization
40 Ronald Reagan Kenneth W. Starr Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	539
41 George H. W. Bush Lori Cox Han Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	557
George H. W. Bush Lori Cox Han Ken Gormley Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	570
Part XII National Security Era: Post-9/ 11
43 George W. Bush Benjamin A. Kleinerman Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	589
44 Barack Obama Michael J. Gerhardt Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	605
Conclusion: An Evolving American Presidency Ken Gormley Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	623
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	657
About the Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	659
Photo Credits Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	667
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	671

Language: English
Publisher: New York University Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;

eBook

Published: May 10, 2016
ISBN: 9781479872077