The Evolving Presidency

by Nelson, Michael

• ISBN13: 9780872896086
• ISBN10: 0872896080
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-12-28
• Publisher: Cq Pr

Summary

This fascinating collection of 50 primary source documents offers a compact yet broad-based look at the development of the executive office. Judicious editing and contextual headnotes give students a look at the personalities and ideas that have shaped the institution, as well as insight into significant cases and events that have played pivotal roles in American political history. Based on extensive feedback from users, the third edition includes new selections that feature both historical and recent pieces¿from FDR¿s court-packing speech to Hamdan v. Rumsfeld case¿dramatically showing students how presidents chart U.S. history.

Author Biography

Michael Nelson is the Fulmer Professor of Political Science at Rhodes College and a nonresident senior fellow at the University of Virginia's Miller Center for Public Affairs. More than fifty of his articles have been anthologized in works of political science. history, and English composition, and he has won national writing awards for his articles on music and baseball. His most recent books are The American Presidency: Origins and Development, 1776 2007, 5th Edition (with Sidney M. Milkis): How the South Joined the Gambling Nation: The Politics of State Policy Innovation (with John Lyman Mason); The Presidency and the Political System, 8th Edition: and Debating the Presidency: Conflicting Perspectives on the American Executive (edited with Richard J. Ellish).

Table of Contents

Preface: A User's Guide to The Evolving Presidency	p. xiii
The Constitution (1787)	p. 1
The presidency, the main innovation of the Constitutional Convention, is created and its structure and powers outlined
Letters of Cato, Nos. 4 and 5 (1787)	p. 10
An Anti-Federalist opponent of the proposed Constitution warns against the dangers of presidential power
The Federalist Papers, Nos. 69-73 (1788)	p. 15
A Federalist supporter of the proposed Constitution defends the republican character of the presidency as an energetic office
George Washington's First Inaugural Address (1789)	p. 42
Washington establishes the model for inaugural addresses
James Madison's Defense of the President's Removal Power (1789)	p. 46
Madison persuades Congress that the president should be chief executive of the bureaucracy
The Pacificus-Helvidius Letters (1793)	p. 51
Alexander Hamilton and James Madison debate the extent of the president's constitutional power in foreign affairs
George Washington's Farewell Address (1796)	p. 60
Washington marks his retirement from the presidency and looks ahead to the future of the nation
Thomas Jefferson's First Inaugural Address (1801)	p. 69
The first peaceful transfer of power from one party to another
Thomas Jefferson's Letter to the Vermont Legislature (1807)	p. 75
Jefferson establishes the two-term tradition for presidents
The Monroe Doctrine (1823)	p. 77
An early assertion of presidential power in foreign policy-making at a time when the presidency was otherwise weak
The Tennessee General Assembly's Protest against the Caucus System (1823)	p. 81
The stage is set for the demise of the congressional caucus-centered presidential nominating process
Andrew Jackson's First Message to Congress (1829)	p. 86
The first outsider president grounds his authority in "the will of the majority"
Andrew Jackson's Veto of the Bank Bill (1832)	p. 91
Jackson activates the veto as a strong and effective power of the presidency
Abraham Lincoln's Letter to Albert G. Hodges (1864)	p. 95
Lincoln defends his use of prerogative power during the Civil War
The Gettysburg Address (1863)	p. 100
Lincoln, in an effort to give meaning to the war, invokes the Declaration of Independence's promise of equality and self-government
Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address (1865)	p. 102
Lincoln invokes God's judgment on both sides in the Civil War as the basis for seeking national reconciliation
Ex Parte Milligan (1866)	p. 105
The Supreme Court proves more willing to curb presidential power after a war than during one
Articles of Impeachment against Andrew Johnson (1868)	p. 111
The first president to be impeached is charged with abusing the removal power and defaming Congress through intemperate rhetoric
The Pendleton Act (1883)	p. 121
In the wake of a presidential assassination, Congress acts to replace the spoils system with a merit-based civil service
Theodore Roosevelt's and William Howard Taft's Theories of Presidential Power (1913, 1916)	p. 126
The classic debate on the proper scope of presidential power and leadership
Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points (1918)	p. 132
Wilson attempts to endow the Allied victory in World War I with a moral purpose
The Teapot Dome Resolution (1924)	p. 138
The nexus between congressional investigation and presidential scandal is forged
Myers v. United States (1926)	p. 140
The Supreme Court broadly interprets the president's constitutional power to remove executive branch officials
Franklin D. Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address (1933)	p. 149
FDR reassures a desperate nation and asks Congress for "broad executive power to wage war against the emergency" of economic depression
Humphrey's Executor v. United States (1935)	p. 154
The Supreme Court restricts the president's removal power
United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp. (1936)	p. 160
The Supreme Court declares that the president is the nation's "sole organ in the field of international relations"
Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Court-Packing" Address (1937)	p. 165
FDR overreaches by attacking the Supreme Court and, in the process, sparks the creation of the "conservative coalition" in Congress
Report of the Brownlaw Committee (1937)	p. 172
The origins of the modern White House staff
Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952)	p. 177
Justice Black's opinion of the Court and Justice Jackson's concurring opinion take different approaches to restraining presidential power
Dwight D. Eisenhower's Little Rock Executive Order (1957)	p. 187
Eisenhower uses the president's "executive" and "take care" powers to enforce the integration of an Arkansas high school
John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address (1961)	p. 190
The Young president calls on the nation to "support any friend, oppose any foe" in the cold war
The Cuban Missile Crisis: John F. Kennedy's Letter to Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev (1962)	p. 195
Crisis decision-making resolves the most dangerous international confrontation in history
John F. Kennedy's Civil Rights Address (1963)	p. 197
In an effort to satisfy national and international concerns for racial justice, Kennedy urges the enactment of major civil rights legislation
Lyndon B. Johnson's "Great Society" Speech (1964)	p. 203
Johnson rouses public support for his ambitious domestic agenda
Lyndon B. Johnson's Gulf of Tonkin Message (1964)	p. 207
Congress writes a blank check to the president to wage war in Vietnam
Richard Nixon's China Trip Announcement (1971)	p. 211
The ultimate anticommunist uses secret diplomacy to open a relationship with the People's Republic of China
The McGovern-Fraser Commission Report (1971)	p. 214
The modern presidential nominating process takes shape
The War Powers Resolution (1973)	p. 220
Congress tries to reclaim the war power from the president
Proposed Articles of Impeachment against Richard Nixon (1974)	p. 226
The Watergate crisis brings down the president and his closest advisers
United States v. Nixon (1974)	p. 232
The Supreme Court acknowledges but limits executive privilege
Gerald R. Ford's Pardon of Richard Nixon (1974)	p. 238
Ford jeopardizes his political standing by exercising the president's only unchecked constitutional power on behalf of his predecessor
Jimmy Carter's "Crisis of Confidence" Speech (1979)	p. 242
A president elected by praising the people blames them for the problems of his administration
Ronald Reagan's First Inaugural Address (1981)	p. 249
In a new-style inaugural address, Reagan ushers in an era by declaring that "government is not the solution to our problem" government is the problem"
Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha (1983)	p. 255
The Supreme Court strikes down the legislative veto
George Bush's Persian Gulf War Address (1991)	p. 265
Bush's greatest triumph foreshadows his worst defeat
Bill Clinton's Third State of the Union Address (1996)	p. 270
Clinton advocates an approach to governing that rises above traditional liberalism and conservatism
Clinton v. City of New York (1998)	p. 274
The Supreme Court declares the line-item veto unconstitutional
Articles of Impeachment against Bill Clinton (1998)	p. 279
Clinton is impeached by the House and acquitted by the Senate for actions stemming from his sexual relationship with a White House intern
Speeches by Al Gore and George W. Bush Ending the 2000 Election Controversy (2000)	p. 282
The closing chapter to one of the closest and most controversial presidential elections in history
George W. Bush's War on Terrorism Address (2001)	p. 289
In response to September 11, Bush commits his administration to fighting international terrorism
The Bush Doctrine (2002)	p. 297
In preparation for war against Iraq, Bush announces a new approach to foreign policy
George W. Bush's Signing Statement for the Defense Supplemental Appropriations Act (2005)	p. 303
A leading example of Bush employing "unitary executive" theory to extend the boundaries of presidential power
Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2006)	p. 307
An adverse ruling from the Supreme Court leads Bush to ask Congress for legislation authorizing military tribunals to try suspected nonuniformed enemy combatants in the war on terrorism
Topical Guide to the Documents	p. 313
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