Presidential power – is the President imperial or imperilled?
Intro:
• Imperial president is a term rooted in the powers FDR had immediately after Pearl Harbour
that allowed him to enter WWII without the conventional Constitutional limitations
• Arthur Schlesinger’s term:
o Power to create your own foreign policy
• Outline how it has leaked into domestic policy recently
• Gerald Ford’s ‘imperilled’ Presidency post War Powers Act in 1973
• Flagpost = Aaron Wildavsky’s ‘dual presidency’ theory
Imperial
Foreign policy:
• Many Presidents have bypassed Congress in committing troops, usually under the veil
of ‘advisors’
o Truman with South Korea in the 1950s
o Kennedy with Bay of Pigs and Vietnam in the 1960s
o Johnson with the Gulf of Tonkin
o Obama with Libya
• With regards to foreign policy, it has remained fairly consistent, with each President in
some way bypassing Congress’ power to declare war
• Obama most recently with his intervention in Libya bypassed the War Powers Act
o Sent ‘military advisors’ and US troops took a supportive role
o This didn’t constitute ‘hostilities’ in the War Powers Act, and therefore he didn’t
have to seek Congressional approval within 60 days
• Linking to Wildavsky’s dual presidency idea
o With regards to foreign policy, the President has significant power with few
limitations
Domestic policy:
• Imperialism has leaked more into domestic policy, starting with Nixon:
o Domestic corruption with the Watergate Scandal
o Clamping down on anti-war university protests
o Excessive use of veto (26 regular, 17 pocket)
o Impoundment of Congressional funds to an environmental project had opposed in
1972
• Bush:
o Arguably the most imperial domestic President
o Due to dual presidency theory, he was given extensive policymaking freedoms
after the 9/11 attacks
o ‘Bush federalism’ entailed:
§ The Patriot Act of 2002 – which interfered with states’ rights and personal
liberties
§ The Emergency Economic Stabilisation Act of 2008 provided $700bn of
bail-out funds – but signalled significant government intervention
o In a way undermines Wildavsky’s thesis, as Bush used the crisis to boost
domestic imperialism as well as foreign policy
• Obama:
o $787bn bailout package of 2009 was interventionist and crossing the ‘Commerce
Clause’s’ restrictions
o Interventionist in policies he disagrees with
§ Arizona immigration case in 2012
Intro:
• Imperial president is a term rooted in the powers FDR had immediately after Pearl Harbour
that allowed him to enter WWII without the conventional Constitutional limitations
• Arthur Schlesinger’s term:
o Power to create your own foreign policy
• Outline how it has leaked into domestic policy recently
• Gerald Ford’s ‘imperilled’ Presidency post War Powers Act in 1973
• Flagpost = Aaron Wildavsky’s ‘dual presidency’ theory
Imperial
Foreign policy:
• Many Presidents have bypassed Congress in committing troops, usually under the veil
of ‘advisors’
o Truman with South Korea in the 1950s
o Kennedy with Bay of Pigs and Vietnam in the 1960s
o Johnson with the Gulf of Tonkin
o Obama with Libya
• With regards to foreign policy, it has remained fairly consistent, with each President in
some way bypassing Congress’ power to declare war
• Obama most recently with his intervention in Libya bypassed the War Powers Act
o Sent ‘military advisors’ and US troops took a supportive role
o This didn’t constitute ‘hostilities’ in the War Powers Act, and therefore he didn’t
have to seek Congressional approval within 60 days
• Linking to Wildavsky’s dual presidency idea
o With regards to foreign policy, the President has significant power with few
limitations
Domestic policy:
• Imperialism has leaked more into domestic policy, starting with Nixon:
o Domestic corruption with the Watergate Scandal
o Clamping down on anti-war university protests
o Excessive use of veto (26 regular, 17 pocket)
o Impoundment of Congressional funds to an environmental project had opposed in
1972
• Bush:
o Arguably the most imperial domestic President
o Due to dual presidency theory, he was given extensive policymaking freedoms
after the 9/11 attacks
o ‘Bush federalism’ entailed:
§ The Patriot Act of 2002 – which interfered with states’ rights and personal
liberties
§ The Emergency Economic Stabilisation Act of 2008 provided $700bn of
bail-out funds – but signalled significant government intervention
o In a way undermines Wildavsky’s thesis, as Bush used the crisis to boost
domestic imperialism as well as foreign policy
• Obama:
o $787bn bailout package of 2009 was interventionist and crossing the ‘Commerce
Clause’s’ restrictions
o Interventionist in policies he disagrees with
§ Arizona immigration case in 2012
