Imperial Presidency of George W. Bush

Paper Summary:

The paper refers to Arthur Schlesinger's theory of the imperial presidency that identified a trend in the executive branch to gather more power unto itself beyond Constitutional limits, especially in times of national crisis. The paper applies this to after 9/11 when the Bush administration asserted its rights to make war pre-emptively. The paper discusses how this accretion of power to the executive may be permanent and presents the opinion that leaving foreign policy in the hands of a few only works if the few are morally scrupulous to a degree that does not seem to be able to co-exist with the nature of politics. The paper asserts that institutional reform is not the answer; what is needed is the willingness of the other branches to contest executive power, even in wartime.

From the Paper:

"The theory of the imperial presidency, as formulated by Arthur Schlesinger, identified a trend in the executive branch to gather more power unto itself beyond Constitutional limits, especially in times of national crisis. The Bush administration demonstrated their desire to expand the powers of the executive before the 2000 election. Vice President Cheney spoke to this when he said: "For the thirty-five years I've been in this town, there's been a constant, steady erosion of the prerogatives and the powers of the president of the United States, and I don't want to be a part of that." There was little room for this expansive agenda pre-9/11. The attack on the United States in 2001 provided scope for the executive branch to assert its control over the government."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Schlesinger, Arthur. The Imperial Presidency. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1973.
• Rudalevige, Andrew. The New Imperial Presidency: Renewing Presidential Power after Watergate. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2005.
• The White House. State of the Union Address. Office of the Press Secretary. February 2, 2005; available from http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/01/20020129-11.html; Internet; accessed 25 June 2008.

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