I
had no idea there so was little law governing the behavior of the
U.S. President. Like many Americans, I suppose, I assumed what has
become the behavioral norm of civic minded presidents was somehow
governed by rules. Not so. A president possess powers well beyond
anything I imagined. We Americans have trusted a president would act
in a manner within those powers to benefit the country, not himself
or his friends. Civic virtue was assumed.
Most
important, the authors claim, is the oath of office. It attempts to
harness the office holder so that “presidents make earnest efforts
to use their office on behalf of the country.” (22) The oath imposes
duty and obligation. (23) But it only works when the president
honestly means what he says when he recites it. The presidency doesn't
work as we expect in the absence of good faith. The authors note
Trump is not a hypocrite in this regard. “He doesn't pretend to
civic virtue.” (31)
With
respect to a president's speech, I was shocked to find that the
Supreme Court has ruled that a president is entitled to immunity from
liability. (98-99) The president can say something for which a
private citizen would be held liable, yet with immunity.
It
has become the norm that the Justice Department be apolitical but
that is not mandated. (187) Federal prosecutors work for the
president, for example. He can fire them and order them not to
proceed with a particular investigation. The president can legally
fire a special prosecutor or limit his power. (213)
“Modern
presidents have the power to do a great deal more than the
founders...ever imagined.” (236) The office is especially
vulnerable to personality, the authors note. Presidential speech about foreign countries, for
example, be it a well crafted talk or a midnight tweet, is
operational as foreign policy. (238) Domestic declarations must be
approved for funding and there Congress has some control.
I
was shocked at the broad powers the president has. In years past,
civic responsibility ruled behavior. We have had centuries of
developing the public expectation of the president's role. (189)
Current behavior is at odds with that traditional understanding but
is not necessarily opposed to constitutional laws.
I
highly recommend this book. I learned a great deal about the role of
the president, as defined by the Constitution, as we have come to
expect it be fulfilled, and as evidenced in current behavior.
My
rating: 4/5 stars.
Susan
Hennessey and Benjamin Wittes are the executive editor and editor in
chief, respectively, of Lawfare. Hennessey is a senior fellow at the
Brookings Institution and a CNN contributor; she was previously an
attorney at the National Security Agency. Wittes is a senior fellow
at the Brookings Institution and the author of several previous
books. Author photographs by Paul Morigi.
Farrar,
Straus and Giroux, 432 pages.
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