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Imperial or imperilled presidency Flashcards

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1
Q

Who popularised the idea of imperial presidency?

A

Prof Arthur Schlesinger in 1973

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2
Q

Explain the idea of an imperial presidency

A

A presidency characterised by the misuse of presidential power, especially excessive secrecy - particularly in terms of foreign policy - and high handedness in dealing with congress

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3
Q

What did the idea of the imperial presidency form in response to?

A

Concerns that the presidency was ‘emperor like’ in character, dominating congress and conducting foreign policy independently

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4
Q

What does an imperial president do?

A

Transcends the limitations of powers and therefore acts unconstitutionally

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5
Q

Where did the imperial presidency begin?

A

In the office of FDR, who oversaw the expansion of both the federal government in order to combat the depression and the role of commander in chief during WWII

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6
Q

How would the balance of power continue to shift in the following decades?

A

The size of the federal government grew and new institutions were created to help the president deal with the challenges of the Cold War, such as the NSC and CIA

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7
Q

What is the most potent symbol of imperial power?

A

The omnipresent briefcase containing the nuclear codes that goes everywhere with the president

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8
Q

What did Schlesinger argue about the imperial presidency in 1986?

A

That successive presidents continued toe expand the role so that by the 1960s presidential power had grown considerably and the possibly of abuse of power was great

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9
Q

Give two examples of this power increasing

A

The escalation of involvement in Vietnam by LBJ, and the decision of Nixon to bomb Cambodia without congress’ knowledge

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10
Q

Explain how Nixon is the ultimate imperial president

A

He acted as if presidential authority was unlimited, and he was famously caught on tape saying, ‘if the president does it, it’s not illegal’, which is obviously at odds with the scope on executive power laid out in Article II of the constitution

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11
Q

What did the watergate scandal mean for Nixon?

A

It caused him to resign or face impeachment in August 1974

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12
Q

What are president’s allowed to do during national emergencies?

A

They are allowed to use emergency powers to unlock federal funding and more than 100 other powers to limit civil liberties

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13
Q

Give some examples of this

A
  • FDR ordered the internment of Japanese Americans in 1942.
  • Bush authorised the detention of terrorist subjects at GB without trial following 9/11
  • Trump declared a national emergency in March 2020 in response to COVID which banned US citizens from travelling to Europe
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14
Q

Who was the first president to declare a national emergency?

A

Abraham Lincoln

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15
Q

How did FDR ramp up this power?

A

He asserted the power to declare emergencies that were without limit in their scope or duration

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16
Q

How did Congress respond to this power?

A

It passed the 1976 National Emergencies Act to limit presidential power by requiring any declaration of emergency to be accompanied by a legal jurisdiction and a review every six months

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17
Q

Give some reasons why this has been a limited check

A
  • Over 30 national emergencies have been declared since
  • The lack of a clear definition for what constitutes an emergency allowed Trump to declare one in February 2019 so that he could secure funding for his planned border wall with Mexico. Congress voted to end the state of emergency, but Trump vetoed this decision
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18
Q

Define imperilled presidency

A

A term coined by Gerald Ford to refer to a presidency characterised by ineffectiveness and weakness, resulting from congressional overassertiveness and an excessively large bureaucracy

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19
Q

What was congress’ response to the rise of the imperial presidency?

A

To reassert itself, passing a number of pieces of presidency curbing legislation, especially in the field of foreign policy

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20
Q

Give two of these pieces of legislation

A
  • The 1972 Case Act
  • The 1973 War Powers Act
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21
Q

What did the Case Act do?

A

Forced presidents to inform congress of all executive agreementsW

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22
Q

What did the War Powers Act do?

A

Attempted to limit the president’s use of troops unless Congress declared war or gave specific statutory authorisation

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23
Q

What was the consequence of these two Acts?

A

Ford and Carter, the post watergate presidents, found their hands more tied in the era of the imperilled presidency

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24
Q

What did Douglas Kriner argue in 2018?

A

That all presidents since Carter have shown levels of unilateralism that suggest they are not imperilled, but he questions whether that makes them imperial

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25
Q

Define unilateralism

A

Actions or decisions performed by one group in this context, the president and/or their administration

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26
Q

How did Clinton come to be president despite winning just 43% of the vote?

A

Because a third candidate, populist Ross Perot, split the vote

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27
Q

What does Gene Healy claim about Clinton?

A

He says that he was an example of an imperial president, who despite his anti-war background, had a similar foreign policy attitude to Nixon

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28
Q

What evidence does Healy use to back up this claim?

A
  • He says that in 1994 he stood ready to launch a 20,000 troop invasion of Haiti without congressional approval
  • In the March-June 1999 Serbian Air War, the USA committed the most personnel since the Gulf War, but Clinton refused to go to congress for a declaration of war
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29
Q

What does Healy accuse Clinton of doing?

A

Sanctioning missile strikes on Sudan and Afghanistan for links to terrorism in order to distract from the Lewinsky scandal

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30
Q

What David Gray Adler say about Clinton in 2000?

A

He says that his use of US troops in NATO’s peacekeeping efforts in Yugoslavia were a violation of the War Powers Act

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31
Q

Argue against the idea that Clinton was an imperial president

A
  • The proposed Haiti invasion could have caused a breach with congress, but this never happened as Carter intervened and mediated the crisis
  • If he really was an imperial president, he would have been successful in passing his flagship domestic policy of healthcare reform, but he was unabled to even convince a unified government to do so
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32
Q

What does Patrick Maney argue about Carter’s role with Haiti?

A

He modified the instructions given to him by Clinton, thereby gaining all credit in the process

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33
Q

What was the only example of Clinton successfully demonstrating his imperial tendencies?

A

His unilateralism in the use of troops in Yugoslavia

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34
Q

Why was Bush in a weak position upon becoming president?

A

He lost the popular vote and won the electoral college vote only after a controversial SC decision about the counting of votes in Florida

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35
Q

What happened to the Bush presidency after 9/11?

A

Unilateralism accelerated dramatically

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36
Q

What did this lead Savage to argue in 2008?

A

That this was an example of a ‘new’ imperial presidency

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37
Q

Why was Bush’s presidency unique with regards to this debate?

A

Because it shows both imperial and imperilled traits

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38
Q

How did Bush increase his presidential power?

A

By announcing the war on terror against Iraq and Afghanistan

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39
Q

What did he use executive orders to do?

A

To authorise controversial anti-terrorist measures, including the surveillance of suspects without a court order

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40
Q

Why does Savage think detaining suspects without trial at GB was an example of imperial presidency?

A

Because it pushed his presidential powers to the point of challenging the limits of the constitution

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41
Q

Which president did he seem to resemble following 9/11?

A

FDR

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42
Q

What legislation did his improved approval rating allow him to pass in the years that followed 9/11?

A

The 2001 Patriot Act, The 2002 Economic Growth and Tax Reconciliation Act, The 2002 Homeland Security Act and the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act

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43
Q

Why was the passage of this legislation not just down to Bush’s improved approval ratings?

A

The republican controlled Congress dramatically reduced its scrutiny of the president in terms of the number of oversight hearings held

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44
Q

What does the Bush presidency not fit into?

A

The imperial presidency model

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45
Q

Why not?

A

Because he did not act unilaterally, he sought congressional approval

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46
Q

Why was the creation of GB not as much of an example of an imperial presidency as it first seemed?

A

Because he was reigned in by the SC for his policy of holding detainees with no rights infront of a civilian judge. This happened in two separate cases, Hamden vs Rumsfeld (2006) and Boumediene vs Bush (2006)

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47
Q

Give an example of how the R congress was not beholden to his wishes

A

It took no action on his plans for social security reform in 2006

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48
Q

What did he become in his last two years in power?

A

A lame duck president

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49
Q

What were the two main factors in the Rs losing control of both houses of congress in 2006?

A
  • Poor handling of Hurricane Katrina
  • The public losing enthusiasm for the war on terror
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50
Q

What was the consequence of this period of lame duck presidency for Bush?

A

He found it difficult to get his proposed legislation enacted and his administration faced heightened scrutiny for the democratic congress

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51
Q

What two big problems did Obama face upon coming into office?

A

A nation facing a deep recession and a world under threat from a far reaching terrorist network

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52
Q

What did Obama do to foreign policy in his first two years?

A

He used unified government and his power and persuasiveness to reform foreign policy

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53
Q

Describe the hawkish and imperial foreign policy actions he took?

A
  • A major offensive was launched in Afghanistan in 2010
  • He signed a 4 year extension of the Patriot Act
  • He would launch 10 times as many strikes in the Middle East and Asia as Bush had
  • He sanctioned intervention in Libya without seeking congressional approval
  • He sanctioned the death of Anwar-al-Awlaki, an alleged terrorist, by drone strike in Yemen in 2011
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54
Q

Why was Obama sanctioning the death of al-Awlaki controversial?

A

Civil liberties groups criticised it as an extrajudicial execution that ignored his right to a fair trial for his alleged crimes

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55
Q

What would people look towards if they wanted to make the case Obama was an imperial president?

A

His foreign policy

56
Q

What two pieces of legislation did he pass in response to the great recession?

A
  • A significant stimulus package the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (2009) to bail out the US economy
  • Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Consumer Protection Act (2010) to reform wall street in an attempt to prevent another crisis
57
Q

What was the most important piece of legislation he managed to pass?

A

Patient Protection Affordable Care Act (2010) also known as Obamacare

58
Q

What did this dominance in his first two years suggest?

A

An imperial presidency

59
Q

What would come to limit his ability to enact his legislative agenda?

A

The changing of the house (2011) and the senate (2015) into republican hands

60
Q

What two time campaign pledge did he not manage to achieve?

A

The closure of GB

61
Q

Why was Obamacare not that much of an example of imperial presidency?

A

Because he had to compromise his vision to gain the support of conservative Ds

62
Q

Why did he have to make use of executive agreements in 2015?

A

To get through his JCPOA, as he new the senate would not ratify this

63
Q

How did the SC make him look like an imperilled president?

A
  • They argued that using executive orders to implement his immigration programme in 2016 was unconstitutional in US vs Texas (2016)
  • They declared his use of recess appointments unconstitutional in the Noel Canning vs Labour Relations Board case (2016)
64
Q

How did he become an imperilled president in his last two years?

A

Because he was subject to a partisan R controlled congress

65
Q

Give an example of the R controlled Congress thwarting him

A

The Senate refused to even discuss his nomination for the SC, Merrick Garland, in 2016

66
Q

How did Trump make himself look the part of an imperial president?

A

By using executive orders, pardons and announcing foreign policy and sacking officials on twitter

67
Q

How can it be argued that he was an imperial president?

A

He pulled the US out of a number of foreign agreements made by his predecessors

68
Q

Give some examples of these foreign agreements

A
  • The Iran Nuclear Deal
  • The North American Free Trade Agreement, which he replaced with a renegotiated US-Mexico-Canada Agreement in 2019
  • The Paris Accord
69
Q

What did all of these withdrawals have in common in the aftermath?

A

They were all controversial and drew criticism at home and abroad but went ahead nonetheless

70
Q

What did Trump’s isolationist stance not prevent him from doing?

A

Being drawn into military actions

71
Q

What did he promise he would do about terrorism in his campaign?

A

Bomb the shit out of ISIS

72
Q

How did Trump fulfil this promise?

A

He dropped a 21,000 pound bomb on ISIS fighters in Afghanistan in April 2017

73
Q

How did Trump deal with the Syrian government?

A

He launched the Shayrat missile strike against the government in 2017

74
Q

How did Trump deal with Iran?

A

He launched the airstrike assassination of an Iranian general in 2020, Qasem Soleimani,

75
Q

How was this an example of imperial presidency?

A

It was sanctioned without authorisation from or consultation with congress and was described as transgressing the War Powers Act by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

76
Q

Why did House Ds accuse Trump of dictatorial posturing in Jan 2020?

A

He said that he could use twitter to inform congress of future airstrikes

77
Q

Which nation did Trump negotiate unilaterally with?

A

NK

78
Q

How can Trump’s dealings with NK be called a success?

A

Despite his unorthodox diplomacy, which saw Trump threatening NK on twitter, what followed was three meetings across 2018-9 that saw an apparent detente in relations, culminating in a historic meeting in NK. It can be argued that Trump improved relations with NK more than any other sitting president

79
Q

How was this relationship soured?

A

When NK released a new nuclear missile that could hit any part of the US in Oct 2020

80
Q

What is the counterpoint to the idea that Trump was an imperial president in terms of foreign policy?

A

Because there is significant evidence to suggest that he resembles an imperilled president in terms of foreign policy, limited by congress and factors outside of his control

81
Q

When did the Mueller investigation take place?

A

2017-9

82
Q

What was it?

A

In investigation by the justice department into possible links between the 2016 Trump Campaign and Russia, with opponents accusing Trump of obstructing justice

83
Q

How was the process mixed for Trump?

A

The report found that Trump had not conspired with Russia to influence the 2016 election results and had not obstructed justice, the entire process was still politically embarrassing for him, damaging his reputation

84
Q

How does it discredit the idea that he was an imperial president?

A

Even after the report was published, six congressional oversight committees continued to investigate his links with Russia. Imperial presidents do not complain, as Trump did, that they are the victim of ‘presidential harassment’

85
Q

When did the first Trump impeachment proceedings take place?

A

Dec 2019 - Feb 2020

86
Q

What did this first impeachment by the House revolve around?

A

The allegation that he attempted to coerce the Ukranian government to reveal damaging information about Joe and Hunter Biden

87
Q

Why did Pelosi pursue impeachment even though she knew that the partisan senate was likely to acquit him?

A

Because she knew that it would still historically damage his reputation.

88
Q

What did she say to back this up?

A

‘He will be impeached forever. Forever. No matter what the senate does’

89
Q

What idea did this process discredit?

A

That Trump was an imperial president

90
Q

When did his second impeachment proceedings take place?

A

Jan - Feb 2021

91
Q

What was this impeachment about?

A

Following accusations that his inflammatory words had encouraged his supporters to storm the Capitol on Jan 6 2021 during the certification of electoral college votes, the following week he was impeached

92
Q

What was he officially charged with?

A

Incitement of insurrection

93
Q

What was the result in the house?

A

They voted for his impeachment by 232-197, with 10 Rs joining all the House Ds

94
Q

What was the result in the Senate 4 weeks later?

A

They acquitted him by 57 -43, with 7 Rs voting against Trump

95
Q

Why was Trump not impeached even if a majority of the Senate voted for it?

A

Because a 2/3 majority was required

96
Q

What frequently frustrated Trump’s attempts to act as an imperial president?

A

Congress

97
Q

Which key campaign pledge was he unable to convince Congress of?

A

Despite enjoying unified government, he did not convince congress to ‘repeal and replace’ Obamacare

98
Q

How did the R party weaken Trump?

A

Because of divisions within the party while he was president

99
Q

Why was the 35 day federal government shutdown in 2018-9 significant?

A

Because it was the longest ever

100
Q

What was the shutdown caused by?

A

The Ds refusing to allocate funds for the wall

101
Q

How did Trump respond to this?

A

He backed down, forced to reallocate defence spending to fund the wall

102
Q

Why was this response significant?

A

Because it resembled an imperilled rather than imperial presidency

103
Q

Which politician was Trump’s main rival?

A

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi

104
Q

How did Trump show his dislike for her?

A

He deliberately avoided shaking her hand before his 2020 State of the Union Address

105
Q

How did Pelosi demonstrate her disdain for Trump?

A

She stood up and ripped Trump’s speech in front of an astonished congress and world media, moments after he had finished speaking. Branding it a ‘manifesto of mistruths’

106
Q

What was the significance of this act of defiance?

A

It challenged the image of Trump as an imperial president

107
Q

What else prevented Trump from passing legislation after the midterms?

A

Divided government

108
Q

How did Trump handle COVID badly in the beginning?

A

He dismissed its seriousness and then failed to communicate a coherent national response

109
Q

What did state governors therefore do?

A

Utilised federal powers to determine policy within their own states

110
Q

Which state governors received praise for their swift response and initiative?

A
  • Andrew Cuomo (NY)
  • Mike DeWine (Ohio)
  • Gavin Newsom (California)
111
Q

What happened to state governors who followed Trump’s inaction?

A

They received criticism for their reluctance to lockdown their states

112
Q

Give an example of one of these governors?

A

Ron DeSantis (Florida)

113
Q

What else challenged his ability to present himself as an imperial president?

A

The protests that engulfed the US following the death of George Floyd

114
Q

How was Trump’s response poor?

A

Because it exacerbated the problems rather than calming things down

115
Q

What imperial sounding tweet did he send out?

A

‘When the looting starts, the shooting starts’

116
Q

How was he immediately checked by twitter?

A

They flagged the tweet as glorifying violence

117
Q

How did his former secretary of defence James Mattis criticise the tweet?

A

He described Trump as ‘the first president of my lifetime who does not unite the American people - he does not even try’

118
Q

What David Mervin say about the idea of the imperial presidency in 1993?

A

He says that it was ‘always something of a cliche’ as it ‘summons up the image of the president as an emperor, a supreme sovereign authority, a master at all he surverys’ which is clearly not an accurate description of the presidency

119
Q

Give two examples of presidents with strong imperial tendencies?`

A

FDR and Nixon

120
Q

How did even FDR have his limitations in this department?

A

He was frustrated by his plans to pack the SC

121
Q

How did even Nixon have his limitations in this department?

A

He was brought down by watergate and forced to either resign or be impeached by congress

122
Q

Why have all the two term presidents since 1993 had imperilled periods?

A

Because they all had to deal with divided government and became lame duck presidents

123
Q

How have Trump and his predecessors fared in terms of how they can exert autonomy?

A

He demonstrated more autonomy in terms of foreign policy and the executive but faced challenges from Congress, the SC and the states

124
Q

Why does it ultimately not matter that Trump wished to look like an imperial president?

A

Because in practise he failed to control congress even when enjoying unified government

125
Q

What did Sam Tennenhaus say about the idea of the imperial presidency in 2002?

A

The imperial president is not a useful idea. It is an epithet, drudged up whenever the president combines strength with imagination. Presidents are, in sum, leaders not rulers - which means they are not imperial at all

126
Q

Why is being an effective and successful president so difficult?

A

Because the Founding Fathers deliberately limited presidential power

127
Q

Make the case that the US has an imperial presidency

A
  • Nixon’s unilateralism in bombing Cambodia without informing congress
  • Presidents to not ask congress to declare war and often avoid asking them to authorise military action. Clinton, Obama and Trump all bypassed congress and acted unilaterally in terms of military action
  • Presidents have access to emergency powers and can use direct authority to bypass congress. Trump declared a national emergency in 2019 to bypass congress’ power of purse so that he could use federal funding to pay for the wall
  • Strong partisan support in a united congress can prevent a president from being properly scrutinised. It has been argued that this is why W. Bush enjoyed such light scrutiny
  • The presidential style can be extremely imperial and the expansion of the federal government can increase the president’s power
128
Q

Give an example of a president expanding the federal government to increase their power?

A

In the aftermath of 9/11 the Patriot Act was passed and Bush persuaded congress to set up a new executive department, the Department of Homeland Security, which weakened federal autonomy

129
Q

Make the case that the US has an imperilled presidency

A
  • Congress responded to Nixon’s transgressions by passing the Case Act and War Powers Act
  • Congress can reject the budget and force the president to compromise by using the power of purse
  • Presidents are regularly frustrated in their legislative priorities as they fail to get congressional support
  • Presidents can become lame ducks, making it new impossible to implement policy initiatives
  • Presidents might act in an imperial style but this does not mean they are imperial presidents
130
Q

How many budgets did Clinton and Obama have rejected?

A

2

131
Q

Describe Trump’s budget rejection?

A

It led to the longest federal government shut down of all time, lasting for 35 days

132
Q

Give some examples of where presidents have been frustrated by congress

A
  • Clinton and Trump both failed to enact healthcare reform
  • Bush failed to achieve social security reform
  • Obama failed to achieve new rights for the children of immigrants
133
Q

What are the two times a president will become a lame duck?

A
  • At the end of their presidency when they will soon be replaced
  • In times of divided government when it is harder to persuade congress
134
Q

Who is the best example of a president who acted in an imperial manner but wasn’t really an imperial president?

A

Trump

135
Q

List some of the things that made Trump seem weak

A
  • He was frustrated by congress in the building of the wall and repealing of Obamacare
  • Many state governors chose to deal with COVID in their own way rather than follow Trump’s wishes
  • After losing the 2020 elections his attempts to overturn the results through the courts ended in an embarrassing failure
136
Q
A

US politics (28 decks)

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