Imperial Presidency

The death of Arthur Schlesinger Jr. brings into high relief the peril of the times in which we are living as well as the importance of understanding history as a tool to regain our perspective. This review of his last book contains several relevant points that highlight Schlesinger's scathing disdain for the Bush administration's usurpation of power. It will be interesting to see whether the neocons will be so bold as to adopt Schlesinger as another of their patron saints (as they did Orwell) in the days to come.

If they do, it will be quite a contortion. From the review:

Thirty years ago, Schlesinger introduced the idea of the "imperial presidency" -- the inevitable concentration of power in the hands of the executive in moments of crisis. Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Roosevelt both claimed authority not granted to them by the Constitution, and during the Cold War, "a climate of sustained and indefinite crisis, aborted the customary reversion of power" from the president to the other branches of government. Now, "the imperial presidency is born again" -- in its most dangerous incarnation yet, thanks to a threat perceived as uniquely dangerous and a war on terror that by definition has no end. "The impact of 9/11 and of the overhanging terrorist threat," Schlesinger argues, "gives more power than ever to the imperial presidency and places the separation of powers ordained by the Constitution under unprecedented, and at times unbearable, strain."

and

Our response, if it is to do more good than harm, must be forged by democratic deliberation, not presidential diktat. And thus, Schlesinger tells us, "history illuminates the true meaning of patriotism in wartime."

Historians help us to understand that the perils that we face often have precedents and analogies, and that every threat we face is not so unique that we must ignore the very foundations of the republic in order to deal with it.

Updated: Here is Schlesinger himself in The American Prospect in December 2005. He calls the 2006 midterms.