Greene, John Robert. The Limits of Power: The Nixon and Ford Administrations. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1992.
Argument
This is a useful overview of the Nixon and Ford administration. In combining the two, Greene seeks to somewhat transcend Watergate by offering a more nuanced description of the Presidential style and achievements of the two inherently linked Presidencies. Nixon, of course, expanded executive power like no one before him. Watergate was an outgrowth of the atmosphere of blind loyalty under him. The title refers to the fact that the power of the executive administration reached a peak under Nixon and had to be rolled back during Ford's admin. Nixon had a horrible relationship with Congress. Ford, well-liked throughout Washington and perceived as a regular guy by the public, wasted that political capital with his pardoning of Nixon.
Nixon administration was strongly hierarchical with firm view of Nixon at the top, while Ford sought to organize his administration like a "wheel" with spokes leading to him at the middle. Donald Rumsfeld as chief of staff helped to alleviate some of the flaws in this approach.
Personalities
Kissinger - Ambitious and spotlight-seeking, Kissinger was actually the first in the administration to arrange for wiretaps of other administration members to seek out a leak. Kissinger's relationship with the media was so strong that he was impervious to the scandals and somewhat resented by Nixon. Greene credits Nixon's Cold War policy - opening relations with Red China and subsequent detente - as Nixon's realism rather than a product of Kissinger's efforts.
H.R. Haldeman - Chief of Staff. Old friend of Nixon's from the 1950s. In the early days of the administration, Nixon sought a close connection with key members of the administration. Quickly, Haldeman, along with Erlichman, stepped into the hierarchy just below Nixon to control access to the chief. Both were charged with carrying out any firings, a part of the job Nixon strongly resisted. It was a Nixon meeting with Haldeman that was missing in the 18.5 minute gap on the Oval Office Tapes
John Erlichman - White House Counsel. Worked on Nixon's campaigns, close friends with Haldeman, but his star rose in Nixon's eyes much later than Haldeman's.
Chuck Colson - Special Council for Nixon. Nixon's political operative, and the main connection between the President and the dirty tricks, plumbers, break in to Ellsberg's psychiatrists, and other abuses of political power.
Spiro Agnew - As VP, useful political tool for Nixon allowing the administration to attack political opponents with verbal tenacity without Nixon himself entering the fray.
Critique
Nothing new here, but that is not the point of the book. It's a terrific read, as syntheses go: accessible and nicely-paced. I would assign this book to undergrads for a unit on Nixon.
Showing posts with label Executive Branch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Executive Branch. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Schlesinger - The Imperial Presidency
Schlesinger, Arthur M. The Imperial Presidency. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2004.
Argument
The Constitution granted the President extraordinary power and authority in leading America in foreign affairs. As a consequence, the modern President has been able to expand his powers to enormous levels out of times of foreign crises. The Cold War, in particular, led the executive branch to increase its power in making war without a declaration by Congress, to expand its secrecy protections, and to expand the use of Executive privilege.
Schlesinger also provides another concept: The Revolutionary Presidency, which seeks to stretch the power acquired through the Imperial Presidency into domestic affairs.
Nitty Gritty
The founders granted the President extraordinary leeway in foreign policy because it was expected that neither Congress nor the public would be experts in foreign affairs. Indeed this has more or less proven to be the case.
Schlesinger uses Lincoln as a model for how Presidents might reasonably exceed their explicit constitutional powers in an emergency; critically, Lincoln insisted that his broad claims of power were specific to the setting, and thus should not be taken as a permanent expansion of the office.
Schlesinger also notes the tendency of Congress to move to reclaim its power after periods of strong executive power. (After the Civil War, after WWI, and momentarily after WWII).
The Cold War looms over the Imperial Presidency. WWII led to a resurgence of the Presendancy, with Korea pushing it to a new level. But Vietnam is the key war. Both LBJ and especially Nixon expanded the powers of the President immensely, particularly in its secrecy system (which Schlesinger intriguingly suggests is based on the false assumption of national security, but actually exists largely to protect the government from embarassment).
Nixon's creation of a large professional army also gives the Presidency extraordinary leeway in sending an army on peacekeeping missions and other foreign ventures quickly with limited oversight.
After Watergate, Schlesinger wondered if the Imperial Presidency was in jeopardy. But Reagan and, more so, Bush II led to a resurgence. Bush II relied on the secrecy system to an even greater extant than even Nixon.
Review
JAH - Sydney Warren
"Richard M. Nixon, the author says, "for all his conventionality of utter- ance and mind was a genuine revolutionary." By his style and actions he defied tradition and made unprecedented assaults on the Constitution: his usurpation of the war-making power, his interpretation of the appointing power, his unilateral termination of statutory programs, his enlargement of executive privilege, his theory of impoundment, his deliberate disparage- ment of his cabinet, his discrediting of the press." [Warren points out that it is unclear whether Nixon's personality caused this or the national security state inevitably led to this.]
Argument
The Constitution granted the President extraordinary power and authority in leading America in foreign affairs. As a consequence, the modern President has been able to expand his powers to enormous levels out of times of foreign crises. The Cold War, in particular, led the executive branch to increase its power in making war without a declaration by Congress, to expand its secrecy protections, and to expand the use of Executive privilege.
Schlesinger also provides another concept: The Revolutionary Presidency, which seeks to stretch the power acquired through the Imperial Presidency into domestic affairs.
Nitty Gritty
The founders granted the President extraordinary leeway in foreign policy because it was expected that neither Congress nor the public would be experts in foreign affairs. Indeed this has more or less proven to be the case.
Schlesinger uses Lincoln as a model for how Presidents might reasonably exceed their explicit constitutional powers in an emergency; critically, Lincoln insisted that his broad claims of power were specific to the setting, and thus should not be taken as a permanent expansion of the office.
Schlesinger also notes the tendency of Congress to move to reclaim its power after periods of strong executive power. (After the Civil War, after WWI, and momentarily after WWII).
The Cold War looms over the Imperial Presidency. WWII led to a resurgence of the Presendancy, with Korea pushing it to a new level. But Vietnam is the key war. Both LBJ and especially Nixon expanded the powers of the President immensely, particularly in its secrecy system (which Schlesinger intriguingly suggests is based on the false assumption of national security, but actually exists largely to protect the government from embarassment).
Nixon's creation of a large professional army also gives the Presidency extraordinary leeway in sending an army on peacekeeping missions and other foreign ventures quickly with limited oversight.
After Watergate, Schlesinger wondered if the Imperial Presidency was in jeopardy. But Reagan and, more so, Bush II led to a resurgence. Bush II relied on the secrecy system to an even greater extant than even Nixon.
Review
JAH - Sydney Warren
"Richard M. Nixon, the author says, "for all his conventionality of utter- ance and mind was a genuine revolutionary." By his style and actions he defied tradition and made unprecedented assaults on the Constitution: his usurpation of the war-making power, his interpretation of the appointing power, his unilateral termination of statutory programs, his enlargement of executive privilege, his theory of impoundment, his deliberate disparage- ment of his cabinet, his discrediting of the press." [Warren points out that it is unclear whether Nixon's personality caused this or the national security state inevitably led to this.]
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