The Presidents and the Constitution, Volume Two: From World War I to the Trump Era

by Ken Gormley (Editor)

Overview

A revealing look at the constitutional issues that confronted and shaped each presidency from Woodrow Wilson through Donald J. Trump

Drawing from the monumental publication The Presidents and the Constitution: A Living History in 2016, the nation’s foremost experts in the American presidency and the US Constitution tell the intertwined stories of how the last eighteen American presidents have interfaced with the Constitution and thus defined the most powerful office in human history.

This volume leads off with Woodrow Wilson, the president who led the nation through World War I, and ends with Donald J. Trump, who ushered the US into uncharted political and legal territory. In between, the country was confronted with international wars, the civil rights movement, 9/11, and the advent of the internet, all of which presented unique and pressing constitutional issues. The last one hundred years reveals the awesome powers of the American presidency in domestic and foreign affairs, illustrating how they have stood up to modern and novel legal challenges. The Presidents and the Constitution is for anyone interested in a captivating and illuminating account of one of the most compelling subjects in our American democracy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781479819980
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	09/27/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	744,527
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Ken Gormley is President and Professor of Law at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. He is the award-winning author of the New York Times best seller The Death of American Virtue: Clinton vs. Starr, and Archibald Cox: Conscience of a Nation.

Table of Contents

Part VII World War I and the Great Depression

28 Woodrow Wilson Saladin M. Ambar 3

29 Warren G. Harding James D. Robenalt 17

30 Calvin Coolidge John W. Johnson Dale E. P. Yurs 31

31 Herbert Hoover John Q. Barrett 41

Part VIII The New Deal and World War II

32 Franklin Delano Roosevelt William D. Pederson 55

33 Harry S. Truman James N. Giglio 73

Part IX The Civil Rights Era

34 Dwight D. Eisenhower Richard V. Damms 89

35 John F. Kennedy Barbara A. Perry 105

36 Lyndon B. Johnson John L. Bullion 119

Part X The Watergate Era and Reform

37 Richard M. Nixon Stanley Kutler 137

38 Gerald R. Ford Jeffrey Crouch 153

39 Jimmy Carter Scott Kaufman 167

Part XI New Conservatives, New Democrats, and Polarization

40 Ronald Reagan Kenneth W. Starr 185

41 George H.W. Bush Lori Cox Han 203

42 William Jefferson Clinton Ken Gormley 216

Part XII The Era of Global Conflicts and Partisan Divide

43 George W. Bush Benjamin A. Kleinerman 235

44 Barack Obama Michael J. Gerhardt 251

45 Donald J. Trump Ken Gormley Joy G. McNally Joseph Disarro 272

Conclusion: An Evolving American Presidency Ken Gormley 311

Acknowledgments 329

Photo Credits 331

About the Contributors 333

Index 339

Editorial Reviews

"This book is excellent for collections on American politics, the Constitution, and the presidency."

CHOICE