Imperial Presidency: Reform Lessons from the George W Bush Era

In 1973, historian Arthur Schlesinger coined the term Imperial Presidency to describe a presidency that had assumed more power than the Constitution allows, and had circumvented the traditional checks and balances of our constitutional system. Until recently, the Nixon Administration seemed to represent the singular embodiment of that idea. But today, examining the George W. Bush presidency, there can be little doubt concerning the persistence of Mr. Schlesinger’s notion. The Bush Administration’s approach to power, is at its core, little more than a restatement of Mr Nixon’s famous rationalisation of presidential misdeeds: When the president does it, that means it’s not illegal . This book examines the lessons and recommendations relating to the Presidency of George W Bush.