Crisis and Command: A History of Executive Power from George Washington to George W. Bush

by John Yoo

  165 Jackson, Protest, supra note 164, at 85.

  166 Ibid. at 85-86.

  167 Ibid. at 79.

  168 Ibid.

  169 Ibid. at 90.

  170 Ibid.

  171 Ibid.

  172 Ibid. at 86.

  173 Remini, Bank War, supra note 85, at 145.

  174 Ibid.

  175 Ibid.

  176 Ibid. at 146.

  177 Ibid.

  178 Ibid.

  179 Ibid.

  180 10 Reg. Deb. 1575 (1834).

  181 Ibid.

  182 Ibid.

  183 Ibid.

  184 Remini, Bank War, supra note 85, at 160-68.

  185 See Wilentz, supra note 1, at 150.

  186 Remini, Bank War, supra note 85, at 166.

  187 For historical background on the political and economic issues surrounding the tariff, see Howe, supra note 1, at 395-410; and Richard Ellis, The Union at Risk: Jacksonian Democracy, States' Rights, and the Nullification Crisis (1987).

  188 See Wilentz, supra note 1, at 63.

  189 Ibid.

  190 See ibid. at 63-64.

  191 John C. Calhoun, Exposition and Protest (Dec. 19, 1828), in Union and Liberty: The Political Philosophy of John C. Calhoun (Ross M. Lence ed., 1992).

  192 It is difficult to escape the conclusion that the real issue behind nullification was not the tariff, but slavery. If a numerical majority in the North could enact a tariff over Southern objections, Southerners asked, what would prevent it from eradicating slavery, too?

  193 Daniel Webster, Speech on Mr. Foot's Resolution, in 2 American Eloquence: A Collection of Speeches and Addresses by the Most Imminent Orators of America 899 (Frank Moore ed., 1857).

  194 Wilentz, supra note 1, at 65 (emphasis added).

  195 James Parton, Life of Andrew Jackson 283 (1888).

  196 Wilentz, supra note 1, at 64.

  197 Andrew Jackson, Fourth Annual Message to Congress (Dec. 4, 1832), in 2 Richardson, Messages, supra note 60, at 598.

  198 Andrew Jackson, Proclamation (Dec. 10, 1832), in 2 ibid. at 641 (hereinafter "Jackson, Proclamation").

  199 Ibid. at 643 (emphasis in original).

  200 Ibid. at 645.

  201 Ibid. at 646.

  202 Ibid. at 643.

  203 Ibid.

  204 Ibid. at 642.

  205 Ibid. at 648.

  206 Ibid. 207 Ibid.

  207 Ibid.

  208 Ibid.

  209 3 Remini, Jackson, supra note 1, at 22.

  210 Jackson, Proclamation, supra note 198, at 652.

  211 Ibid. at 654.

  212 Ibid.

  213 Ibid.

  214 Ibid.

  215 Ibid. at 654-55.

  216 Ibid. at 655.

  217 3 Remini, Jackson, supra note 1, at 26.

  218 Ibid.

  219 Ibid. at 34.

  220 Ibid.

  221 Ibid. at 29.

  222 Andrew Jackson, Message to Congress (Jan. 16, 1833), in 2 Richardson, Messages, supra note 60, at 620-21.

  223 Ibid. at 631.

  224 Ibid. at 632.

  225 3 Remini, Jackson, supra note 1, at 37.

  226 Ibid. at 38.

  227 See generally Paul Bergeron, The Presidency of James K. Polk 1-21 (1987).

  228 To the Senate and House of Representatives, May 11, 1846, in 5 Richardson, Messages, supra note 60, at 2292.

  229 Howe, supra note 1, at 731-91.

  230 See generally John S. D. Eisenhower, So Far From God: The U.S. War With Mexico, 1846-1848 (2000).

  231 Howe, supra note 1, at 797. See Third Annual Message, Dec. 7, 1847, in 5 Richardson, Messages, supra note 60, 2382, 2384-88; Speech in the U.S. House of Representatives on the War with Mexico, Jan. 12, 1848, in Abraham Lincoln Speeches and Writings, 1832-1858, at 161, 168 (Don E. Fehrenbacher ed., 1989); and David H. Donald, Lincoln 122-24 (1995).

  232 Howe, supra note 1, at 796-811.

  233 Ibid.

  234 Ibid. at 809.

  235 Ibid. at 808.

  CHAPTER 6: ABRAHAM LINCOLN

  1 Lincoln to Albert G. Hodges, Apr. 4, 1864, in Don E. Fehrenbacher, ed., Abraham Lincoln, Speeches and Writings, 1859-1865, at 586 (1989) (hereinafter "Lincoln, Speeches and Writings"). There are a wide number of sources on Lincoln; he is reportedly the subject of the most books in the English language after Jesus and Shakespeare. Yet, there are relatively few books on Lincoln's performance of his role as President and Commander-in-Chief. I have relied in this chapter on a few outstanding works: David Donald, Lincoln (1995) (hereinafter "Donald, Lincoln"); Daniel Farber, Lincoln's Constitution (2003); Harold Hyman, A More Perfect Union: The Impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on the Constitution (1975); James MacPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom (1988) (hereinafter "MacPherson, Battle Cry"); Mark Neely, The Fate of Liberty: Abraham Lincoln and Civil Liberties (1991); Phillip Shaw Paludan, The Presidency of Abraham Lincoln (1994); and J. G. Randall, Constitutional Problems Under Lincoln (1951). There are also a number of important articles on Lincoln's exercise of his constitutional powers, and whether they amounted to a dictatorship. In the chapters of the books on the Presidency that discuss Lincoln in detail, political scientists generally argue that Lincoln exercised powers approaching a dictatorship. Historians, on the other hand, seem to conclude that Lincoln's policies rested within his executive powers, broadly construed. See Herman Belz, Lincoln and the Constitution: The Dictatorship Question Reconsidered (1984); Michael Les Benedict, The Constitution of the Lincoln Presidency and the Republican Era, in Martin Fausold and Alan Shank eds., The Constitution and the American Presidency 45 (1991); David Donald, Lincoln Reconsidered: Essays on the Civil War Era 187 (1947) (hereinafter "Donald, Lincoln Reconsidered"); and Don Fehrenbacher, Lincoln in Text and Context: Collected Essays 113 (1987).

  2 Those deaths had a much greater impact than other wars, such as World Wars I and II, because the casualties represented a much larger share of the nation's smaller population in 1861 than more recent conflicts.

  3 6 Messages and Papers of the Presidents, 1789-1897, at 277 (James D. Richardson ed., 1897) (hereinafter "Richardson").

  4 See, e.g., Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., The Imperial Presidency 59 (1973); Clinton Rossiter, Constitutional Dictatorship: Crisis Government in the Modern Democracies (1948); and Edward S. Corwin, The President: Office and Powers, 1787-1984, at 20-22 (5th ed. 1984).

  5 Lincoln to Hodges, Apr. 4, 1864, in Lincoln, Speeches and Writings, supra note 1, at 586.

  6 Ibid.

  7 Donald, Lincoln Reconsidered, supra note 1, at 191-96.

  8 60 U.S. (19 How.) 393 (1857).

  9 Lincoln, First Inaugural Address, Mar. 4, 1861, in Lincoln, Speeches and Writings, supra note 1, at 221.

  10 See Texas v. White, 74 U.S. 700, 725 (1869) ("The Constitution, in all its provisions, looks to an indestructible Union, composed of indestructible States.").

  11 Power of the President in Executing the Laws, 9 Op. Att'y Gen. 516-24 (Nov. 20, 1860). See also Farber, supra note 1, at 75-76.

  12 James Buchanan, Fourth Annual Message, Dec. 3, 1860, in 5 Richardson, supra note 3, at 626, 635-36. See also Farber, supra note 1, at 76.

  13 James Buchanan, Special Message to Congress, Jan. 8, 1861, in 5 Richardson, supra note 3, at 656.

  14 Lincoln, Speeches and Writings, supra note 1, at 215-222.

  15 Ibid. at 224. See Michael Stokes Paulsen, Review: The Civil War as Constitutional Interpretation, 71 University of Chicago Law Review 691, 706-07 (2004) (explaining Lincoln's belief in a duty to defeat secession).

  16 McPherson, Battle Cry, supra note 1, at 313.

  17 There is some dispute as to whether Taney was sitting as a judge on circuit or as a Supreme Court Justice in chambers at the time. For a more detailed discussion of the Merryman case, see John Yoo, Of Merryman and Milligan, Journal of Supreme Court History (forthcoming 2010). The facts of the case are described in Ex Parte Merryman, 17 F. Cas. 144 (C.C.D.Md. 1861) (No. 9487). No good history focuses on Jo
hn Merryman and the history of the case, aside from a helpful essay. See Arthur T. Downey, The Conflict between the Chief Justice and the Chief Executive: Ex Parte Merryman, 31 Journal of Supreme Court History 262 (2006).

  18 Merryman, 17 F. Cas. at 152.

  19 Ibid.

  20 Paludan, supra note 1, at 76.

  21 Act of Aug. 6, 1861, 12 Stat. 326.

  22 The Prize Cases, 67 U.S. (2 Black) 635, 666 (1862).

  23 Ibid. at 666-67.

  24 Ibid. at 668.

  25 Ibid. at 670.

  26 To Lyman Trumbull, Dec. 10, 1860, in Lincoln, Speeches and Writings, supra note, at 190.

  27 Paludan, supra note 1, at 33-34.

  28 Ibid. at 84-87.

  29 Ibid. at 108-18.

  30 Ibid. 98, 104.

  31 Ibid. at 105.

  32 Eliot Cohen, Supreme Command: Soldiers, Statesmen, and Leadership in Wartime (2002).

  33 To Edwin M. Stanton, May 17, 1864, in Lincoln, Speeches and Writings, supra note 1, at 594.

  34 For general discussion, see Donald, Lincoln, supra note 1, at 367; and MacPherson, Battle Cry, supra note 1, at 515.

  35 Ibid. at 83.

  36 Farber, supra note 1, at 153.

  37 See discussion in Randall, supra note 1, at 342-70.

  38 Paludan, supra note 1, at 84.

  39 Confiscation Act, 12 Stat. 319 (Aug. 6, 1861); and Second Confiscation Act, 12 Stat. 589 (July 17, 1862). See Randall, supra note 1, at 351-63.

  40 Militia Act, 12 Stat. 597 (July 17, 1862).

  41 Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, Sept. 22, 1862, in Lincoln, Speeches and Writings, supra note 1, at 368.

  42 Paludan, supra note 1, at 155.

  43 Final Emancipation Proclamation, Jan. 1, 1863, in Lincoln, Speeches and Writings, supra note 1, at 424.

  44 To Horace Greeley, Aug. 22, 1862, in Ibid. at 358.

  45 To James C. Conkling, Aug. 26, 1863, in Ibid. at 497.

  46 See, e.g., Randall, supra note 1, at 374-404.

  47 See, e.g., Miller v. United States 78 U.S. 268 (1870) (confiscation of property); Ford v. Surget, 97 U.S. 594 (1878) (destruction of property); and New Orleans v. The Steamship Co., 87 U.S. 387 (1874) (transfer of property).

  48 Annual Message to Congress, Dec. 6, 1864, in Lincoln, Speeches and Writings, supra note 1, at 658.

  49 On this point, see Harry Jaffa, A New Birth of Freedom: Abraham Lincoln and the Coming of the Civil War (2000); and Harry Jaffa, Crisis of the House Divided: An Interpretation of the Issues in the Lincoln-Douglas Debates (1959).

  50 Address at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, Nov. 19, 1863, in Lincoln, Speeches and Writings, supra note 1, at 536.

  51 See James McPherson, Abraham Lincoln and the Second American Revolution 75-76 (1990).

  52 Ibid. at 84.

  53 Donald, Lincoln, supra note 1, at 523.

  54 Ibid.

  55 Annual Message to Congress, Dec. 6, 1864, in Lincoln, Speeches and Writings, supra note 1, at 660.

  56 Paludan, supra note 1, at 73-74.

  57 Lincoln to Erastus Corning and Others, June 12, 1863, in Lincoln, Speeches and Writings, supra note 1, at 458.

  58 Special Message to Congress, July 4, 1861, in Ibid. at 252-53.

  59 Suspension of the Privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus, 10 U.S. Op. Att'y Gen. 74 (July 5, 1861).

  60 Luther v. Borden, 48 U.S. 1 (1849); and Moyer v. Peabody, 212 U.S. 78 (1909). For discussion, see Farber, supra note 1, at 148-49.

  61 Lincoln, Speeches and Writings, supra note 1, at 371.

  62 Neely, supra note 1, at 168-69.

  63 See ibid. at 28, 65-68.

  64 Ex Parte Vallandigham, 68 U.S. 243 (1863).

  65 Lincoln to Erastus Corning and Others, June 12, 1863, in Lincoln, Speeches and Writings, supra note 1, at 456-60.

  66 Ibid. at 461-62.

  67 Reply to Ohio Democrats, June 29, 1863, in Lincoln, Speeches and Writings, supra note 1, at 466-69; and Paludan, supra note 1, at 201-02.

  68 Habeas Corpus Act, 12 Stat. 755 (Mar. 3, 1863).

  69 Randall, supra note 1, at 166-67.

  70 No good biography exists of Milligan, but there are several helpful articles about him and his case. See, e.g., Frank L. Klement, The Indianapolis Treason Trials and Ex Parte Milligan, in American Political Trials 101 (Michael R. Belknap ed., 1981); Allan Nevins, The Case of the Copperhead Conspirator, in Quarrels That Have Shaped the Constitution 101 (John A. Garraty ed., 1962); and Kenneth M. Stampp, The Milligan Case and the Election of 1864 in Indiana, 31 Mississippi Valley Historical Review 41 (1944). One short book is Darwin Kelley, Milligan's Fight Against Lincoln (1973).

  71 Ex Parte Milligan, 71 U.S. 2 (1866).

  72 Quoted in 3 Charles Warren, The Supreme Court in United States History, 1856-1918, at 151 (1922).

  73 3 Ibid. at 154.

  74 3 Ibid. at 149-50 (describing Republican reaction); Ex Parte McCardle, 74 U.S. (7 Wall.) 506 (1868) (upholding constitutionality of repeal of appellate jurisdiction over military commissions).

  75 For a contrary view, see Stanley I. Kutler, Ex Parte McCardle: Judicial Impotency?: The Supreme Court and Reconstruction Reconsidered, 72 American Historical Review 835 (1967); and William W. Van Alstyne, A Critical Guide to Ex Parte McCardle, 15 Arizona Law Review 229 (1973).

  76 Neely, supra note 1, at 113-38.

  77 See, e.g., Geoffrey Stone, Perilous Times: Free Speech in Wartime 94-120 (2004).

  78 For discussions of the law and policy of Reconstruction, see generally Herman Belz, Reconstructing the Union: Theory and Policy During the Civil War (1969); Michael Les Benedict, A Compromise of Principle: Congressional Republicans and Reconstruction, 1863-1869 (1974); and Harold Hyman, A More Perfect Union: The Impact of the Civil War and Reconstruction on the Constitution (1975).

  79 See generally Eyal Benvenisti, The International Law of Occupation (1992).

  80 Paludan, supra note 1, at 235.

  81 Randall, supra note 1, at 225-27.

  82 The Grapeshot, 76 U.S. (9 Wall.) 129 (1869); and United States v. Diekelman, 92 U.S. 520 (1875).

  83 The Grapeshot, 76 U.S. at 132.

  84 Paludan, supra note 1, at 244.

  85 Annual Message to Congress, Dec. 8, 1863, in Lincoln, Speeches and Writings, supra note 1, at 552.

  86 Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, Dec. 8, 1863, in Ibid. at 555-58.

  87 Paludan, supra note 1, at 265.

  88 Donald, Lincoln, supra note 1, at 511.

  89 Wade-Davis Manifesto, Aug. 5, 1864, available at www.vlib.us/amdocs/texts/1864wade.html.

  90 Memorandum on Probable Failure of Re-election, Aug. 23, 1864, in Lincoln, Speeches and Writings, supra note 1, at 624.

  91 Response to Serenade, Washington, D.C., Nov. 10, 1864, in Ibid. at 641.

  92 Paludan, supra note 1, at 290.

  93 Response to Serenade, Nov. 10, 1864, in Lincoln, Speeches and Writings, supra note 1, at 641.

  94 Donald, Lincoln, supra note 1, at 561.

  95 Eric Foner exemplifies the academic consensus that views Reconstruction as a noble effort to expand the civil rights of black freemen in the South. Eric Foner, Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution 1863-1877 (1988).

  96 Donald, Lincoln, supra note 1, at 562.

  97 Annual Message to Congress, Dec. 6, 1864, in Lincoln, Speeches and Writings, supra note 1, at 660.

  98 Second Inaugural Address, Mar. 4, 1865, in Ibid. at 686-87.

  99 Ibid. at 687.

  100 Speech on Reconstruction, Apr. 11, 1865, in Ibid. at 698.

  101 Donald, Lincoln, supra note 1, at 592.

  102 See Michael Les Benedict, The Impeachment and Trial of Andrew Johnson 1-25 (1973).

  103 Ibid.

  104 Ibid. at 13.

  105 Ibid. at 22.

  106 Ibid. at 60.

  107 Ibid. at 89-180.

  108 Myers v. United States, 272 U.S. 52 (1926) (observing that the Tenure in Office Act violated the Constitution).

  109 Foner, supra note 95, at
602-03.

  CHAPTER 7: FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT

  1 There are a great number of works on Roosevelt, with more appearing all of the time. I have relied on general works for the background to this chapter. Conrad Black, Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom (2005); James MacGregor Burns, Roosevelt: The Lion and the Fox 1882-1940 (1956); James MacGregor Burns, FDR: Soldier of Freedom 1940-1945 (1970); 1-5 Kenneth S. Davis, FDR (1972-2000); Frank Freidel, Franklin D. Roosevelt: A Rendezvous with Destiny (1991); George McGimsey, The Presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (2000); 1-3 Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., The Age of Roosevelt (1957-60); and Geoffrey C. Ward, A First-Class Temperament: The Emergence of Franklin Roosevelt (1990). Similarly, there are a multitude of works on the New Deal. Some that have been particularly helpful are Alan Brinkley, Voices of Protest: Huey Long, Father Coughlin, and the Great Depression (1983); Alan Brinkley, The End of Reform: New Deal Liberalism in Recession and War (1996); Barry Cushman, Rethinking the New Deal Court: The Structure of a Constitutional Revolution (1998); David M. Kennedy, Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945 (2001); William E. Leuchtenburg, Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal (1963); Sidney M. Milkis, The President and the Parties: The Transformation of the American Party System Since the New Deal (1993); and G. Edward White, The Constitution and the New Deal (2002).

  2 See, e.g., Milkis, supra note 1, at 98-124; Theodore Lowi, The Personal President: Power Invested, Promise Unfulfilled (1985).

  3 To understand the economics of the Great Depression and the New Deal, see 1 Allan Meltzer, A History of the Federal Reserve, 1913-1951 (2003); Peter Temin, The Great Depression, in 3 The Cambridge Economic History of the United States 301 (Stanley Engerman & Robert Gallman eds., 2000); Thomas Hall & David Ferguson, The Great Depression: An International Disaster of Perverse Economic Policies (1998); Richard Vedder & Lowell Gallaway, Out of Work: Unemployment and Government in Twentieth Century America (1997); Barry Eichengreen, Golden Fetters, The Gold Standard and the Great Depression, 1919-1939 (1995); and Milton Friedman & Anna Schwartz, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867-1960, at 299-301 (1963). John Kenneth Galbraith, The Great Crash 1929 (2d ed. 1961), remains a classic treatment, but one that has been surpassed by more recent work.