A classic and bestselling work by one of America’s top Constitutional scholars, Presidential War Power garnered the lead review in the New York Times Book Review and raised essential issues that have only become more timely, relevant, and controversial in our post-9/11 era. In this third edition, Louis Fisher updates his arguments throughout, critiques the presidential actions of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and challenges what he views as their dangerous expansion of executive power. Spanning the life of the Republic from the Revolutionary Era to the War on Terror, the new edition covers for the first time: * Indefinite detention of civilians and non-civilians without trial * President Obama’s failed effort to close Guantánamo * NSA wiretapping and Fourth Amendment violations * Presidential decision-making relating to the wind-down of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan * U.S. military operations against Libya in 2011 * Continued abuse of the state secrets privilege in national security court cases * Secret legal memos justifying the use of UAVs or drones for targeted killings overseas * Extended comparison of the expansion of executive power under George W. Bush and Barack Obama

Provides primary sources on whether the President exceeded his Constitutional authority in declaring war in Vietnam and Cambodia and commiting forces to combat and ordering the attack on the Cambodian sanctuaries.

This book examines the use of presidential power during the War on Terror. Justin DePlato joins the debate on whether the Constitution matters in determining how each branch of the federal government should use its power to combat the War on Terror. The actions and words of Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama are examined. DePlato's findings support the theory that executives use their own prerogative in determining what emergency powers are and how to use them. According to DePlato, the Presidents argue that their powers are implied in Article II of the Constitution, not expressed. This conclusion renders the Constitution meaningless in times of crisis. The author reveals that Presidents are becoming increasingly cavalier and that the nation should consider adopting an amendment to the Constitution to proffer expressed executive emergency powers.

Providing both a historical and contemporary perspective on presidential powers, The Powers of the Presidency guides readers through the presidency as a constitutional office, covering how it was shaped by design at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 and by later constitutional amendments, Supreme Court decisions, and custom and precedent. It discusses the various roles of the chief executive, including chief of state, chief administrator, legislative leader, chief diplomat, commander in chief, and chief economist. The fourth edition of this accessible and affordable work has been significantly updated and features: · Coverage of the final years of George W. Bush and the first three years of Barack Obama′s presidency · Extensive coverage of the Obama Administration′s efforts to curb economic decline · Updates on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the killing of Osama bin Laden, and on the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay · Coverage of the Arab Spring protests and U.S. involvement in the military intervention in Libya · Barack Obama′s health care reform legislation

This book features a lively debate between two prominent scholars—Michael A. Genovese and David Gray Adler—on the critical issue of whether the Constitution, written in the 18th Century, remains adequate to the national security challenges of our time. The question of the scope of the president’s constitutional authority—if any—to initiate war on behalf of the American people, long the subject of heated debate in the corridors of power and the groves of academe, has become an issue of surpassing importance for a nation confronted by existential threats in an Age of Terrorism. This question should be thoroughly reviewed and debated by members of Congress, and considered by all Americans before they are asked to go to war. If the constitutional allocation of powers on matters of war and peace is outdated, what changes should be made? Is there a need to increase presidential power? What role should Congress play in the war on terror?