The Imperial Presidency

The Imperial Presidency is a nonfiction book by historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. It was published in 1973 by Houghton Mifflin and reissued in 2004. The book details the history of the presidency of the United States from its conception by the Founding Fathers through the latter half of the 20th century, primarily in the aspects of war powers. Schlesinger's book popularized the term imperial presidency to describe excesses of executive power. The Imperial Presidency has been described as "the most prominent school of thought on executive war powers" and "a lens through which to understand and critique the executive branch in the post-9/11 world". Background Schlesinger began writing The Imperial Presidency in March, 1973, shortly after Richard Nixon's reelection as president and the escalation of the Watergate scandal. Schlesinger had intended the book to examine how war-making power had been extended unofficially by the office of the president; in his journal, he reflected that "Watergate came along to provide the climax and, I trust, denouement." The rapidly written book was published by Thanksgiving. Schlesinger, who had been a vocal advocate for a strong, activist executive being essential to democracy, acknowledges in The Imperial Presidency that expansions of presidential power had led to dangerous abuse of the office. The reissue in 2004 included a new introduction in which Schlesigner excoriated George W. Bush as an imperial president, calling the 2003 invasion of Iraq "the needless war". Synopsis The Imperial Presidency examines changes in the extent of executive power, particularly in the context of war, from the establishment of the United States through the presidency of Richard Nixon. It discusses how the applications of the Constitutional authority to declare war given to Congress and the Constitutional authority to conduct foreign policy and act as commander-in-chief given to the president have evolved since the government's inception, creating a dangerous imbalance in the separation of powers.