Syllabus for AHG 633: The American Presidency II: Andrew Johnson to the Present

Master of American History and Government

Ashland University

AHG 633:

The American Presidency II: Andrew Johnson to the Present

Sunday, June 29 to Friday, July 4, 2008

Instructors: Jeremy Bailey and Marc Landy

Course Description:

This course is an examination of the political and constitutional development of the presidency from Reconstruction to the present. It looks first at the dramatic decline of the authority and prestige of the presidency in the late 19th Century and resurgence of the Presidency during the Progressive period at which time the two themes that come to dominate the modern presidency first come to the fore: the president as domestic steward and the president as leader of a great power. It then examines FDR as the seminal figure in the actual establishment of the modern presidency. The course will then examine all the post-FDR presidents with special attention to LBJ and Reagan. It will conclude with a look at the contemporary presidency and the particular challenge posed for it by the War on Terror.

The course's key learning objectives are encompassed by the following questions:

To what extent does the presidency as described in Article Two of the Constitution serve to explain how the presidency currently functions?
Is there such a thing as the "modern presidency"? If so, when did it come into existence?
What does it mean to a "domestic steward?" Should the president be one?
Are there two presidencies, one domestic and one foreign?
Is the presidency the most powerful branch? Is the presidency too powerful?
What is the role of political parties in presidential affairs?
What is presidential greatness?
To what extent do great presidents determine the fortunes of those who follow them?

Course Requirements:

There will be a final exam given at the end of the course. It will be based on both the readings and class discussion and will be oriented towards the listed learning objectives for the course and the focus questions for each class.

Students auditing the course as a part of a Teaching American History Grant program must complete the readings and fully participate in the seminars during the week.

Required Texts:

Lou Cannon and Carl M. Cannon, Reagan's Disciple: George W. Bush's Troubled Quest for a Presidential Legacy ISBN: 1586484486
Jack L. Goldsmith, The Terror Presidency: Law and Judgment inside the Bush Administration ISBN: 0393065502
William E. Leuchtenburg, In the Shadow of FDR: From Harry Truman to George W. Bush ISBN: 0801487374
Michael Nelson, ed., The Evolving Presidency: Addresses, Cases, Essays, Letters, Reports, Resolutions, Transcripts, and Other Landmark Documents, 1787-2004 ISBN: 1568028717
Course Packet (or "CP") of additional reading materials. These materials are required texts for your course.

Schedule

Sunday, June 29

4:30 - 6:00pm:
Session 1 – The Constitutional Presidency I: The Founders to Lincoln, and Presidential Decline
Focus:
What is "energy" and why is it essential, according to Hamilton? What does the oath of office require? Under the Constitution, what is the relationship between parties and the presidency? Why did parties arise? According to Chief Justice Taney, does an emergency change the Constitution? Was Ex Parte Milligan a concession of, or an attack upon, presidential power? On what grounds was Andrew Johnson impeached by Republicans in the House? What would have happened to the presidency had he been removed by the Senate?
Readings:
Nelson, ed., The Evolving Presidency
Constitutional provision on the presidency
The Federalist, Nos. 69-70
Ex Parte Milligan (1866)
"Articles of Impeachment against Andrew Johnson" (1868)

7:30 - 9:00pm:
Session 2 – Ashbrook Lecture (Attendance Required)

Monday, June 30

9:00 - 10:30am:
Session 3 – The Populists and the Progressives
Focus:
Why were the no great presidents from 1860 to 1900? What is the central reform of the Populist Party Platform of 1892? How do the Populists plan to change the presidency? According to William Jennings Byran, what was the difference in 1896 between the Republican and Democratic Parties? What does TR learn from the Populists? Where does he differ?
What did the Progressives mean when they said that they wanted to separate politics from administration? Is it possible? What is the central difference between TR's and Taft's statements on inherent presidential power? Is this difference confirmed by examples from the administration of each? Can Taft's opinion in Myers be squared with his claim that there is no inherent executive power? To what extent does TR's attempt to found a new party parallel his understanding of presidential power? What does Wilson mea
Readings:
Populist Party Platform of 1892 (CP)

William Jennings Bryan, "Cross of Gold" Speech (CP)

Nelson, ed., The Evolving Presidency,

Theodore Roosevelt's and William Howard Taft's
Theories of Presidential Power" (1913, 1916)
Woodrow Wilson, "State of the Union" (1913)

Woodrow Wilson, Constitutional Government, selections (CP)

10:40am - 12:20pm:
Session 4 – FDR and a New Social Contract
Focus:
What is the argument of the Commonwealth Club Address? Does FDR seek to replace or revise the original social contract? Where might the presidency fit in? The parties?
Readings:
Nelson, ed., The Evolving Presidency

FDR, "First Inaugural" (1933)

FDR, "Commonwealth Club Address" (1932) (CP)

Landy/Milkis, Presidential Greatness, pp 153-182

1:45 - 3:15pm:
Session 5 – The Constitutional Presidency II
Focus:
According to Justice Sutherland in Curtiss-Wright, what is the source of the president's power to negotiate treaties? Why does Sutherland believe that his doctrine will help the US avoid "embarrassment" in international affairs? Can Sutherland's broad assertion of executive authority be reconciled with his opinion in Humphrey's Executor?
How does Humphrey's Executor revise Myers? In what way does Sutherland's opinion draw from the Progressive attempt to separate politics from administration? Which regulatory agencies should be considered "executive"? On what grounds does FDR make the case for changing the Supreme Court? Was he right?
Reading:
Nelson, ed., The Evolving Presidency

Myers v. United States (1926)
Humphrey's Executor v. United States (1935)
United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp. (1936)
FDR, "Court-Packing Address" (1937)

Tuesday, July 1

9:00 - 10:30am:
Session 6 – FDR: The Institutional Presidency and World War II
Focus:
To what extent does FDR's plan to pack the Court parallel his attempt to purge the Democratic Party? What were the political consequences of these proposals? Were there institutional consequences for the three departments of government? What does the Brownlow Committee want to do and why?
Did WWII end the New Deal or extend it? Did the modern presidency grow out of the New Deal and WWII? Was each necessary?
Readings:
Nelson, ed., The Evolving Presidency

"Report of the Brownlow Committee" (1937)

Landy/Milkis, Presidential Greatness, pp 182-197

10:40am - 12:20pm:
Session 7 – The Presidency at Mid-Century: Truman and Eisenhower
Focus:
Is Truman, like Johnson, best understood as an unlucky successor to a great president?
Does it matter that Youngstown is about domestic powers? On what do Justices Black and Jackson agree? Can either opinion be compared to Taney's opinion in Milligan? Which of the three leaves the most room for presidents to claim inherent powers?
To what extent was Eisenhower's executive order an example of weakness rather than power? Or, does this confirm the growth of the administrative presidency? To what provision of the Constitution does he point? Where does the presidency fit in Eisenhower's Modern Republicanism? Why wasn't he, the first Republican to break the New Deal coalition, great?
Reading:
Nelson, ed., The Evolving Presidency

Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952)
Eisenhower, Little Rock Executive Order (1957)

Leuchtenburg, Shadow of FDR, pp vii-62.

Landy/Milkis, Presidential Greatness, pp 198-205

4:30 - 6:00pm:
Session 8 – JFK & LBJ
Focus:
What does the 1960 Election reveal about changes taking place in the Democratic Party? What is the political legacy of JFK? What were the key similarities and differences in the political outlook and understanding of JFK and LBJ? How would you compare the New Deal to the Great Society? What relationship did the 1964 election bear to the Great Society? What did LBJ mean by "the Great Society?"
Readings:
Nelson, ed. The Evolving Presidency

JFK, "First Inaugural" (1961)
JFK, Letter to Nikita Krushchev (1962)
JFK, "Civil Rights Address" (1963)
LBJ, "Great Society Speech" (1964)

Leuchtenburg, Shadow of FDR, pp 63-160

Wednesday, July 2

9:00 - 10:30am:
Session 9 – Vietnam and the Election of 1968
Focus:
What were LBJ's objectives regarding the War in Viet Nam. Did he fail? If so why? Why did Nixon win? What is meant by the term "imperial presidency?" Is it an accurate term?
Readings:
Nelson, ed., The Evolving Presidency

LBJ, "Gulf of Tonkin Message" (1964)

Leuchtenburg, Shadow of FDR, pp 161-176

Landy/Milkis, Presidential Greatness, pp 205-219

10:40am - 12:20pm:
Session 10 – The Constitutional Presidency III: An Imperial Presidency?
Focus:
Every president since Nixon has argued, or suggested, that the War Powers Resolution is unconstitutional. Is it? Can it work?
What lessons does the Watergate scandal hold for the modern presidency? What does it reveal about separation of powers? Should Gerald Ford have pardoned Richard Nixon? What does the pardon reveal about the limits of the constitutional powers of the president? Why did neither Ford nor Carter get re-elected?
Readings:
Nelson, ed., The Evolving Presidency

War Powers Resolution (1973)
Proposed Articles of Impeachment against Richard Nixon (1974)
United States v. Nixon (1974)
The "Smoking Gun" Watergate Tapes (1974)
Gerald Ford's Pardon of Nixon (1974)
Immigration and Naturalization Services v. Chadha (1983)

Leuchtenburg, Shadow of FDR, pp 177-208

4:30 - 6:00pm:
Session 11 – Reagan, Bush, and Clinton
Focus:
Why did Reagan win the 1980 election? Was Reagan a great president? Was there a Reagan Revolution? What impact did Reagan have on the future of both the Republicans and the Democrats? Why did Bush lose?
What were the constitutional implications of the Gulf War? What were its political implications? Why did Clinton win the 1992 election? Did the term "New Democrat have any real meaning? Why did a Democratic president lose both houses of Congress for the first time since Truman? How did Clinton recover to win the 1996 election? Should Clinton have been impeached? What are the constitutional implications both of his impeachment and the Senate's failure to convict him? What is Clinton's political legacy? What important policy differences were there between Bush and Gore in the 2000 election? Was Gore v. Bush properly decided? What might be the long-term constitutional implications of this decision?
Readings:
Nelson, ed., The Evolving Presidency

Jimmy Carter, Crisis of Confidence Speech (1979)
Ronald Reagan, First Inaugural (1981)
George Bush, Persian Gulf War Address (1991)
Bill Clinton, State of the Union (1996)
Clinton v. City of New York (1998)
Articles of Impeachment against Bill Clinton (1998)
Al Gore and George W. Bush, Speeches Ending the 2000 Election (2000)
Gore v. Bush, in Nelson

Leuchtenburg, Shadow of FDR, pp 209-299

Thursday, July 3

9:00 - 10:30am:
Session 12 – War on Terror
Focus:
How did 9/11 change the modern presidency? What does it mean to conduct a "war on terror"? What is the unitary theory of the executive? What are its implications for domestic policy? Foreign? Does the Bush Administration's decision to ignore FIFSA violate the Constitution? Did Bush ever make a legal case for his actions? What is to be learned from Bush's legal strategy? How does it differ from FDR's?
Readings:
Nelson, ed., The Evolving Presidency

George W. Bush, War On Terrorism Address (2001)
The Bush Doctrine (2002)

Goldsmith, The Terror Presidency

10:50am - 12:20pm:
Session 13 – War on Terror, continued
Same focus and readings as Session 12
3:30 - 5:00pm:
Session 14 – The Bush Presidency: Reagan's Son?
Focus:
What were the key objectives and programs of the Bush Administration prior to 9/11? What are Bush's strengths and weaknesses as a civic educator? As a party leader? Would it be fair to say that Bush is more like Reagan than he is like his father? What does the presidency of Bush reveal about the legacy of Reagan?
Reading:
Cannon and Cannon, Reagan's Disciple

Landy/Milkis, Presidential Greatness, 219-226

Friday, July 4

9:00 - 10:30am:
Session 15 – The Bush Presidency: Reagan's Son?, continued
10:50am - 12:20pm:
Session 16 – Presidential Selection and 2008
Focus:
What was the purpose of the McGovern-Fraser Commission reforms? What have they actually achieved? In what ways did the nomination contest in 2008 suggest that we have moved toward "pure democracy"? toward "peer review"? In what ways has/will the nomination contest influence the general election contest?
Reading:
"McGovern-Fraser Commission Report" (1968), in Nelson

1:30 - 3:00pm:
Session 17 – Final Exam