The Cult-ivation of Executive Power

Abstract

This short review of Gene Healy's "The Cult of the Presidency" argues that the powerful modern presidency, for all the perversities it can produce, is not the principal threat to our security or our liberties. The best recent example of the relatively modest presidency envisioned by many of the Constitution's framers, moreover, has been underappreciated by those most worried about executive imperialism.

Keywords: Constitution, executive power, federal government, framers, Healy, imperialism, presidential power, presidency