Richard B. Cheney and the Rise of the Imperial Vice Presidency

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Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 0313356211
Total Pages : 257 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (133 download)

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Book Synopsis Richard B. Cheney and the Rise of the Imperial Vice Presidency by : Bruce P. Montgomery

Download or read book Richard B. Cheney and the Rise of the Imperial Vice Presidency written by Bruce P. Montgomery and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2009-02-01 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On taking office in 2001, Dick Cheney crowned himself the first imperial vice president in the nation's history, transforming a traditionally inconsequential office into a de facto fourth branch of government. Taking a less journalistic and personal approach to Cheney than previous biographers, this critical new biography shows exactly how Cheney engineered his arrogation of vast executive powers—and the dire consequences his power grab has had and will long continue to have for the office of the vice presidency, the balance of powers, the Constitution, geopolitics, and America's security, strength, and prestige. Taking advantage of the administration's global war on terrorism, a president inexperienced in matters of war and peace, and a Republican Congress that rated party power above institutional prerogatives, Vice President Cheney moved with astonishing speed and energy to assume a dominant role on the national and international stage as the effective president-in-proxy of the United States. Cheney asserted that all constitutional checks and balances and all individual liberties under the Bill of Rights are subservient to the president's powers as commander-in-chief in confronting international terrorism. Although former administrations had made power grabs in the past in times of national crisis, no president-and certainly no vice president-has ever exerted such sweeping claims of executive power on so many fronts in violation of the bedrock principles of the Constitution.

Vice

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Publisher : Random House
ISBN 13 : 1588366162
Total Pages : 272 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (883 download)

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Book Synopsis Vice by : Lou Dubose

Download or read book Vice written by Lou Dubose and published by Random House. This book was released on 2006-10-17 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The riveting, disturbing exposé of the vice president who co-opted executive control over the U.S. government and became the “shadow president” of the George W. Bush administration. Dick Cheney was the most powerful yet most unpopular vice president in U.S. history. He thrived alongside a president who had little interest in policy and limited experience in the ways of Washington. Yet Cheney’s quiet, steady rise to prominence over a span of three decades occurred largely behind the scenes. He survived the collapse of the Nixon presidency, finding a position in the administration of Gerald Ford. He was then elected to the House of Representatives, and later he earned a spot in the cabinet of the first Bush presidency. But when he became George W. Bush’s running mate, Cheney reached a new level of influence. From engineering his own selection as vice president to his support of policies allowing torture as a permissible weapon in the “war on terror,” Cheney steered America consistently rightward. In Vice, veteran reporters Lou Dubose and Jake Bernstein uncover startling revelations, including • the extraordinary intimidation of CIA officials by a vice president bent on obtaining intelligence to support a foregone conclusion: the invasion of Iraq • details on Cheney’s secret energy task force, including his meeting with Enron chief Ken Lay months before Lay was indicted—and how Cheney went to court to erode the powers of Congress • how Cheney helped to kill 2003 diplomatic overtures from Iran to discuss concessions on its nuclear program and policy toward Israel • Cheney’s role in engineering multibillion-dollar military contracts in Iraq to benefit Halliburton, the company he once ran In the words of one of Cheney’s colleagues from the House: “Dick keeps his own counsel. He’s completely in control. He’s completely sure of himself in everything he does. It’s what got him to where he is today: the most powerful vice president to ever hold office. It’s also what’s bringing about his downfall.”

Cheney

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Publisher : Harper Collins
ISBN 13 : 0061740608
Total Pages : 596 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (617 download)

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Book Synopsis Cheney by : Stephen F. Hayes

Download or read book Cheney written by Stephen F. Hayes and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2009-10-13 with total page 596 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During a forty-year career in politics, Vice President Dick Cheney has been involved in some of the most consequential decisions in recent American history. He was one of a few select advisers in the room when President Gerald Ford decided to declare an end to the Vietnam War. Nearly thirty years later, from the presidential bunker below the White House in the moments immediately following the attacks of September 11, 2001, he helped shape the response: America's global war on terror. Yet for all of his influence, the world knows very little about Dick Cheney. The most powerful vice president in U.S. history has also been the most secretive and guarded of all public officials. "Am I the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole?" Cheney asked rhetorically in 2004. "It's a nice way to operate, actually." Now, in Cheney: The Untold Story of America's Most Powerful and Controversial Vice President, New York Times bestselling author and Weekly Standard senior writer Stephen F. Hayes offers readers a groundbreaking view into the world of this most enigmatic man. Having had exclusive access to Cheney himself, Hayes draws upon hundreds of interviews with the vice president, his boyhood friends, political mentors, family members, reticent staffers, and senior Bush administration officials, to deliver a comprehensive portrait of one of the most important political figures in modern times. The wide range of topics Hayes covers includes Cheney's withdrawal from Yale; his early run-ins with the law; the incident that almost got him blackballed from working in the Ford White House; his meteoric rise to congressional leadership; his opposition to removing Saddam Hussein from power after the first Gulf War; the solo, cross-country drive he took after leaving the Pentagon; his selection as Bush's running mate; his commanding performance on 9/11; the aggressive intelligence and interrogation measures he pushed in the aftermath of those attacks; the necessity of the Iraq War; the consequences of mistakes made during and after that war; and intelligence battles with the CIA and their lasting effects. With exhaustive reporting, Hayes shines a light into the shadows of the Bush administration and finds a very different Dick Cheney from the one America thinks it knows.

The Rise and Rise of Richard B. Cheney

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Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781595580252
Total Pages : 268 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (82 download)

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Book Synopsis The Rise and Rise of Richard B. Cheney by : John Nichols

Download or read book The Rise and Rise of Richard B. Cheney written by John Nichols and published by . This book was released on 2005 with total page 268 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Updated to include an analysis of the 2004 election and changing cabinet, a profile of the current vice president draws on interviews with his college professors as well as such figures as Nelson Mandela and Gore Vidal to evaluate Cheney's role in setting energy policy, guiding the war in Iraq, and determining how corporate interests and the religious right influence lawmaking, foreign policy, and judge selection. Reprint. 20,000 first printing.

The Imperial Presidency

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Publisher : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
ISBN 13 : 9780618420018
Total Pages : 630 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (2 download)

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Book Synopsis The Imperial Presidency by : Arthur Meier Schlesinger

Download or read book The Imperial Presidency written by Arthur Meier Schlesinger and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2004 with total page 630 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Publisher Description

The White House Vice Presidency

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Publisher : University Press of Kansas
ISBN 13 : 070062483X
Total Pages : 440 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (6 download)

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Book Synopsis The White House Vice Presidency by : Joel K. Goldstein

Download or read book The White House Vice Presidency written by Joel K. Goldstein and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2017-03-03 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I am nothing, but I may be everything," John Adams, the first vice president, wrote of his office. And for most of American history, the "nothing" part of Adams's formulation accurately captured the importance of the vice presidency, at least as long as the president had a heartbeat. But a job that once was "not worth a bucket of warm spit," according to John Nance Garner, became, in the hands of the most recent vice presidents, critical to the governing of the country on an ongoing basis. It is this dramatic development of the nation's second office that Joel K. Goldstein traces and explains in The White House Vice Presidency. The rise of the vice presidency took a sharp upward trajectory with the vice presidency of Walter Mondale. In Goldstein's work we see how Mondale and Jimmy Carter designed and implemented a new model of the office that allowed the vice president to become a close presidential adviser and representative on missions that mattered. Goldstein takes us through the vice presidents from Mondale to Joe Biden, presenting the arrangements each had with his respective president, showing elements of continuity but also variations in the office, and describing the challenges each faced and the work each did. The book also examines the vice-presidential selection process and campaigns since 1976, and shows how those activities affect and/or are affected by the newly developed White House vice presidency. The book presents a comprehensive account of the vice presidency as the office has developed from Mondale to Biden. But The White House Vice Presidency is more than that; it also shows how a constitutional office can evolve through the repetition of accumulated precedents and demonstrates the critical role of political leadership in institutional development. In doing so, the book offers lessons that go far beyond the nation's second office, important as it now has become.

The Law of the Executive Branch

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Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199350418
Total Pages : 400 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (993 download)

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Book Synopsis The Law of the Executive Branch by : Dr. Louis Fisher

Download or read book The Law of the Executive Branch written by Dr. Louis Fisher and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2014-01-03 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The scope of presidential authority has been a constant focus of constitutional dispute since the Framing. The bases for presidential appointment and removal, the responsibility of the Executive to choose between the will of Congress and the President, the extent of unitary powers over the military, even the ability of the President to keep secret the identity of those consulted in policy making decisions have all been the subject of intense controversy. The scope of that power and the manner of its exercise affect not only the actions of the President and the White House staff, but also all staff employed by the executive agencies. There is a clear need to examine the law of the entire executive branch. The Law of the Executive Branch: Presidential Power, places the law of the executive branch firmly in the context of constitutional language, framers' intent, and more than two centuries of practice. In this book, Louis Fisher strives to separate legitimate from illegitimate sources of power, through analysis that is informed by litigation as well as shaped by presidential initiatives, statutory policy, judicial interpretations, and public and international pressures. Each provision of the US Constitution is analyzed to reveal its contemporary meaning in concert with the application of presidential power. Controversial issues covered in the book include: unilateral presidential wars; the state secrets privilege; extraordinary rendition; claims of "inherent" presidential powers that may not be checked by other branches; and executive privilege.

Debating the Presidency

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Publisher : CQ Press
ISBN 13 : 154439067X
Total Pages : 314 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (443 download)

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Book Synopsis Debating the Presidency by : Richard J. Ellis

Download or read book Debating the Presidency written by Richard J. Ellis and published by CQ Press. This book was released on 2019-12-20 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The study of the presidency—the power of the office, the evolution of the executive as an institution, the men who have served—has generated a great body of research and scholarship. What better way to get students to grapple with the ideas of the literature than through conflicting perspectives on some of the most pivotal issues facing the modern presidency? Richard Ellis and Michael Nelson have once again assembled a cadre of top scholars to offer a series of pro/con essays that will inspire spirited debate beyond the pages of the book. Each essay—written in the form of a debate resolution— offers a compelling yet concise view on the American executive.

Through the Maelstrom

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Publisher : University Press of Kansas
ISBN 13 : 0700621075
Total Pages : 440 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (6 download)

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Book Synopsis Through the Maelstrom by : Boris Gorbachevsky

Download or read book Through the Maelstrom written by Boris Gorbachevsky and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2015-03-27 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The monumental battles of World War II's Eastern Front--Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk--are etched into the historical record. But there is another, hidden history of that war that has too often been ignored in official accounts. Boris Gorbachevsky was a junior officer in the 31st Army who first saw front-line duty as a rifleman in the 30th Army. Through the Maelstrom recounts his three harrowing years on some of the war's grimmest but forgotten battlefields: the campaign for Rzhev, the bloody struggle to retake Belorussia, and the bitter final fighting in East Prussia. As he traces his experiences from his initial training, through the maelstrom, to final victory, he provides one of the richest and most detailed memoirs of life and warfare on the Eastern Front. Gorbachevsky's panoramic account takes us from infantry specialist school to the front lines to rear services areas and his whirlwind romances in wartime Moscow. He recalls the shriek of Katiusha rockets flying overhead toward the enemy and the unforgettable howl of Stukas divebombing Soviet tanks. And he conveys horrors of brutal fighting not recorded previously in English, including his own participation in a human wave assault that decimated his regiment at Rzhev, with piles of corpses growing the closer they got to the German trenches. Gorbachevsky also records the sufferings of the starving citizens of Leningrad, the savage execution of a Russian scout who turned in false information, the killing of an innocent German trying to welcome the Soviet troops, and a chilling campfire discussion by four Russian soldiers as they compared notes about the women they'd raped. His memoir brims with rich descriptions of daily army life, the challenges of maintaining morale, and relationships between soldiers. It also includes candid exposs of the many problems the Red Army faced: the influence of political officers, the stubbornness of senior commanders, the attrition through desertions, and the initial months of occupation in postwar Germany. Through the Maelstrom features the swiftly moving narrative and rich dialogue associated with the grand style of great Russian literature. Ultimately, it provides a fitting and final testament to soldiers who fought and died in anonymity.

Takeover

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Publisher : Little Brown & Company
ISBN 13 : 9780316118040
Total Pages : 400 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (18 download)

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Book Synopsis Takeover by : Charlie Savage

Download or read book Takeover written by Charlie Savage and published by Little Brown & Company. This book was released on 2007 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A critical investigation into how the Bush-Cheney administration has worked to increase presidential power at the cost of democratic constitutional balance reveals a range of questionable executive practices, from wiretapping and conservative judicial nominations to torture and imprisonment without trial. 35,000 first printing.

Imperialism and Expansionism in American History [4 volumes]

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Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 1610694309
Total Pages : 1665 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (16 download)

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Book Synopsis Imperialism and Expansionism in American History [4 volumes] by : Chris J. Magoc

Download or read book Imperialism and Expansionism in American History [4 volumes] written by Chris J. Magoc and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2015-12-14 with total page 1665 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This four-volume encyclopedia chronicles the historical roots of the United States' current military dominance, documenting its growth from continental expansionism to hemispheric hegemony to global empire. This groundbreaking four-volume encyclopedia offers sweeping coverage of a subject central to American history and of urgent importance today as the nation wrestles with a global imperial posture and the long-term viability of the largest military establishment in human history. The work features more than 650 entries encompassing the full scope of American expansionism and imperialism from the colonial era through the 21st-century "War on Terror." Readers will learn about U.S.-Native American conflicts; 19th-century land laws; early forays overseas, for example, the opening of Japan; and America's imperial conflicts in Cuba and the Philippines. U.S. interests in Latin America are explored, as are the often-forgotten ambitions that lay behind the nation's involvement in the World Wars. The work also offers extensive coverage of the Cold War and today's ongoing conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, Africa, and the Middle East as they relate to U.S. national interests. Notable individuals, including American statesmen, military commanders, influential public figures, and anti-imperialists are covered as well. The inclusion of cultural elements of American expansionism and imperialism—for example, Hollywood films and protest music—helps distinguish this set from other more limited works.

Red, White, and Kind of Blue?

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Publisher : University of Toronto Press
ISBN 13 : 1442629487
Total Pages : 325 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (426 download)

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Book Synopsis Red, White, and Kind of Blue? by : David Schneiderman

Download or read book Red, White, and Kind of Blue? written by David Schneiderman and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 2015-01-01 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Situated between two different constitutional traditions, those of the United Kingdom and the United States, Canada has maintained a distinctive third way: federal, parliamentary, and flexible. Yet in recent years it seems that Canadian constitutional culture has been moving increasingly in an American direction. Through the prorogation crises of 2008 and 2009, its senate reform proposals, and the appointment process for Supreme Court judges, Stephen Harper's Conservative government has repeatedly shown a tendency to push Canada further into the US constitutional orbit. Red, White, and Kind of Blue? is a comparative legal analysis of this creeping Americanization, as well as a probing examination of the costs and benefits that come with it. Comparing British, Canadian, and American constitutional traditions, David Schneiderman offers a critical perspective on the Americanization of Canadian constitutional practice and a timely warning about its unexamined consequences.

Don Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney in Hell

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Author :
Publisher : FreshWave Publishing
ISBN 13 : 0979651603
Total Pages : 350 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (796 download)

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Book Synopsis Don Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney in Hell by : Fred Stopsky

Download or read book Don Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney in Hell written by Fred Stopsky and published by FreshWave Publishing. This book was released on 2007 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Iran-Contra

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Publisher : University Press of Kansas
ISBN 13 : 0700625909
Total Pages : 464 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (6 download)

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Book Synopsis Iran-Contra by : Malcolm Byrne

Download or read book Iran-Contra written by Malcolm Byrne and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2017-09-11 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Everything began to unravel on October 5, 1986, when a Nicaraguan soldier downed an American plane carrying arms to “Contra” guerrillas, exposing a tightly held U.S. clandestine program. A month later, reports surfaced that Washington had been covertly selling arms to Iran (our sworn enemy and a state sponsor of terrorism), in exchange for help freeing hostages in Beirut. The profits, it turned out, were going to support the Contras, despite an explicit ban by Congress. In the firestorm that erupted, shocking details emerged, raising the prospect of impeachment, and the American public confronted a scandal as momentous as it was confusing. At its center was President Ronald Reagan amid a swirl of questions about illegal wars, consorting with terrorists, and the abuse of presidential power. Yet, despite the enormity of the issues, the affair dropped from the public radar due to media overkill, years of legal wrangling, and a vigorous campaign to forestall another Watergate. As a result, many Americans failed to grasp the scandal’s full import. Through exhaustive use of declassified documents, previously unavailable investigative materials, and wide-ranging interviews, Malcolm Byrne revisits this largely forgotten and misrepresented episode. Placing the events in their historical and political context (notably the Cold War and a sharp partisan domestic divide), he explores what made the affair possible and meticulously relates how it unfolded—including clarifying minor myths about cakes, keys, bibles, diversion memos, and shredding parties. Iran-Contra demonstrates that, far from being a “junta” against the president, the affair could not have occurred without awareness and approval at the very top of the U.S. government. Byrne reveals an unmistakable pattern of dubious behavior—including potentially illegal conduct by the president, vice president, the secretaries of state and defense, the CIA director and others—that formed the true core of the scandal. Given the lack of meaningful consequences for those involved, the volume raises critical questions about the ability of our current system of checks and balances to address presidential abuses of power, and about the possibility of similar outbreaks in the future.

The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Political and Legal History

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Author :
Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0199980918
Total Pages : pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (999 download)

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Book Synopsis The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Political and Legal History by :

Download or read book The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Political and Legal History written by and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2012-04-17 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Political and Legal History brings together, in one authoritative reference work, an unparalleled wealth of information about the laws, institutions, and actors that have governed America throughout its history. Embracing the interconnectedness of politics and law, The Encyclopedia addresses all aspects of both spheres, from presidents and Supreme Court justices to specifics of policy history, critical legislation, and party formation. Entries capture the unique nature of the nation's founding principles embodied in the Constitution, the expansive nature of American democracy, political conflict, and compromise, and the emergence of the modern welfare and regulatory state, all of which evince the tensions, contradictions, and possibilities manifest throughout America's history. Clearly demonstrating how US politics and law have evolved since the colonial era, The Encyclopedia encourages readers to anticipate further changes. With over 450 articles by expert scholars, each signed entry features numerous cross references and discussion of political and legal history as well as additional sources for further study. This two-volume A-to-Z compendium is a reference work of unparalleled depth and scope and will introduce a new generation of readers to the complexities of this dynamic field of study. It also features extensive cross-referencing, a topical outline, and a subject index.

Uncertain Allies

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Publisher : Yale University Press
ISBN 13 : 0300173199
Total Pages : 433 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (1 download)

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Book Synopsis Uncertain Allies by : Klaus Larres

Download or read book Uncertain Allies written by Klaus Larres and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2022 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Introduction -- 1. Golden age : years of reconstruction -- 2. Thinking of Europe and beyond : Nixon and Kissinger's priorities -- 3. Special relationships : a journey to a continent in transition -- 4. Living with deficits : economic predicaments -- 5. Downward spiral : monetary turmoil and the end of the old order -- 6 Turning point : the United States and the end of "benign hegemony" -- Conclusion.

Takeover

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Author :
Publisher : Little, Brown
ISBN 13 : 9780316019613
Total Pages : 416 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (196 download)

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Book Synopsis Takeover by : Charlie Savage

Download or read book Takeover written by Charlie Savage and published by Little, Brown. This book was released on 2007-09-05 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1789, the Founding Fathers came up with a system of checks and balances to keep kingly powers out of the hands of American presidents. But in the 1970s and '80s, a faction of Republican loyalists, outraged by the fall of the imperial presidency after Watergate and the Vietnam War, abandoned conservatives' traditional suspicion of concentrated government power. These men hatched a plot that would allow the White House to return to, or even surpass, the virtually unchecked powers that Richard Nixon had briefly tried to wield. Congress would be defanged, and the commander-in-chief would be able to assert a unilateral dominance both at home and abroad. Today, this plot is coming to fruition. As Takeover reveals, the Bush-Cheney administration has succeeded in seizing vast powers for the presidency by throwing off many of the restraints placed upon it by Congress, the courts, and the Constitution. This timely book unveils the secret machinations behind the headlines, explaining the links between warrantless wiretapping and the President Bush's Supreme Court nominees, between the torture debate and the secrecy surrounding Vice President Cheney's energy task force, and between the "faith-based initiative" and the holding of US citizens without trial as "enemy combatants." It tells, for the first time, the full story of a hidden agenda three decades in the making, laying out how a group of true believers set out to establish monarchical executive powers that, in the words of one conservative critic, "will lie around like a loaded weapon" ready to be picked up by any future president. Brilliantly reported and deftly told, Takeover is a searing investigation into how the constitutional balance of our democracy is in danger of being permanently altered. For anyone who cares about America's past, present, and future, it is essential reading.