The Political Inquirer

Since Taft, presidents have consistently abused “executive privilege” and “for the good of the people” to undertake ventures that are unconstitutional. Wilson, Roosevelt, Nixon, Clinton and Bush are just a few of our horrible presidents that are willing and ready to do away with our Constitution. This is fully relevant in today’s society.

The true view of the Executive functions is, as I conceive it, that the President can exercise no power which cannot be fairly and reasonably traced to some specific grant of power or justly implied and included within such express grant as proper and necessary to its exercise. Such specific grant must be either in the Federal Constitution or in an act of Congress passed in pursuance thereof. There is no undefined residuum of power…. The grants of Executive power are necessarily in general terms in order not to embarrass the Executive within the field of action plainly marked for him, but his jurisdiction must be justified and vindicated by affirmative constitutional or statutory provision, or it does not exist.

[Source: Our Chief Magistrate and His Powers (NY: Columbia University Press, 1916).]