The Cult of the Presidency

Second edition featuring a new foreword and afterword.The modern presidency has become the biggest fault line of polarization in America--the executive power to reshape American life and law has expanded beyond anything the Founding Fathers could have imagined. In this provocative book, author Gene Healy argues that the fault lies not in our leaders but in ourselves. When our scholars lionize presidents who break free from constitutional restraints, when our columnists and talking heads repeatedly call upon the "commander in chief " to dream great dreams and seek the power to achieve them--when voters look to the president for salvation from all problems great and small--should we really be surprised that the presidency has burst its constitutional bonds and grown powerful enough to threaten American liberty?