Imperial from the beginning : the constitution of the original executive

Eminent scholar Saikrishna Prakash offers the first truly comprehensive study of the original American presidency. Drawing from a vast range of sources both well known and obscure, this volume reconstructs the powers and duties of the nation's chief executive at the Constitution's founding. Among other subjects, Prakash examines the term and structure of the office of the president, as well as the president's power as constitutional executor of the law, authority in foreign policy, role as commander in chief, level of control during emergencies, and relationship with the Congress, the courts, and the states. This ambitious and even-handed analysis counters numerous misconceptions about the presidency and fairly demonstrates that the office was seen as monarchical from its inception.

• Acknowledgments p. ix
• Introduction p. 1
• Chapter 1 "A King, Under the Title of President," p. 12
• Chapter 2 "English Whigs. Cordial in Their... Jealousies of Their Executive Magistrate," p. 28
• Chapter 3 Constituting "His Highness" the President p. 36
• Chapter 4 The Executive Power as the "Active Principle in All Governments," p. 63
• Chapter 5 "The Constitutional Executor of the Laws," p. 84
• Chapter 6 The "Transaction of Business with Foreign Nations Is Executive Altogether," p. 110
• Chapter 7 "First General and Admiral of the Confederacy," p. 142
• Chapter 8 The Executive Power "of Appointing, Overseeing, and Controlling Those Who Execute the Laws," p. 171
• Chapter 9 "Not a Single Privilege Is Annexed to His Character," p. 203
• Chapter 10 The "Combined Authority of Execution and Legislation," p. 238
• Chapter 11 Judges as "Shoots from the Executive Stock," p. 268
• Chapter 12 "Whatever Requisition the President Shall Make" and the Federal Duties of State Executives p. 285
• Chapter 13 The President as "Glorious Protector" of the Constitution p. 298
• Conclusion p. 320
• Notes p. 325
• Index p. 436