Mike, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr wrote The Imperial Presidency. It's still in print, and surely in libraries. Your comments remind me that sometimes opposed to their institutional leanings, the public does its own evolution, sometimes returning to more populist themes and sometimes drawing upon the strength of centralized government. Where are we now? It's worth noting that Newt Gingrich sits on the unpaid defense policy board that advises Rumsfeld. We have heard about the children's books that the President likes to read on photo-ops but other than the bio of Teddy Roosevelt that he brandished to the media earlier this year, his reading preferences are less known than his wife's. When I did a Google search with that phrase, I came up with some interesting entrants, not just the usual suspects. Might be worth a look.
Karen Mike wrote: Putting it in longer term historical perspective, it looks like the turn of the spiral into an imperial presidency first identified by people like Gore Vidal in the 1950s. I seem to remember a book of that title by a well-known US historian about 20 years ago. When you become a world power it is inevitable. When you become the hegemonic world power it becomes mandatory. All is not lost though. Britain, through domestic dynamics, actually became more democratic during the height of her power in the 19th century. In order to understand what is happening to you, it is necessary to put it in the perspective of the past, but no-one in the US leadership today seems to read history. It seems the only one to do it recently was Newt Gingrich. Doesn't offer much hope does it
