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this administration came into power particularly vice president cheney
with a perception that the power of the executive branch had
declined considerably particularly beginning with the nixon years and watergate and the clinton
impeachment
and cheney in particular was determined to reassert
executive power
after nine eleven they had what they've considered to be a very strong basis for that assertion
of power now we have a war now it is our tradition that in wartime the president becomes
the preeminent official of government
to manage to conduct the war effort itself
and they looked at you asked whether or not they were aware that they were getting in trouble
they had blinders on about whether they were going to get in trouble because they were
so focused on the notion
that we in this administration are going to leave behind a heritage a legacy
of a much more power more powerful executive and we're going to use the war effort we're
going to use the opportunity of this war conflict to enhance presidential power so
they made arguments in lower courts to begin with and ultimately the supreme court
they made these kind of scorched earth arguments that everybody has to stand aside nothing
stands
in term of constitutional order in war time anymore except executive power
so
even if someone within the administration had had the courage
or the opportunity perhaps to say
folks we're on thin ice here we're skating too close to the constitutional margins
the leadership of the administration was determined to make each one of these cases an ultimate
test
of presidential power
this excerpt is brought to you by the massachusetts school of law