The Oath and the Office: A Guide to the Constitution for Future Presidents
An essential guide to the presidential powers and limits of the Constitution, for anyone voting—or running—for our highest office.

Can the president launch a nuclear attack without congressional approval? Is it ever a crime to criticize the president? Can states legally resist a president’s executive order? In today’s fraught political climate, it often seems as if we must become constitutional law scholars just to understand the news from Washington, let alone make a responsible decision at the polls.

The Oath and the Office is the book we need, right now and into the future, whether we are voting for or running to become president of the United States. Constitutional law scholar and political science professor Corey Brettschneider guides us through the Constitution and explains the powers—and limits—that it places on the presidency. From the document itself and from American history’s most famous court cases, we learn why certain powers were granted to the presidency, how the Bill of Rights limits those powers, and what “we the people” can do to influence the nation’s highest public office—including, if need be, removing the person in it. In these brief yet deeply researched chapters, we meet founding fathers such as James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, as well as key figures from historic cases such as Brown v. Board of Education and Korematsu v. United States.

Brettschneider breathes new life into the articles and amendments that we once read about in high school civics class, but that have real impact on our lives today. The Oath and the Office offers a compact, comprehensive tour of the Constitution, and empowers all readers, voters, and future presidents with the knowledge and confidence to read and understand one of our nation’s most important founding documents.

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The Oath and the Office: A Guide to the Constitution for Future Presidents
An essential guide to the presidential powers and limits of the Constitution, for anyone voting—or running—for our highest office.

Can the president launch a nuclear attack without congressional approval? Is it ever a crime to criticize the president? Can states legally resist a president’s executive order? In today’s fraught political climate, it often seems as if we must become constitutional law scholars just to understand the news from Washington, let alone make a responsible decision at the polls.

The Oath and the Office is the book we need, right now and into the future, whether we are voting for or running to become president of the United States. Constitutional law scholar and political science professor Corey Brettschneider guides us through the Constitution and explains the powers—and limits—that it places on the presidency. From the document itself and from American history’s most famous court cases, we learn why certain powers were granted to the presidency, how the Bill of Rights limits those powers, and what “we the people” can do to influence the nation’s highest public office—including, if need be, removing the person in it. In these brief yet deeply researched chapters, we meet founding fathers such as James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, as well as key figures from historic cases such as Brown v. Board of Education and Korematsu v. United States.

Brettschneider breathes new life into the articles and amendments that we once read about in high school civics class, but that have real impact on our lives today. The Oath and the Office offers a compact, comprehensive tour of the Constitution, and empowers all readers, voters, and future presidents with the knowledge and confidence to read and understand one of our nation’s most important founding documents.

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The Oath and the Office: A Guide to the Constitution for Future Presidents

The Oath and the Office: A Guide to the Constitution for Future Presidents

by Corey Brettschneider
The Oath and the Office: A Guide to the Constitution for Future Presidents

The Oath and the Office: A Guide to the Constitution for Future Presidents

by Corey Brettschneider

Hardcover

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Overview

An essential guide to the presidential powers and limits of the Constitution, for anyone voting—or running—for our highest office.

Can the president launch a nuclear attack without congressional approval? Is it ever a crime to criticize the president? Can states legally resist a president’s executive order? In today’s fraught political climate, it often seems as if we must become constitutional law scholars just to understand the news from Washington, let alone make a responsible decision at the polls.

The Oath and the Office is the book we need, right now and into the future, whether we are voting for or running to become president of the United States. Constitutional law scholar and political science professor Corey Brettschneider guides us through the Constitution and explains the powers—and limits—that it places on the presidency. From the document itself and from American history’s most famous court cases, we learn why certain powers were granted to the presidency, how the Bill of Rights limits those powers, and what “we the people” can do to influence the nation’s highest public office—including, if need be, removing the person in it. In these brief yet deeply researched chapters, we meet founding fathers such as James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, as well as key figures from historic cases such as Brown v. Board of Education and Korematsu v. United States.

Brettschneider breathes new life into the articles and amendments that we once read about in high school civics class, but that have real impact on our lives today. The Oath and the Office offers a compact, comprehensive tour of the Constitution, and empowers all readers, voters, and future presidents with the knowledge and confidence to read and understand one of our nation’s most important founding documents.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780393652123
Publisher: Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date: 09/18/2018
Pages: 224
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Corey Brettschneider is a professor at Brown University, where he teaches constitutional law and politics. He has written for the New York Times, the Washington Post, and Time. He is also the author of The Oath and the Office. He lives in New York.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Oath ix

Section I The Powers of the President

1 Article II and the Limited Presidency 3

2 The Bully Pulpit 19

3 The Power to Execute the Laws 35

4 The Power to Hire and Fire 53

5 The Power to Nominate Supreme Court Justices 71

6 The Commander-in-Chief Power 90

Section II "We the People" and the Bill of Rights

7 Madison and the Creation of the Bill of Rights 111

8 The First Amendment and Free Speech 119

9 The First Amendment and the Freedom of Religion 131

10 The Eighth Amendment and the Ban on Torture 145

11 The Fourteenth and Fifth Amendments and the Guarantee of Equal Protection of the Laws 158

Section III Checks on the President

12 How to Stop a President 175

13 The Judicial Check on a President 186

14 Federalism 195

15 The Congressional Check and Impeachment 207

Conclusion 223

Acknowledgments 227

Notes 231

Index 275

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