Civitas Conversations: John Yoo Discusses Andrew Jackson's Gunslinger Presidency
A conversation with John Yoo on the meaning of Andrew Jackson's presidency.
Civitas Outlook editor-in-chief Richard M. Reinsch II interviews John Yoo about his recent Outlook article on Andrew Jackson, which examines how Jackson fundamentally changed the presidency into the powerful institution we know today.
Yoo argues that, in contrast with George Washington's model of public virtue, Jackson proved that presidents don't necessarily need personal virtue to be effective. Jackson made the presidency the direct representative of the people, claiming independent authority to interpret the Constitution and veto laws on policy grounds, and in doing so helped to create the modern presidency.
John Yoo is a Senior Research Fellow at the Civitas Institute, Emanuel S. Heller Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, and a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.
Constitutionalism
Amicus Brief: Hon. William P. Barr and Hon. Michael B. Mukasey in Support of Petitioners
Former AGs Barr and Mukasey Cite Civitas in a SCOTUS Brief
Rational Judicial Review: Constitutions as Power-sharing Agreements, Secession, and the Problem of Dred Scott
Judicial review and originalism serve as valuable commitment mechanisms to enforce future compliance with a political bargain.
.avif)
Supreme Court showdown exposes shaky case against birthright citizenship
Supreme Court will hear challenges to Trump's order ending birthright citizenship, testing the 14th Amendment's guarantee for babies born in America.
.avif)
.avif)
Just Follow the Law
By definition, no one can lawfully disobey the law. The problem, though, is that it can be difficult to know what the law requires, even for legal experts.
Obamacare Should No Longer be SCOTUScare
Whatever one makes of the Supreme Court’s “why bother” attitude to its prior statutory rulings, Republican leaders in Congress should accept the invitation to provide a legal fix to Obamacare.
.webp)
