The Executive Branch

Still, the smartest-ever take on money and politics:




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LBJ orders some pants.

Nixon gets drunk and calls the chief of staff who just quit.

Treason

Article III, Section 3.

Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court.

The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or forfeiture except during the life of the person attainted.
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The Constitution and Federalist

• ARTICLE II
• The 25th Amendment
• Presidential Succession Act
• Federalist 70
• Federalist 71
• Federalist 73

Congress checking the president: NAIL:

• Nominations
• Appropriations
• Investigations/Impeachment
• Legislation

Gates:

I came to believe that virtually all members of Congress carried what I called a “wallet list," ” a list they carried with them at all times so that if, by chance, they might run into me or talk with me on the phone, they had a handy list of local projects and programs to push forward.

The presidency and national security:

• Federalist 8: "It is of the nature of war to increase the executive at the expense of the legislative authority."
• Democracy in America: "If executive power is weaker in America than in France, the reason for this lies perhaps more in circumstances than in the laws. It is generally in its relations with foreign powers that the executive power of a nation has the chance to display skill and strength. If the Union’s existence were constantly menaced, and if its great interests were continually interwoven with those of other powerful nations, one would see the prestige of the executive growing, because of what was expected from it and of what it did."

More  Tocqueville:

Now, it is this clear perception of the future, based on judgment and experience, which must often be lacking in a democracy. The people feel more strongly than they reason; and if present ills are great, it is to be feared that they will forget the greater evils that perhaps await them in case of defeat (p. 223).

[The] great privilege enjoyed by the Americans is not only to be more enlightened than other nations but also to have the chance to make mistakes that can be retrieved (p. 225).

One kind of mistake, however, is not retrievable.

The steps in launching a nuclear attack.