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Power and Constraint: The Accountable Presidency After 9/11 1st Edition

by Jack Goldsmith (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 12 ratings
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The surprising truth behind Barack Obama's decision to continue many of his predecessor's counterterrorism policies.

Conventional wisdom holds that 9/11 sounded the death knell for presidential accountability. In fact, the opposite is true. The novel powers that our post-9/11 commanders in chief assumed―endless detentions, military commissions, state secrets, broad surveillance, and more―are the culmination of a two-century expansion of presidential authority. But these new powers have been met with thousands of barely visible legal and political constraints―enforced by congressional committees, government lawyers, courts, and the media―that have transformed our unprecedentedly powerful presidency into one that is also unprecedentedly accountable.

These constraints are the key to understanding why Obama continued the Bush counterterrorism program, and in this light, the events of the last decade should be seen as a victory, not a failure, of American constitutional government. We have actually preserved the framers’ original idea of a balanced constitution, despite the vast increase in presidential power made necessary by this age of permanent emergency.

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  1. ISBN-10
    0393081338
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0393081336
  3. Edition
    1st
  4. Publisher
    W. W. Norton & Company
  5. Publication date
    March 12, 2012
  6. Language
    English
  7. Dimensions
    6.6 x 1.2 x 9.6 inches
  8. Print length
    336 pages
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jack Goldsmith is the Henry L. Shattuck Professor of Law at Harvard University. From October 2003 to June 2004 he was assistant attorney general, Office of Legal Counsel. He lives in Newton, Massachusetts.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; 1st edition (March 12, 2012)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393081338
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393081336
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.37 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.6 x 1.2 x 9.6 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 12 ratings

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Jack L. Goldsmith

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4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
12 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

John R. Holmes, Jr.
5.0 out of 5 stars Encouraging to Know that Checks and Balances Still Exist
Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2014
Verified Purchase
Since the terror attack of 9/11, I have been increasingly concerned with the actions of our government. The revelation of abuses at Abu Ghraib, the shocking stories of secret CIA prisons, and our policies of indefinite detainment and “enhanced interrogation” at facilities like Bagram and Guantanamo have made me wonder whether the cure was worse than the disease.

Jack Goldsmith makes a good case that traditional checks and balances are still very much at play. What we see in the media is that nobody above the rank of sergeant went to prison over Abu Ghraib, and nobody’s been tried for what in retrospect was probably torture in CIA prisons. I still find that shocking, but no matter how Teflon-coated our policy makers appear in the media, the author explains that behind the scenes each new scandal results in a flurry of activity. One of the results is that every branch of government has newer and tighter policies, plus a veritable army of in-house lawyers whose job it is to enforce compliance.

As we read about widespread NSA surveillance of our phone calls and emails (as revealed by Edward Snowden after this book’s publication), and as we see the defenders of those policies seeming to prevail in Congressional hearings, it is comforting to know that despite the appearance of unchecked power, behind the scenes these same people are scurrying to make their activities more acceptable to the courts, the Congress, and American public. It may be that in their minds it’s just window dressing, but the result according to Goldsmith is serious and long-lasting constraints.
One person found this helpful
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Bernard Lavallee
5.0 out of 5 stars An eye opener
Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2012
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An eye opening book that enlightened me on the both the power inherent in the executive office as well as the constraints built up since 9/11 and as a result of then president Bush's unilateral approach to attacking the terrorist threat. Of the endless books on current affairs and politics, this is a must read. Intelligently written, neutral and well documented it's a must read in order to understand today's politically charged atmosphere.
13 people found this helpful
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James G. Garner
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2012
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This is one of the best, most thoughtful books I have read in recent years. The subject is timely and presents a unique analysis that I had not previously considered. Read it on my Amazon Kindle.
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Megan Johnston
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2015
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Thanks!
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Kenneth Anderson
5.0 out of 5 stars Superb combination of scholarship and journalism about executive power in the national security decade
Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2012
Jack Goldsmith has written a superb analysis of the evolution of the heated - overheated - debates over executive power and national security policies in the decade after 9/11. It is particularly striking because, although an academic's academic, Goldsmith shows a remarkable talent for journalism, interviewing a long list of participants in the debates over national security policy, and an ability to create a narrative. This book (like his last book on this topic) is actually readable! The main thesis is that jockeying back and forth over national security law and policy among the various branches of government, as well as outside players such as academics, advocacy groups, and journalists, has created something of a new equilibrium around policy. A decade after 9/11, the situation over law and policy, executive power and reach, is gradually settling.

Here, however, is my question for Goldsmith: Is this equilibrium, this partial reversion to a slightly different mean, actually stable? Have we reached institutional settlement in 2012? Or will things that looked fairly settled and stabilized in 2012 under the Obama administration suddenly look a lot less stable in 2013, if there were, for example, a Romney administration? As advocacy groups continue to call for prosecutions and investigations, either here or abroad, of Bush era officials - Human Rights Watch, for example, in a recent report - in ways that look frankly fringe given the position of the Obama administration, will all that suddenly look more palatable if there were a Republican administration - and Democrats who swallowed hard, but refused to take up real cudgels against "their" administration suddenly realize they no longer have a stake in the "institutional settlement"?

I believe that this is the single "must-read" book in 2012 on the presidency and presidential power and national security.
15 people found this helpful
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Stephen Jones
5.0 out of 5 stars A Comforting View Of The Presidency
Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2012
What an extremely well argued, researched, and written book.

One of the most consistent headlines of the last decade has been the increase in power the President holds in his hands (see the recently published book  Drift: The Unmooring of American Military Power  by Rachael Maddow, for instance). We are told that the President can hold individuals captive indefinitely, send armed forces to any part of the world, and assassinate American's living abroad, all on a whim. But until this book, we have only been told this single sided story.

Jack Goldsmith does not judge these practices or dispute their existences, rather he shows, with convincing proof, the legitimacy these practices have received from the courts, Congress, and the press, and, most importantly, the limits those legitimizing sources have instituted.

While the President may very well be able to do more than at any time in the history of the US, I am now assured that there are multitudes of checks and limits to hold the President accountable to the laws of our great country. Read this book if nothing more to gain the comfort that if the People want to change the actions and powers of the Presidency, we could. A win for democracy.
4 people found this helpful
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sorenlaw
5.0 out of 5 stars Harvard supports the status quo with a monopoly of consicion
Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2012
Well this should shut a lot of mouths including mine. Remarkable book. I have to believe it for now and throw away (some) of my growing cynicism about the presidency and our government in general. My only hope is this is not a complex conspiracy book from the powers that be,.. I really don't think so. This is a rare book of real substance on the subject. Madison lives on, great.
9 people found this helpful
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