Yeah that’s the thing: This was basically all legal (war crimes aside). The US political system has been shifting towards this being acceptable for at least two generations. The president gets to wage war wherever he feels like it in America.
I’d argue it started with Jackson. "Mr. Marshall has made his decision, now let’s see him enforce it " Teddy didn’t help things with his run around Congress. It’s been there damn near the whole time, at least ever since Congress started cedeing power to the president in the early 1800s.
I think Jackson was more of a precursor/canary in the coalmine than the start of the process, since the American system of government basically stayed at equilibrium for a little over a century after that until it started fraying at the edges with Nixon.
Yeah that’s the thing: This was basically all legal (war crimes aside). The US political system has been shifting towards this being acceptable for at least two generations. The president gets to wage war wherever he feels like it in America.
I’d argue it started with Jackson. "Mr. Marshall has made his decision, now let’s see him enforce it " Teddy didn’t help things with his run around Congress. It’s been there damn near the whole time, at least ever since Congress started cedeing power to the president in the early 1800s.
I think Jackson was more of a precursor/canary in the coalmine than the start of the process, since the American system of government basically stayed at equilibrium for a little over a century after that until it started fraying at the edges with Nixon.
Wilson did the worst damage long before Nixon. Nixon just added fuel to the fire so Reagan could destroy it.