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| Preface: A User's Guide to The Evolving Presidency | |
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| The Constitution (1787) | |
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| The presidency, the main innovation of the Constitutional Convention, is created and its structure and powers outlined | |
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| Letters of Cato, Nos. 4 and 5 (1787) | |
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| An Anti-Federalist opponent of the proposed Constitution warns against the dangers of presidential power | |
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| The Federalist Papers, Nos. 69-73 (1788) | |
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| A Federalist supporter of the proposed Constitution defends the republican character of the presidency as an energetic office | |
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| George Washington's First Inaugural Address (1789) | |
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| Washington establishes the model for inaugural addresses | |
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| James Madison's Defense of the President's Removal Power (1789) | |
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| Madison persuades Congress that the president should be chief executive of the bureaucracy | |
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| The Pacificus-Helvidius Letters (1793) | |
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| Alexander Hamilton and James Madison debate the extent of the president's constitutional power in foreign affairs | |
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| George Washington's Farewell Address (1796) | |
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| Washington marks his retirement from the presidency and looks ahead to the future of the nation | |
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| Thomas Jefferson's First Inaugural Address (1801) | |
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| The first peaceful transfer of power from one party to another | |
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| Thomas Jefferson's Letter to the Vermont Legislature (1807) | |
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| Jefferson establishes the two-term tradition for presidents | |
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| The Monroe Doctrine (1823) | |
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| An early assertion of presidential power in foreign policy-making at a time when the presidency was otherwise weak | |
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| The Tennessee General Assembly's Protest against the Caucus System (1823) | |
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| The stage is set for the demise of the congressional caucus-centered presidential nominating process | |
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| Andrew Jackson's First Message to Congress (1829) | |
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| The first outsider president grounds his authority in "the will of the majority" | |
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| Andrew Jackson's Veto of the Bank Bill (1832) | |
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| Jackson activates the veto as a strong and effective power of the presidency | |
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| Abraham Lincoln's Letter to Albert G. Hodges (1864) | |
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| Lincoln defends his use of prerogative power during the Civil War | |
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| The Gettysburg Address (1863) | |
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| Lincoln, in an effort to give meaning to the war, invokes the Declaration of Independence's promise of equality and self-government | |
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| Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address (1865) | |
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| Lincoln invokes God's judgment on both sides in the Civil War as the basis for seeking national reconciliation | |
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| Ex Parte Milligan (1866) | |
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| The Supreme Court proves more willing to curb presidential power after a war than during one | |
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| Articles of Impeachment against Andrew Johnson (1868) | |
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| The first president to be impeached is charged with abusing the removal power and defaming Congress through intemperate rhetoric | |
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| The Pendleton Act (1883) | |
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| In the wake of a presidential assassination, Congress acts to replace the spoils system with a merit-based civil service | |
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| Theodore Roosevelt's and William Howard Taft's Theories of Presidential Power (1913, 1916) | |
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| The classic debate on the proper scope of presidential power and leadership | |
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| Woodrow Wilson's Fourteen Points (1918) | |
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| Wilson attempts to endow the Allied victory in World War I with a moral purpose | |
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| The Teapot Dome Resolution (1924) | |
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| The nexus between congressional investigation and presidential scandal is forged | |
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| Myers v. United States (1926) | |
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| The Supreme Court broadly interprets the president's constitutional power to remove executive branch officials | |
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| Franklin D. Roosevelt's First Inaugural Address (1933) | |
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| FDR reassures a desperate nation and asks Congress for "broad executive power to wage war against the emergency" of economic depression | |
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| Humphrey's Executor v. United States (1935) | |
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| The Supreme Court restricts the president's removal power | |
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| United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp. (1936) | |
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| The Supreme Court declares that the president is the nation's "sole organ in the field of international relations" | |
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| Franklin D. Roosevelt's "Court-Packing" Address (1937) | |
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| FDR overreaches by attacking the Supreme Court and, in the process, sparks the creation of the "conservative coalition" in Congress | |
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| Report of the Brownlaw Committee (1937) | |
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| The origins of the modern White House staff | |
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| Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1952) | |
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| Justice Black's opinion of the Court and Justice Jackson's concurring opinion take different approaches to restraining presidential power | |
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| Dwight D. Eisenhower's Little Rock Executive Order (1957) | |
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| Eisenhower uses the president's "executive" and "take care" powers to enforce the integration of an Arkansas high school | |
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| John F. Kennedy's Inaugural Address (1961) | |
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| The Young president calls on the nation to "support any friend, oppose any foe" in the cold war | |
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| The Cuban Missile Crisis: John F. Kennedy's Letter to Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev (1962) | |
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| Crisis decision-making resolves the most dangerous international confrontation in history | |
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| John F. Kennedy's Civil Rights Address (1963) | |
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| In an effort to satisfy national and international concerns for racial justice, Kennedy urges the enactment of major civil rights legislation | |
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| Lyndon B. Johnson's "Great Society" Speech (1964) | |
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| Johnson rouses public support for his ambitious domestic agenda | |
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| Lyndon B. Johnson's Gulf of Tonkin Message (1964) | |
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| Congress writes a blank check to the president to wage war in Vietnam | |
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| Richard Nixon's China Trip Announcement (1971) | |
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| The ultimate anticommunist uses secret diplomacy to open a relationship with the People's Republic of China | |
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| The McGovern-Fraser Commission Report (1971) | |
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| The modern presidential nominating process takes shape | |
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| The War Powers Resolution (1973) | |
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| Congress tries to reclaim the war power from the president | |
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| Proposed Articles of Impeachment against Richard Nixon (1974) | |
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| The Watergate crisis brings down the president and his closest advisers | |
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| United States v. Nixon (1974) | |
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| The Supreme Court acknowledges but limits executive privilege | |
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| Gerald R. Ford's Pardon of Richard Nixon (1974) | |
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| Ford jeopardizes his political standing by exercising the president's only unchecked constitutional power on behalf of his predecessor | |
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| Jimmy Carter's "Crisis of Confidence" Speech (1979) | |
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| A president elected by praising the people blames them for the problems of his administration | |
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| Ronald Reagan's First Inaugural Address (1981) | |
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| In a new-style inaugural address, Reagan ushers in an era by declaring that "government is not the solution to our problem" government is the problem" | |
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| Immigration and Naturalization Service v. Chadha (1983) | |
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| The Supreme Court strikes down the legislative veto | |
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| George Bush's Persian Gulf War Address (1991) | |
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| Bush's greatest triumph foreshadows his worst defeat | |
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| Bill Clinton's Third State of the Union Address (1996) | |
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| Clinton advocates an approach to governing that rises above traditional liberalism and conservatism | |
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| Clinton v. City of New York (1998) | |
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| The Supreme Court declares the line-item veto unconstitutional | |
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| Articles of Impeachment against Bill Clinton (1998) | |
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| Clinton is impeached by the House and acquitted by the Senate for actions stemming from his sexual relationship with a White House intern | |
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| Speeches by Al Gore and George W. Bush Ending the 2000 Election Controversy (2000) | |
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| The closing chapter to one of the closest and most controversial presidential elections in history | |
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| George W. Bush's War on Terrorism Address (2001) | |
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| In response to September 11, Bush commits his administration to fighting international terrorism | |
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| The Bush Doctrine (2002) | |
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| In preparation for war against Iraq, Bush announces a new approach to foreign policy | |
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| George W. Bush's Signing Statement for the Defense Supplemental Appropriations Act (2005) | |
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| A leading example of Bush employing "unitary executive" theory to extend the boundaries of presidential power | |
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| Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2006) | |
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| An adverse ruling from the Supreme Court leads Bush to ask Congress for legislation authorizing military tribunals to try suspected nonuniformed enemy combatants in the war on terrorism | |
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| Topical Guide to the Documents | |