Summary
Intent on exercising executive power without any interference from the courts or Congress, the White House turned to John Yoo-a young law professor on leave to serve as a mid-level official in the Justice Department-to provide the constitutional foundation for the war on terror. When Bush signed a defense appropriation bill that included a provision prohibiting U.S. military personnel from subjecting prisoners anywhere in the world to cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment-a provision the Senate approved by the margin of 90 to 9-Bush attached a statement declaring that the executive branch will construe this provision in a manner consistent with the president's constitutional authority "and consistent with the constitutional limitations on the judicial power," which will assist in achieving the objective of "protecting the American people from further terrorist attacks."
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All Power to the President
BOOKS ALL POWER TO THE PRESIDENT THE POWERS OF WAR AND PEACE: THE CONSTITUTION AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS AFTER 9/11 BY JOHN YOO University of Chicago Press, 378 pages, $29.00
GEORGE W. BUSH WAS CAUGHT flat-footed on the morning of September 11, 2001. Intent on exercising executive power without any interference from the courts or Congress, the White House turned to John Yoo-a young law professor on leave to serve as a mid-level official in the Justice Department-to provide the constitutional foundation for the war on terror.Yoo cranked out a series of now-infamous memos on topics ranging from the use of torture to the government's authority to eavesdrop on American citizens, attempting to square the Bush-Cheney demand for unfettered power with the limits imposed by the Constitution. In the shadow of 9-11, Yoo formulated a theory to support the claim that presidential powers in foreign affairs had ste...See the full content of this document
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