The Constitutional Ambitions of James Madison's Presidency

Abstract

Following Richard Neustadt, scholarship on the presidency tends to focus on presidents as single‐minded seekers of political power. But, precisely because of the grandness of their political stage, presidents may, in fact, have constitutional ambitions concerning not how much power they will have but how they will wield their constitutional powers. James Madison's presidency provides an important case study of a president's constitutional ambitions. Entering office with constitutional concerns about the power of the presidency relative to the other branches, Madison used his own presidency and especially the War of 1812 to model a new type of constitutional office that he thought would fit better in the system of the separation of powers.

The LawPresidential Studies, Behavioralism, and Public Law

“…From nearly the moment Neustadt's work appeared, there were criticisms of it that continue to this day (Dickinson ; Hargrove ). A recent article by Benjamin Kleinerman () objects that Neustadt's presidential power model at the very least provides an incomplete picture. Indeed, presidential power is often not about persuasion but unilateral action in the form of vetoes and pardons that are powers firmly rooted in the Constitution (Crouch ).…”

Does the Presidency Moderate the President?

“…1; Fisher ). The restraint exercised by President Madison provides a compelling case study of how the chief architect of the Constitution expected the president to act (Kleinerman ).…”