Article II — Bunk History

Chief Justice John Roberts.

The Supreme Court Has Murdered the Constitution

America’s founding document is now an all-but-meaningless scrap of paper. Happy Fourth!

by Ryan Cooper via The American Prospect on July 4, 2024

Portrait of Steve Bannon with a serious expression

Executive Privilege Was Out of Control Even Before Steve Bannon Claimed It

A short history of a made-up constitutional doctrine that gives presidents too much power.

by Timothy Noah via The New Republic on October 18, 2021

The President's Cabinet Was an Invention of America's First President

A new book explores how George Washington shaped the group of advisors as an institution to meet his own needs.

by Lindsay M. Chervinsky, Karin Wulf via Smithsonian on April 7, 2020

The Electoral College Was Terrible From the Start

It’s doubtful even Alexander Hamilton believed what he was selling in “Federalist No. 68.”

by Garrett Epps via The Atlantic on September 8, 2019

A Brief History of the Theory Trump and Barr Use to Resist Congressional Oversight

Is Trump's power as president becoming just what the Founders feared?

by Donald J. Fraser via HNN on June 2, 2019

What Two Crucial Words in the Constitution Actually Mean

I reviewed publications from the founding era, and discovered that “executive power” doesn’t imply what most scholars thought.

by Julian Davis Mortenson via The Atlantic on June 2, 2019

A playing card King superimposed over Trump's face.

The Dangerous Legal Theory Behind Trump’s Power Grabs

There was no “unitary executive” until some dudes made the idea up to save Nixon.

by Pema Levy via Mother Jones on May 5, 2025

Presidents May Not Unilaterally Dismantle Government Agencies

That’s not how separation of powers works under the U.S. Constitution.

by Peter M. Shane via The Atlantic on February 12, 2025

The Framers of the Constitution Didn’t Worry About ‘Originalism’

History shows that the text is far more complex than the legal doctrine might indicate.

by Jack Rakove via Washington Post on October 16, 2020

Is Impeachment Only About Getting a Conviction?

A new history of Andrew Johnson’s trial reminds us the impeachment is a tool to constrain executive abuse of power and publicize dissent on matters of policy.

by Stephanie McCurry via The Nation on January 30, 2020

The Framers’ Answers to Three Myths About Impeachment

Three misunderstood aspects of our governmental system, and the truth pulled directly from the Federalist Papers

by Garry Wills via New York Review of Books on December 3, 2019

The 40-Year War

William Barr’s long struggle against congressional oversight.

by Brad Miller via The American Prospect on September 9, 2019

A number of the most common words from historical state of the union addresses.

The Language of the State of the Union

An interactive chart reveals how the words presidents use reflect the twists and turns of American history.

by Mitch Fraas, Benjamin M. Schmidt via The Atlantic on January 18, 2015

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