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Oregon Territory

February 17, 2006 — Presidential Powers

part one part two

download links: part one | part two

With President’s Day coming up Monday, we’re celebrating this week by exploring the rise of presidential power.

Though George W. Bush has asserted his power in the form of wiretaps, detaining U.S. citizens without charges, and declaring pre-emptive wars, he’s hardly the first president to seek more presidential power.

We’ll start with a look at what the U.S. Constitution says about presidential power, and then take a look at some of the more famous and controversial presidential power issues over the years—from Jefferson to Lincoln to Truman.

And finally, we’ll examine the current administration and their efforts at expanding presidential power.

Host: Christy George

Guests: Richard Ellis, Mark Hatfield professor of politics at Willamette University; and Phillip Cooper, professor of public administration at the Hatfield School of Government, Portland State University.

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