However bitter, complex, and urgent todays controversies over executive power may be, John Yoo reminds us that they are nothing new. In Crisis and Command, he explores a factor too little consulted in current debates: history. Through shrewd and lucid historical analysis, he shows that the bold decisions made by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin Delano Roosevelt changed more than just history; they also transformed the role of the American president. The link between vigorous exercise of executive power and presidential greatness, Yoo argues, is both significant and misunderstood. He makes a compelling case that the founding fathers deliberately left the Constitution vague on the limits of presidential power so as to allow presidents leeway in times of crisis.
Far from writing an apologia for the policies of the Bush Administration in which he served, John Yoo draws on history to demonstrate the benefits to the nation of a strong executive office. The result is a remarkably balanced, incisive, and necessary contribution to the national conversation about our presidents and their exercise of power in our defense.