Truman's Rhetoric Entrenches Unilateral Authority and Fashions a Trend for Future Executive Use

In: Presidential studies quarterly: official publication of the Center for the Study of the Presidency, Band 47, Heft 4, S. 720-751

Abstract

In the 1936 case of United States v. Curtiss‐Wright Export Corp., the U.S. Supreme Court reasoned that the president is the sole organ of foreign affairs given implicitly through the commander‐in‐chief clause. With over 10,000 citations (Code of Federal Regulations) and 145 Curtiss‐Wright references by attorney generals and the Department of Justice justifying presidential prerogatives, the imperial president is enshrined in law. Even with recent challenges, the Court remains steadfast to unilateral executive decision making. However, few studies identify when the executive branch first adopts the Court's newly constituted constitutional order, and few provide a systematic analysis of how presidents advance the sole‐organ doctrine. Building on this scholarship I show that President Truman's cohesive narrative of asserted unilateral powers redirects development for future executives to claim unfettered discretion.