Time and again, in recent years, the charge has been made that sitting presidents have behaved "imperially," employing authorities that break the bounds of law and the Constitution. It is now an epithet used to describe presidencies of both parties. The Imperial Presidency and the Constitution examines this critical issue from a variety of perspectives: analyzing the president's role in the administrative state, as commander-in-chief, as occupant of the modern "Bully Pulpit," and, in separate essays, addressing recent presidents' relationship with Congress and the Supreme Court. The volume also deepens the discussion by taking a look back at Abraham Lincoln's expansive use of executive power during the Civil War where the tension between law and necessity were at their most extreme, calling into question the "rule of law" itself. The volume concludes with an examination of how the Constitution's provision of both "powers and duties" for the president can provide a roadmap for assessing the propriety of executive behavior.

In recognition of the 200th anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark decision in McCulloch v. Maryland, AEI's Program on American Citizenship commissioned five distinguished scholars to author essays keyed to that decision. The program hosted a panel discussion with the authors to present their initial drafts in February 2019. The chapters of this edited volume are the finalized versions of those essays.

In recognition of the 200th anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark decision in McCulloch v. Maryland, AEI's Program on American Citizenship commissioned five distinguished scholars to author essays keyed to that decision. The program hosted a panel discussion with the authors to present their initial drafts in February 2019. The chapters of this edited volume are the finalized versions of those essays.