This book provides an in-depth history and analysis of executive privilege from President Nixon to President Obama, and its relation to the proper scope and limits of presidential power.

Demonstrates that the presidential claim of authority to withhold information is without historical or constitutional foundation.

When private detective Dana Cutler is hired to follow college student Charlotte Walsh, she never imagines the trail will lead to the White House. But the morning after Walsh's clandestine meeting with Christopher Farrington, President of the United States, the pretty young coed is dead—the latest victim, apparently, of a fiend dubbed "the D.C. Ripper." A junior associate in an Oregon law firm, Brad Miller is stunned by the death row revelations of convicted serial killer Clarence Little. Though Little accepts responsibility for a string of gruesome murders, he swears he was framed for one of them: the death of a teenaged babysitter who worked for then-governor Farrington. Suddenly nowhere in America is safe for a small-time private eye and a fledgling lawyer who possess terrifying evidence that suggests the unthinkable: that someone at the very highest level of government, perhaps the president himself, is a cold and brutal killer.

Drawing on White House and congressional documents as well as on personal interviews, Mark Rozell provides both a historical overview of executive privilege and an explanation of its importance in the political process. He argues for a return to a pre-Watergate understanding of the role of executive privilege.

"When President Jenner's confidential log is leaked to the Washington Post, the nation's capital begins to buzz. Why is the President spending so much time with a White House staffer who also happens to be a psychiatrist? For Newstime magazine's White House reporters Rudy Dodman and Sarah Hoff-and for the rest of the national media-the Post story sparks an examination of the the President's activities unparalleled since Watergate. Working against the clock and against their fellow reporters, Dodman and Hoff quickly find themselves entangled in a complex political crisis involving members of the press and the highest Washington officials, including: President Zern Jenner, the man from Montana, determined to stop the stories about the White House log without delay-even if it means lying to the American people; Nicholas Frye, the unscrupulous Post reporter, who would betray anyone, do anything, for a story; Vice-President Robert Boyston, whose own popular support swells as the President's emotional stability is questioned; Mary Jenner, the President's wife, a woman of intense tenacity and self-control, who refuses to admit to any weakness; Allen Crawford, the obsequious White House staffer, who uses the power of the Presidency to pursue his private passions; Jane Minnick, "Crazy Jane," a paranoid reporter who finds herself in the middle of a power struggle she doesn't understand; Malcolm Ewing, the missing White House staffer-is he merely a loyal aide, or the President's analyst? Dodman and Hoff's investigation takes them to the heart of a major government cover-up, and brings the country to the brink of an international crisis-forcing the two reporters to face questions that have become increasing difficult for today's press corps. Does the people's right to know always come before a public figure's right to privacy? Should the Chief Executive be able to declare some areas that might influence national policy "privileged"? Dodman's life is further complicated by his growing feelings for Sarah, as he also has an old-fashioned sense of responsibility to his wife and child that is rare in the social whirl of the capital."--Jacket.

A presidential scandal that rocked the country resulted in this landmark Supreme Court case on the issue of executive power. When it was discovered that President Richard Nixon kept audio tapes of all conversations conducted in the Oval Office, prosecutors subpoenaed those tapes to prove that the President and his aides were abusing their power. United States v. Nixon is the stunning account of how Nixon's unwillingness to comply eventually led to the involvement of the Supreme Court, who unanimously decided that the president of the United States does not have absolute power. This volume's expert writing and robust design capture the tense atmosphere surrounding this historic decision, which eventually led to Nixon's resignation in August 1974.

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