The constitutional question presented by this memorandum is not what previous generations did or failed to do. It is what responsibilities presently belong to the Office of the President. Article II does not require the President to preserve only those portions of the Constitution that are free from controversy. It requires him to preserve, …
VIII. THE PRESIDENT’S PRESENT CONSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITY Read More »
Among the historical materials appropriate for executive review are President Andrew Johnson’s veto messages concerning the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and related Reconstruction legislation. Although Congress rejected President Johnson’s constitutional conclusions by overriding his veto, his messages remain among the most significant contemporaneous executive records describing the legislation, the constitutional issues then under …
VII. PRESIDENT JOHNSON’S VETO MESSAGES AS CONTEMPORANEOUS EXECUTIVE RECORDS Read More »
VI. THE SEQUENCE OF RECONSTRUCTION MATTERS A careful executive review should examine the Reconstruction settlement in the order it was created. The Civil Rights Act of 1866 preceded the Fourteenth Amendment. It was enacted by Congress, vetoed by President Andrew Johnson, enacted over that veto, and became federal law before the ratification of the Fourteenth …
V. THE EXISTING RECONSTRUCTION AUTHORITIES The constitutional inquiry presented by this memorandum does not begin with judicial decisions. It begins with the Constitution and the Acts of Congress enacted to implement it. Among the principal authorities appropriate for executive review are: The Emancipation Proclamation, as a wartime executive measure preserving the Union and initiating …
IV. IDENTIFYING THE CONSTITUTIONAL PURPOSE OF RECONSTRUCTION Faithful execution of the law begins with faithful understanding of the law. The Reconstruction enactments were adopted in response to a specific constitutional crisis following the Civil War. Like all federal legislation, they possessed an identifiable purpose, addressed identifiable conditions, and imposed identifiable governmental responsibilities. Accordingly, before the …
IV. IDENTIFYING THE CONSTITUTIONAL PURPOSE OF RECONSTRUCTION Read More »
Reconstruction was more than a period in American history. It was the constitutional remedy adopted by the Nation to preserve the Union after the Civil War and to secure the constitutional settlement that followed. Congress did not merely declare new principles. It enacted laws, established federal duties, assigned executive responsibilities, and created mechanisms to …
III. RECONSTRUCTION WAS A CONSTITUTIONAL REMEDY, NOT MERELY A HISTORICAL EVENT Read More »
The Civil War preserved the Union. Reconstruction was intended to preserve the Constitution. Following the abolition of slavery, Congress and the Nation undertook an unprecedented constitutional effort to restore the Union, establish national citizenship under federal law, secure equal civil rights, and provide legal protections for those whom the Reconstruction Acts were enacted …
THE PRESIDENT’S CONSTITUTIONAL DUTY TO COMPLETE THE UNFINISHED WORK OF RECONSTRUCTION This memorandum respectfully submits that the President of the United States possesses an independent constitutional responsibility under Article II to examine and faithfully execute existing Reconstruction law according to its original constitutional purpose. This is not a request to revisit litigation, challenge …
PART VIII Constitutional Review, National Reconciliation, and Civic Education A. Purpose of Constitutional Review The Constitution contemplates that each branch of government will perform its assigned responsibilities faithfully and within its constitutional sphere. When substantial historical, statutory, or constitutional questions are presented, it is consistent with that design for the Executive Branch to undertake …
PART VI Article II and the President’s Duty to Faithfully Execute the Laws A. The Executive Power Article II of the Constitution vests the executive power in the President of the United States and charges the President with the faithful execution of the laws enacted by Congress. Article II, Section 3 provides: “…he shall …