Untrodden Ground: How Presidents Interpret the Constitution

When Thomas Jefferson struck a deal for the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, he knew he was adding a new national power to those specified in the Constitution, but he also believed his actions were in the nation's best interest. His successors would follow his example, setting their own constitutional precedents. Tracing the evolution and expansion of the president's formal power, Untrodden Ground reveals the president to be the nation's most important law interpreter and examines how our commanders-in-chief have shaped the law through their responses to important issues of their time.

Reviewing the processes taken by all forty-four presidents to form new legal precedents and the constitutional conventions that have developed as a result, Harold H. Bruff shows that the president is both more and less powerful than many suppose. He explores how presidents have been guided by both their predecessors' and their own interpretations of constitutional text, as well as how they implement policies in ways that statutes do not clearly authorize or forbid. But while executive power has expanded far beyond its original conception, Bruff argues that the modern presidency is appropriately limited by the national political process-their actions are legitimized by the assent of Congress and the American people or rejected through debilitating public outcry, judicial invalidation, reactive legislation, or impeachment. Synthesizing over two hundred years of presidential activity and conflict, this timely book casts new light on executive behavior and the American constitutional system.

About the Author :
Harold H. Bruff is the Rosenbaum Professor of Law at the University of Colorado Law School. He is the author, most recently, of Bad Advice: Bush's Lawyers in the War on Terror.

Review :
"There is no better book for understanding how presidents interpret the Constitution than Untrodden Ground. No one knows the subject better than Bruff. His book is an instant classic, drawing on a lifetime of learning, invaluable experience, extraordinary research, and unique and profound insights. Everyone, including presidents and the people who work for them, can learn a great deal from this terrific book. Indeed, I would suggest, no one should work in the White House or executive branch--or seek to critique what they do--unless they have first read this book and taken its lessons to heart."--Michael Gerhardt, University of North Carolina School of Law "Untrodden Ground is a must read for those interested in understanding the myriad dynamics that shape presidents' impact on constitutional interpretation. The author assesses each administration in chronological fashion to shed light on our understanding of the US Constitution. No other book to my knowledge has been so ambitious in assessing each president's contributions to constitutional interpretation, and few other books are infused with such lively prose."
-- "American Historical Review" (5/12/2016 12:00:00 AM) "Bruff, through a painstaking and thorough analysis of the historical record, contends that presidential interpretation is appropriately constrained by Congress, by public opinion, and by judicial intervention. He concludes that presidents have played, and continue to play, a vital role in the contestation and development of the meaning of the Constitution."
-- "Harvard Law Review" (5/12/2016 12:00:00 AM)