Stephen F. Knott Subscribe

Stephen F. Knott, author of Washington and Hamilton: The Alliance That Forged America, directed the Ronald Reagan Oral History Project for the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia.

July 3, 2017|Culper Spy Ring, Declaration of Independence, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson

The Fourth of July and the Martial Spirit

by Stephen F. Knott|2 Comments

George Washington enters New York on 'Evacuation Day', 25th November 1783.

Civic minded Americans will hopefully pause on the 4th of July to reflect on the principles of the Declaration of Independence, and to the nation dedicated, however imperfectly, to the cause of liberty. In regards to the Declaration, all honor to Thomas Jefferson, as Lincoln rightly observed.

While the principles of the Declaration are considered self-evident, it is also true that men can be persuaded to wear chains, as Jefferson once noted. Thus it took the force of arms to win American independence and secure those principles. George Washington and the Continental Army, with a considerable assist from the French military, converted those ideas into reality.

March 24, 2016|Arthur Schlesinger, culture of poverty, Evil Empire speech, Jacob Weisberg, Ronald Reagan

The Gipper Wins Another One

by Stephen F. Knott|9 Comments

Ronald Reagan is the latest entry in the American Presidents Series from Times Books, the publishing house owned by the New York Times. The original general editor of the series, the late Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., selected authors with the appropriate ideological pedigree to chronicle the nation’s 43 chief executives.[1] The core precept of the Schlesinger series was that successful Presidents push the boundaries of their office in pursuit of a Progressive agenda. Schlesinger, succinctly described by David Broder as “James Carville in a cap and gown,” recruited such noted presidential scholars as Gary Hart and George McGovern (the latter was assigned…

November 10, 2014|Constitution, Executive Power, George W. Bush, Jack Goldsmith, Prerogative, Rush to Judgment, War on Terror

The Ghosts of Presidents Past: A Conversation with Stephen Knott

by Stephen F. Knott|Leave a Comment

Presidential power scholar Stephen Knott discusses in this latest edition of Liberty Law Talk his book Rush to Judgment: George W. Bush, the War on Terror, and His Critics, recently released in paperback form by University Press of Kansas. Knott has a point in this book. He argues convincingly that the vituperative critics of George W. Bush’s use of executive power, in many instances, were willfully ignorant of the historical use of these powers. Past presidents, ranging from George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Abraham Lincoln and certain presidents in the twentieth century, defended and exercised powers similar to those…

May 5, 2014|Black April, Le Duan, Nguyen Van Thieu, South Vietnam, Vietnam War

Leaving Vietnam

by Stephen F. Knott|2 Comments

This important book is the first volume of a two-part examination of one of the most dishonorable chapters in the history of the United States. For approximately two years, the United States Congress, comfortably ensconced thousands of miles from the battlefield, abetted the North Vietnamese violation of the 1973 Paris Peace accords and the subsequent destruction of the Republic of South Vietnam. Remarkably, a majority of members of Congress did not care about the fate of South Vietnam, and in some cases yearned for a North Vietnamese victory. George J. Veith is a retired U.S. Army Captain whose mastery of the…

August 28, 2013|Faisal Shahzad, Nidal Hassan, Obama administration, Overseas Contingency Operation, War of Terror

A Security Policy That George Costanza Would Be Proud Of

by Stephen F. Knott|8 Comments

Nidal Hasan

George W. Bush’s presidency had its problems, but Bush’s “Trumanesque,” plain-speaking style provided a certain clarity to American foreign policy. Granted, Bush had a propensity to mangle the English language, but generally speaking the American public and foreign leaders knew where he stood. His penchant for plain speaking occasionally got him into trouble, for in as much as Bush’s macho swagger turned off the more sensitive among us, his boasting about “bring ’em on” (regarding attacks on American forces in Iraq) or “there’s an old poster out West… that said, ‘Wanted, Dead or Alive’” (regarding the fate of Osama Bin Laden), was seen as positively imbecilic.

Mimicking the antics of George Costanza, the Obama team seems to think that by doing the opposite of George Bush they will usher in an era of universal peace and happiness.

August 22, 2013|FISA Court, NSA, Targeted Killing Court, The Federalist, Totten v. U.S., War on Terror

War by Lawyer

by Stephen F. Knott|29 Comments

American conservatives have long argued that the judiciary should defer to the elected branches of government on matters of policymaking, correctly observing that the practice of judicial deference dates to the founding of the nation. Even those founders who favored a somewhat “elastic” interpretation of the Constitution condemned the notion of “legislating from the bench.” As Alexander Hamilton noted in Federalist #78, the judiciary possessed neither the purse nor the sword, and would retain its legitimacy due to the fact that judges possessed little discretion and were required to follow precedent, all the while observing a strict separation from the elected branches of government.

It is important to keep this in mind in light of the recent National Security Agency surveillance “scandal” which has led to calls for increased judicial oversight of the nation’s intelligence community.

August 11, 2013|Federalists, James Madison, Jeffersonian Republican Party, John Calhoun, Thomas Jefferson, War of 1812

Republican Ideology and Its Failure in the War of 1812

by Stephen F. Knott|3 Comments

The Library of America continues its outstanding contribution to the preservation and dissemination of America’s literary heritage with this collection of letters, speeches, diary excerpts and newspaper articles from “America’s forgotten conflict.” You might not know it, unless you live in Maryland [home of the “star-spangled” license plate] or one of the states bordering the Great Lakes, but we are in the midst of “celebrating” the bicentennial of the War of 1812. This war suffers from obscurity in part due to the fact that for two of its principal players, James Madison and Thomas Jefferson (the latter acted as a…

August 5, 2013|Executive Prerogative, Frank Church, George Washington, James Madison, Justin Amash, NSA Surveillance, Publius, Rand Paul, Thomas Jefferson

Publius and the NSA Surveillance Program

by Stephen F. Knott|20 Comments

Editor’s Note: This is the first of two posts that will offer contrasting opinions on the NSA electronic surveillance programs. Angelo Codevilla’s essay will appear tomorrow.

On July 24th, 2013, the United States House of Representatives defeated an amendment to the Defense Department’s Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2014 that called for greater restrictions on the National Security Agency’s ability to gather electronic information, including phone records of American citizens. Ninety-four Republicans and 111 House Democrats voted in favor of the amendment, while 134 Republicans and 83 Democrats voted against it. The amendment’s sponsors shared very little in common, other than the fact that they are both from Michigan. Republican Justin Amash, a devotee of free markets and limited government, joined forces with John Conyers, a perennial opponent of American foreign and defense policy since he was first elected to Congress in 1964.

May 9, 2013|

The Founders Were no Shrinking Violets in the Use of Presidential Power

by Stephen F. Knott|Leave a Comment

In response to: Congress and Deliberation in the Age of Woodrow Wilson: An Elegy

Congress Voting Independence, a depiction of the Second Continental Congress voting on the United States Declaration of Independence.

I agree with Greg Weiner that Woodrow Wilson changed the character of the American presidency and of the entire American political order, and not for the better. Where I disagree with Greg is whether Wilson and his 20th century successors expanded presidential power over national security and foreign affairs to such an extent that they undermined the constitutional system of separation of powers. When it comes to national security and foreign affairs, there is far more continuity between the “founding” presidency and the contemporary presidency [aka the “imperial” presidency] than most of the latter’s detractors care to admit. I will begin…

Congress, Heal Thyself

by Stephen F. Knott

Has Congress Failed as an Institution?

by George Thomas

Pointing the finger at Woodrow Wilson is tempting. It is a common enough trope to blame Wilson while longing for a return to the founding (in Weiner’s case, the “first” founding, as in the Mayflower Compact). Weiner traces the roots of the “creeping Caesarism” of the presidency—which eclipses liberty, disregards prudence, and neglects deliberation in…

Not Creeping but Galloping to Caesarism

by Greg Weiner

Appearing in this space is a privilege; having the benefit of responses from scholars of such stature is especially so. I appreciate the careful and respectful reading both Stephen Knott and George Thomas gave to a confessedly polemical essay. I find much with which to agree in their replies, and even more about which to…

May 1, 2013|

Congress, Heal Thyself

by Stephen F. Knott|Leave a Comment

In response to: Congress and Deliberation in the Age of Woodrow Wilson: An Elegy

Congress Voting Independence, a depiction of the Second Continental Congress voting on the United States Declaration of Independence.

Greg Weiner calls for reinvigorating those elements of “prudence” and “deliberation” found in the American system of separation of powers. These elements are located in the legislative branch, Weiner argues, noting that all “partisans of liberty” must “resist the creeping Caesarism of the contemporary Presidency.” Weiner rightly notes the bias toward change oriented presidents, with our so-called “great” presidents judged by their commitment to pushing the boundaries of the office in pursuit of progressive policies. While this is true, Greg’s essay is unfortunately marred by a tendency toward overstatement when he calls for dismantling our “Presidency-centric” system and “restoring” Congress…

Stephen F. Knott Subscribe

The Fourth of July and the Martial Spirit

The Gipper Wins Another One

The Ghosts of Presidents Past: A Conversation with Stephen Knott

Leaving Vietnam

A Security Policy That George Costanza Would Be Proud Of

War by Lawyer

Republican Ideology and Its Failure in the War of 1812

Publius and the NSA Surveillance Program

The Founders Were no Shrinking Violets in the Use of Presidential Power

In response to: Congress and Deliberation in the Age of Woodrow Wilson: An Elegy

More Responses

Congress, Heal Thyself

Has Congress Failed as an Institution?

Not Creeping but Galloping to Caesarism

Congress, Heal Thyself

In response to: Congress and Deliberation in the Age of Woodrow Wilson: An Elegy

More Responses

Has Congress Failed as an Institution?

Not Creeping but Galloping to Caesarism

The Founders Were no Shrinking Violets in the Use of Presidential Power

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