From Suicide Pact to Faustian Bargain to the Art of the Deal: Bowing to Presidential Power
Dr. David Adler · June 15, 2026
The evolution in America of rationales for the cascading growth of presidential power, which began in earnest in the post-war world and followed a trajectory through the expression of the Imperial Presidency before reaching new heights in President Donald Trump's authoritarian pretensions, has long found foundation in the misappropriation and misuse of Justice Robert H. Jackson's famous aphorism, "the Constitution is not a suicide pact."
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