James Madison: The President May Pervert His Administration into a Scheme of Peculation and Oppression
Dr. David Adler · June 15, 2026
James Madison's prescient warning about a president who might engineer a scheme of deep-seated and pervasive corruption, grounded in self-dealing to enrich himself and strengthen his ties to law-breaking loyalists through arbitrary acts that violate the Constitution and republican principles, reverberates across the nation at this juncture in our history as Americans learn more details about President Donald Trump's underhanded operations.
Become a Learning Library member — $19.99/month
More on Presidential Power
The State of War in Iran Demonstrates Need for Freedom of the Press
Since the beginning of the Iran War, the Trump Administration has been clear in its view that news organizations have an obligation to report developments as they are characterized by governmental officials.
From Suicide Pact to Faustian Bargain to the Art of the Deal: Bowing to Presidential Power
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."
Trump's Slush Fund Reflects Concentration of Power in the Executive, Collapse of Constitutional Guardrails
One of the grave consequences for American Constitutionalism of the untrammeled concentration of power in the hands of President Donald Trump--the putative goal of Project 2025--is his total control over the Department of Justice.
