- A
- look
- at
- how
- U.S.
- presidents
- from
- Truman
- to
- George
- W.
- Bush
- employed
- secrecy
- and
- how
- it
- has
- affected
- the
- presidency
- and
- the
- American
- government.State
- secrets,
- warrantless
- investigations
- and
- wiretaps,
- signing
- statements,
- executive
- privilege?the
- executive
- branch
- wields
- many
- tools
- for
- secrecy.
- Since
- the
- middle
- of
- the
- twentieth
- century,
- presidents
- have
- used
- myriad
- tactics
- to
- expand
- and
- maintain
- a
- level
- of
- executive
- branch
- power
- unprecedented
- in
- this
- nation’s
- history.Most
- people
- believe
- that
- some
- degree
- of
- governmental
- secrecy
- is
- necessary.
- But
- how
- much
- is
- too
- much?
- At
- what
- point
- does
- withholding
- information
- from
- Congress,
- the
- courts,
- and
- citizens
- abuse
- the
- public
- trust?
- How
- does
- the
- nation
- reclaim
- rights
- that
- have
- been
- controlled
- by
- one
- branch
- of
- government?With
- Presidential
- Secrecy
- and
- the
- Law,
- Robert
- M.
- Pallitto
- and
- William
- G.
- Weaver
- attempt
- to
- answer
- these
- questions
- by
- examining
- the
- history
- of
- executive
- branch
- efforts
- to
- consolidate
- power
- through
- information
- control.
- They
- find
- the
- nation’s
- democracy
- damaged
- and
- its
- Constitution
- corrupted
- by
- staunch
- information
- suppression,
- a
- process
- accelerated
- when
- “black
- sites,”
- “enemy
- combatants,”
- and
- “ghost
- detainees”
- were
- added
- to
- the
- vernacular
- following
- the
- September
- 11,
- 2001,
- terror
- strikes.Tracing
- the
- current
- constitutional
- dilemma
- from
- the
- days
- of
- the
- imperial
- presidency
- to
- the
- unitary
- executive
- embraced
- by
- the
- administration
- of
- George
- W.
- Bush,
- Pallitto
- and
- Weaver
- reveal
- an
- alarming
- erosion
- of
- the
- balance
- of
- power.
- Presidential
- Secrecy
- and
- the
- Law
- will
- be
- the
- standard
- in
- presidential
- powers
- studies
- for
- years
- to
- come.“The
- well-organized
- and
- clearly
- written
- book
- illustrates
- the
- way
- the
- president’s
- use
- of
- document
- classification
- and
- state-secrets
- privilege
- to
- solidify
- presidential
- control
- are
- reinforced
- by
- legal
- decisions
- sympathetic
- to
- presidential
- power.”
- —Chronicle
- of
- Higher Education
