The book of history that turned into prophecy

Corey Brettschneider finished his latest book on presidential power last year, long after Donald Trump left the White House in defeat in 2021.

The Presidents and the People: Five Leaders Who Threatened Democracy and the Citizens Who Fought to Defend It won the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award. It tells the stories of such presidents as John Adams, Andrew Johnson and Woodrow Wilson who abused or ignored the limits set out in the Constitution, and it explains how activists, opposition politicians, journalists and lawyers were eventually able to restore some of the safeguards instituted by the founders.

But when Trump won last November’s election, Brettschneider’s book of history also became a work of prophecy, describing the kinds of power grabs the new administration has put in place since taking office.

It also foreshadowed how many of the traditional “checks and balances” inherent in Congress and the Supreme Court have failed to materialize. (The day after the book was published, the Supreme Court issued its “Trump v. U.S.” ruling, granting absolute immunity to presidents acting in their official capacity during their term in office.)

It was a pleasure to chat with Corey Brettschneider on Now It’s History. He is a professor of political science at Brown University and the cohost, with John Fugelsgang, of the podcast The Oath and The Office.

I hope you enjoy the conversation.

And for more, please check out my recent post, The presidency is a loaded gun, for better or worse, in which I explored the problems with presidential power outlined in Corey’s book.