| This dissertation examines the development of the American presidency by investigating Thomas Jefferson's understanding of presidential power and presents this understanding as an alternative account of presidential power. Jefferson's transformation of presidential power rests on three connected principles:; First, the president requires a significant amount of energy in order to carry out the laws. The constitutional organization of the executive branch sets the president on a platform for popular leadership: the president is the nation's only nationally elected officer, the office of the president is unitary, and the president possesses the authority to remove, and therefore supervise, executive officers. Accordingly, the president unifies and directs public opinion, which further energizes presidential administration by connecting it to the majority will.; Second, as the trustee of the majority's confidence, the president is obliged to part with the majority will during times of necessity—because laws are imperfect with regard to the future—in order to effect the public good. Unlike the common understanding of presidential power, Jefferson's understanding does not ground the prerogative power within the specific provisions of the Constitution. Rather, Jefferson's conception of presidential power holds that the Constitution is silent with respect to executive prerogative: when presidents do exercise extra-legal powers, they must “throw themselves” on the people and seek approval for acting outside the law. Jefferson politicized and therefore democratized executive prerogative.; Third, in order to provide the people with a standard by which presidential energy and prerogative may be judged, presidents offer statements of principle. While such declarations are not strictly legal, they provide the political resources for presidential energy and ensure accountability. As with the “wall of separation” metaphor describing the separation of church and state, Jefferson used presidential speech to unify popular opinion and to shape the nation's understanding of its laws. By gathering and educating the popular will, through institutional forms such as the inaugural address, declarations of principle allow for executive discretion and provide extra-constitutional means for political change. |
