Re: History... GodI Love Shit Like This...

[WillyT]

A lesson from Harry Truman

There is even a hierarchy between the two political branches with Congress holding a slight edge. Consider the Court's landmark 1952 decision in the Steel Seizure case, also known as Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company v. Sawyer. The case, which involved President Harry Truman's decision to take over the steel industry when it was in the midst of a labor dispute that threatened to stall production and create economic instability, ended with a stinging rebuke of the president and the establishment of a formula of sorts by which to judge the relative power positions held by these often competing branches of government.

Justice Hugo Black wrote the majority opinion, siding with the steel industry. But it was Justice Robert Jackson's concurrence which carried forth as a guiding principle. Jackson said that there are three categories of congressional-executive disputes: those where the president is attempting to use power expressing or implicitly established by Congress; those where Congress has said nothing on the issue; and those where Congress has been clearly in opposition to the president. These, he said, should be seen in descending order of legitimacy. In other words, the president needs Congress's assent or, barring that, silence to act within the scope of constitutional authority.

This Congress -- our Congress, that is -- may not, as of today, have spoken on the issue of raising the debt ceiling, but it has been anything but silent, suggesting, in Justice Jackson's formula, that not only is the debt ceiling a "political issue," but the president does not have the authority here to act alone.

For an executive of the world's most powerful nation, that can be bitter medicine. Back in 1952, when the Court told Harry Truman to relinquish his hold over the steel industry, the combative president was stunned. Later that afternoon, Justice Hugo Black invited him over to his home for a drink. "Hugo," the president reportedly said to his host, "I don't much care for your law, by golly this bourbon is good."

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/todd-brewster/14th-amendment-debt-ceiling_b_910858.html

Ask me sometime how the head of Chicago's city sewers got FDR elected for a third term... it's a hoot!

:D

:kick:

[gateley]

1. I was reading about that today in an article recapping Presidents

who had been sued for their actions (it was a piece on the 14th Amendment). interesting! Thanks for posting. I tried to rec but alas, apparently a Texas School Book Judge didn't think this was appropriate for the children of DU. :shrug:

[WillyT]

2. LOL !!! - Like I've Said Before...

It's a badge of Honor.

:shrug:

:hi:

[Zorra]

3. _^_

[masmdu]

4. ok...how did the head of Chicago's city sewers get FDR elected for a third term... ?

[WillyT]

6. Here Ya Go:

Indeed, the nomination of a reluctant President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to run for his third term was conducted by essentially a single man. Roosevelt, tired after two terms, was argued into running for a third by Chicago mayor Ed Kelly. Kelly managed to convince the Democratic Party to hold the convention in Chicago rather than Philadelphia, where he could easily manipulate things. Unfortunately, FDR announced at the convention that he wasn't interested in running. However, the wily Kelly had stationed Thomas D. Garry, Chicago superintendent of sewers, in the basement of the convention center with a microphone wired into the public address system and a switch to turn everything else off. At the appropriate moment (right after FDR's spokesman announced his reluctance to run), Garry shouted into the mike, "We want Roosevelt! Alabama wants Roosevelt!" The Alabama delegates looked at one another in confusion. "Jersey City wants Roosevelt!" The New Jersey boss Frank Hague asked his delegation, "Who said that?" The chant caught on, and before long, the entire convention was clamoring for FDR's reelection. He subsequently took the nomination, the Presidency, and the United States into World War II, all thanks to a lowly sewer guy.

Link: http://www.historyhouse.com/uts/party_conventions/

And...

Link: http://books.google.com/books?id=xz8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA15&lpg=PA15&dq=Thomas+D.+Garry&source=bl&ots=dAyMQMc4H-&sig=5offFTGvaV8dEurZInUVQE6Y13w&hl=en&ei=p5gxToe_L7SrsALBz6DrCg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&sqi=2&ved=0CD8Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=Thomas%20D.%20Garry&f=false

As I remember the story... there were supposedly a number of high school marching bands that marched into the convention playing, "Happy Days Are Here Again" while this was all happening, and the ensuing celebration sealed the deal... FDR would run for a third term.

:shrug:

:hi:

[VenusRising]

5. We're covering FDR now in my History class.

Should get to that story tomorrow. :)