Constitutional Ambiguity and the Interpretation of Presidential Power

Richard W. Waterman is Professor of Political Science at the University of Kentucky. He is the coauthor, with Kirk A. Randazzo, of Checking the Courts: Law, Ideology, and Contingent Discretion, also published by SUNY Press.

"Overall, at a time when the second Trump administration and the Supreme Court are putting the vision of a unitary executive into practice, Waterman's book helps us understand the roots of what makes such a transformation of the office possible … Waterman's book is destined to be an indispensable resource for both research and teaching as scholars of the presidency ponder these questions going forward." — Presidential Studies Quarterly"Constitutional Ambiguity and the Interpretation of Presidential Power is an expert-led journey through the history of the American presidency with the concept of constitutional ambiguity as its touchstone. At the end of the trip, there are still no easy answers to the hard questions raised by the book. Still, thanks to Waterman's thoughtful and thorough analysis, we have a much more informed starting point for discussion of these vitally important issues." — Congress & the Presidency"Waterman asks questions of absolutely first order importance to the study of the American presidency. After recognizing the essential ambiguity of Article II, he then establishes its significance for a broad array of arguments about the outer reaches of presidential power through US history. Rather than adjudicate debates about which specific constitutional interpretations are, in one sense or another, objectively correct, Constitutional Ambiguity and the Interpretation of Presidential Power helps to clarify the sheer variety of claims that this ambiguity has supported. At a time of acute anxieties about presidential power and democracy, this book is sorely needed." — William Howell, author of Presidents, Populism, and the Crisis of Democracy

• Introduction1. Constitutional Ambiguity and Presidential Power2. Writing a New Constitution3. Constitutional Ambiguity4. Obstacles to the Interpretation of the Constitution in Early America5. The Sovereign Power and Constitutional Interpretation6. A Strict Interpretation of the Constitution7. A Living Constitution8. The Unitary Executive Theory9. The Constitution and the Supreme Practical TestNotesReferencesIndex