Essay - The American Presidency by Mcdonald Takes a Strong Stand Against...

The American Presidency by McDonald takes a strong stand against the executive branch gaining too much power over the other branches of g*****nment. His basic thesis is that this Constitutional government is brilliantly conceived yet because the way the document was written it ***** subject to widely varying interpretation along the way. He points out in the beg*****ning ***** his book ***** the language used in the writing of the Constitution is not as clear ***** it could be in terms of what constra*****ts can be placed (or should be placed on the presidency). While it ***** "vital" for an executive ***** have the authority he needs, "it is d*****gerous as well" (McD*****ald, 3). The historical review and analysis ***** the presidencies is thorough ***** detailed, and is an eye-opener for readers who are not intimately familiar with ***** h*****tory from the point of view of the Constitution and the *****.

Many readers probably do not know that by the time ***** young American nation was moving toward establishing its own government, England actually had "ordered liberty" (McDonald, 12) - a "constitutional monarchy." The way history is often taught is that the M***** Country, because the King slapped so many taxes on ***** colonists and instituted other sanctions designed to keep the colonies in check, was a brutal dicta*****rship. That is simply ***** the case, and *****deed in Chapter 2 ***** ***** out that ***** English model for a government ***** the one ***** the "framers" of the U.S. Constitution used.

***** Chapter ***** the author takes readers through the various stages of government that Engl***** went through prior to becom*****g a constitutional monarchy. All of *****se eras and the leaders that served *****and during them have a p*****rt ***** play in how and why the ***** ***** the U.S. Constitution debated, argued, cajoled one another and finally came up ***** in the end.

In Chapter 4 McDonald notes ***** in the first three weeks of the Constitutional Convention delegates "buttressed their positions with historical references at least twenty-***** times." Clearly, the intelligent, ********** ***** from throughout the colonies wanted to use ***** as a lesson and as a reference. Among the books ***** which quotes were taken was the Bible, which (most readers probably were not aware of) "...contains a great deal about ***** evolution of executive power" (McDonald, 68). As an example of how thorough McDonald was in presenting his approach to American his*****ry, he sp*****s several pages on Biblical *****s that may have been ********** by the delegates.

McDonald paraphrased ***** Bible as though every story in the Bible is a verified f*****ctual account of what happened. An atheist, who sees the Bible as a book with nice colorful stories but doesn't believe it is a true record ***** history, will probably lose confidence in McDonald at this point. But nevertheless, on page 71 the author asserts ***** God told Samuel, the last of the judges over ***** Israelites (who had fallen into "idolatry") to "warn the