Julian Davis Mortenson†
File: 15 Mortenson.docx Created on: 2/19/11 12:36 PM Last Printed: 4/6/11 9:01 AM REVIEW Executive Power and the Discipline of History Julian Davis Mortenson† Crisis and Command: The History of Executive Power from George Washington to George W. Bush John Yoo. Kaplan, 2009. Pp vii, 524. War by Other Means: An Insider’s Account of the War on Terror John Yoo. Atlantic Monthly, 2006. Pp vii, 292. The Powers of War and Peace: The Constitution and Foreign Affairs after 9/11 John Yoo. Chicago, 2005. Pp vii, 366. INTRODUCTION For all the angst about the proper role of history in constitutional analysis, custom and tradition have long played a central role in for- eign affairs and national security law. The standard explanation for this is straightforward. For starters, the relevant constitutional text is cryptic, elusive, and in some cases entirely absent.1 Nor has judicial † Assistant Professor, University of Michigan Law School. The author has represented a number of detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Many thanks to Bill Banks, David Barron, Richard Caplan, Bobby Chesney, Andy Coan, Anthony Colangelo, Nathan Cortez, Jo Ann Davis, Tom Drake, Martin Flaherty, Louis Fisher, Eric Freedman, Jack Goldsmith, Tom Green, Monica Hakimi, Don Herzog, Aziz Huq, Bob Kaczorowski, Andrew Kent, Orin Kerr, Greg McNeal, Ben Mizer, Madeline Morris, Trevor Morrison, Lindsey Young Mortenson, Peter Mortenson, Lawrence Moten, Richard Primus, Sam Rascoff, Don Regan, Nathan Sales, Rebecca Scott, Gil Seinfeld, Steve Vladeck, Kevin Walsh, Matt Waxman, and other readers for helpful comments. Special appreciation to Jocelyn Kenne- dy and Seth Quidachay-Swain in the Michigan Law Library and Maria Jhai, Robert Routh, and Michael Wagner for assistance with research.
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