Will Obama follow Bush or FDR?

An interesting column from the Washington Post puts Obama’s options in how he acts over Guantanamo Bay into historical perspective.

The piece examines how Obama could choose to follow the route of George Bush, by-passing Congress and making full use of executive orders, noting that it is convenient because “The unilateral approach… lets the president define the rules in ways that are convenient for him and then dares the courts to say no.” However, it makes clear that this is not the way he should go as “Hard trade-offs between liberty and security will be made haphazardly and without democratic legitimacy.” Instead, the authors suggest, Obama should follow in the footsteps of Roosevelt, who, when trying to negotiate Lend-Lease, led months of Congressional and national debate in order to get his way.

This article is useful reading for a number of American topics- in particular the power of the president, relationships with Congress and the judiciary and also civil liberties.

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