Trump’s Not the Only President to Push the Limits of Executive Power: US History Thematic Unit on Checks and Balances

In the past few months, as I’ve been preparing my new world history textbook, several teachers have reminded me that in Teaching US History Thematically: Document-Based Lessons for the Secondary Classroom, I promised to write blog posts giving the details on several units that had to be cut from the book due to space constraints. With impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump looming, this is the perfect week to consider a unit on checks and balances among the three branches of government. But Trump is not the first president to invoke executive privilege to defy Congress’s subpoenas, nor the first to have his executive orders declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. Teachers who love bringing current events into the classroom have a great opportunity to provide historical context to this unfolding drama in Washington.

I must admit that students were never excited to begin this unit. Whether you call it “checks and balances” or “separation of powers,” it just sounds boring. Yet by the end they were eagerly debating judicial activism versus strict constructionism and gleefully counting up the executive orders issued by various presidents. It turns out that power struggles among our three branches of government over the past several hundred years is fascinating to teenagers. What I love most about this unit is the way it cuts across political orthodoxies—all of us can think of actions a president has taken that we support, but that we have to admit may have overstepped the bounds of executive power. Likewise, we can think of Supreme Court cases whose outcome we appreciate, but which may not be consistent with our orientation to judicial activism or restraint. This unit really forces students to think about what matters more to them—the integrity of the processes by which our government is intended to work, or the outcomes of those processes.

Our unit question is simple: How should power be distributed among the three branches of government? When I last taught this unit in 2012, the government shutdown had stretched on for weeks, and provided the perfect current issue to kick off our inquiry. Now, clearly Trump’s struggles with Congress and the Supreme Court provide a great backdrop—“In which situations should Congress impeach the President?” is a compelling current issue question. (Moreover, including Nancy Pelosi’s speech allows me to put at least one woman in this unit; the absence of women and people of color here is a sobering reminder of how white men have dominated all branches of government.) Students could conduct a poll on whether they support impeachment, and then re-tally at the end of the unit. It would be interesting to see whether the historical events they have studied changed their perspectives or only reconfirmed them.

After the current issue, we loop back to our founding documents, examining the separation of powers as set forth in the Constitution and pulling in the ever-popular Alexander Hamilton. Washington’s first use of executive privilege starts off the power struggle. Next comes Marbury vs. Madison. I confess that I always found the intricacies of this case rather tedious until I thought of having students act it out. Watching a John Marshall rushing around trying to deliver dozens of appointment letters while William Marbury tears his hair out as the clock strikes midnight made it much more memorable. The throw-down between Andrew Jackson and Daniel Webster over the national bank is likewise ripe for dramatization.

Moving into the 20th century, Theodore Roosevelt’s conscious use of the presidency as a “bully pulpit” helps students think about what role our executive branch should play, and FDR’s action to take control of banks during the Great Depression provides a nice test-case for what counts as an “emergency.” Truman’s little-known seizure of steel mills allows consideration of another urgent situation—the often-glossed-over Korean War. Watching the video of Richard Nixon’s fantastic claim, “When the President does it, that means it is not illegal” always got students fired up, and today I’d play similar statements made by Trump’s White House for comparison.

I enjoyed covering Roe v. Wade in this unit because while students often had passionate views on abortion, many of them had not thought much about whether the Supreme Court should take an activist or constitutionalist role. Seeing this case through the lens of checks and balances allowed thoughtful discussion of an issue that could otherwise become explosive. Finally, I liked to end the unit with a case in which the courts found there was not a conflict between the executive and legislative branch—George W. Bush’s decision to invade Iraq. My students were toddlers when this war was going on, and most students today would not have even been born. The War on Terror was so much a formative part of my own youth that I had to remind myself to teach it to my students, many of whom had trouble tracing the lasting effects of 9/11 to the present.

Coming back around to 2019, students could re-consider Congress’s responsibilities and Trump’s potential transgressions in light of the examples of checks and balances they have studied. No one knows what will happen next, but historical moments like these make me miss teaching US history. Readers, I will live vicariously through you…please let me know how this unit goes if you teach it, or what other documents you would suggest to bring this theme to life!

Unit Question: How should power be distributed among the three branches of government?

Current Issue Question: In which situations should Congress impeach the President?

1. Question: What was Nancy Pelosi’s argument for pursuing impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump?

Historical Figure: Nancy Pelosi

Event: House considers impeachment of Donald Trump, 2019

Document: Pelosi’s speech on impeachment proceedings

2. Question: How does the Constitution define the separation of powers?

Historical Figure: Alexander Hamilton

Event: Constitutional Convention, 1787

Document: US Constitution; see also Federalist Paper Number 71

3. Question: Why did George Washington invoke “executive privilege”?

Historical Figure: George Washington