Presidential Powers, Part 1 | America's Written Constitution with Akhil Reed Amar

Before the Civil War, the Supreme Court struck down one federal statute. Presidents vetoed roughly two dozen bills on constitutional grounds. Akhil Reed Amar reads the presidential oath to explain why. This lecture works outward from what Article II says about the person who holds the office. Amar covers the original vice presidency, filled by whoever finished second rather than by a running mate, and reads it as evidence that executive power is continuous: a vice president steps in the instant a president dies, where a vacant House seat waits for an election. He revisits James Madison's objection to the succession statute, which put legislative leaders in line even though the Constitution names "officers" and the Incompatibility Clause bars a member of Congress from holding executive office. The heart of the lecture is the oath, one of the few passages the framers wrote out word for word: no religious test, an option to affirm rather than swear, and a promise to defend the Constitution rather than every statute Congress passes, which is where the constitutional veto comes from. Chapters: 00:00 The numbers behind Article II 03:48 Three-fifths inside the Electoral College 05:22 The original vice presidency 06:54 Why executive power never sleeps 08:31 Succession, and Madison's objection 12:37 The presidential oath, word for word 13:39 No religious test, and the option to affirm 15:46 Defending the Constitution, not every statute 18:49 Constitutional vetoes before the Civil War Learning objectives: After watching, you'll be able to: - Explain how the vice presidency worked before the Twelfth Amendment - Summarize Madison's case against putting legislative leaders in the line of succession - Identify what the presidential oath omits compared with the English coronation oath - Contrast a president's duty to the Constitution with a British monarch's duty to Parliament - Compare early presidential vetoes with early judicial review as constitutional enforcement 📺 Watch the full playlist on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCq6-l8oFuvk 🎓 Enroll on Coursera for assessments and a certificate: https://www.coursera.org/learn/written-constitution 🌐 Explore more learning opportunities on Yale Online: https://online.yale.edu/courses/americas-written-constitution