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	Power and Constraint: The Accountable Presidency After 9/11 by Jack Goldsmith Price $26.95 Hardcover Special Order

Jack Goldsmith

discusses

Power and Constraint:
The Accountable Presidency After 9/11

with Charles Fried, Martha Minow, Joseph S. Nye, Jr.

$5 tickets on sale now

This event includes a book signing

Date

Mar

Monday
March 19, 2012
6:00 PM ET

Location

Brattle Theatre
40 Brattle St., Cambridge, MA 02138

Tickets

$5.00

Buy Tickets »

Harvard Book Store is thrilled to welcome Harvard professors JACK GOLDSMITH, CHARLES FRIED, MARTHA MINOW, AND JOSEPH S. NYE, JR. for a discussion of Goldsmith's new book, Power and Constraint: The Accountable Presidency After 9/11.

In Power and Constraint, Jack Goldsmith reveals the surprising truth behind Barack Obama's decision to continue many of his predecessor's counterterrorism policies. Conventional wisdom holds that 9/11 sounded the death knell for presidential accountability. In fact, the opposite is true. The novel powers that our post-9/11 commanders in chief assumed—endless detentions, military commissions, state secrets, broad surveillance, and more—are the culmination of a two-century expansion of presidential authority.

But these new powers have been met with thousands of barely visible legal and political constraints—enforced by congressional committees, government lawyers, courts, and the media—that have transformed our unprecedentedly powerful presidency into one that is also unprecedentedly accountable.

These constraints are the key to understanding why Obama continued the Bush counterterrorism program, and in this light, the events of the last decade should be seen as a victory, not a failure, of American constitutional government. According to Goldsmith, we have actually preserved the framers’ original idea of a balanced constitution, despite the vast increase in presidential power made necessary by this age of permanent emergency.

Charles Fried

Charles Fried, the Beneficial Professor of Law at the Harvard Law School, has taught and written about legal philosophy and constitutional law for over forty years. He served as solicitor general of the United States in the Reagan administration and as a judge on the highest court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He has written several books, including most recently Modern Liberty and the Limits of Government, Right and Wrong.

Photo Credit: George Simian

Jack Goldsmith

Jack Goldsmith is the Learned Hand Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, a Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University, and co-founder of Lawfare. He teaches and writes about presidential power, national security law, federal courts, conflict of laws, international law, and internet law.

Joseph S. Nye, Jr.

Joseph S. Nye Jr. is a Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor and former Dean of the Kennedy School. He received his bachelor's degree summa cum laude from Princeton University, did postgraduate work at Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship, and earned a PhD in political science from Harvard. He has served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs, Chair of the National Intelligence Council, and Deputy Under Secretary of State for Security Assistance, Science and Technology. In 2004, he published Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics; Understanding International Conflict; and The Power Game: A Washington Novel. In 2008 he published The Powers to Lead and in 2011 The Future of Power.

Martha Minow

Martha Minow is a University Professor at Harvard and former Dean of its Law School. She teaches and writes about constitutional law and human rights. Her most recent book is When Should Law Forgive?. She served as a Clerk to Justice Thurgood Marshall of the United States Supreme Court.

Online ticket sales have now ended, but tickets can still be purchased at Harvard Book Store and by phone at 617-661-1515 until 4pm the day of the event. Remaining tickets will be on sale at the door of the Brattle when we open doors at about 5:30.

$5 tickets are also coupons good for $5 off a purchase at events or at Harvard Book Store. Coupons expire 30 days after the event, and cannot be used for online purchases, event tickets, or gift certificates. Please note that your ticket guarantees you a seat until five minutes before an event begins.

Walking from the Harvard Square T station: 10 minutes

As you exit the station, cross Mass. Ave. and proceed along Brattle St. Follow Brattle St. as it curves to the right in Brattle Square (follow the sidewalk on the right side of the street). The Brattle will be on the left-hand side of the street. The building is shared with Algiers Cafe and Alden & Harlow Restaurant, and the theatre entrance is on the left side of the building—look for the sidewalk poster case and marquee.

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FAQ:

Can I request a personalized inscription?
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