314F Fall 2026 The New Imperial Presidency

This course concludes the Imperial Presidency course given in previous terms. We’ll examine how Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama used national emergencies to claw back power from Congress. President Bush utilized the emergency resulting from the terrorist attack on 9/11 as justification to reassert presidential power. The reassertion of presidential power has been dubbed the "New Imperial Presidency." President Obama continued to claw back authority from Congress based on national emergencies.

Michael McGregor currently works as a policy analyst at the Department of Health and Human Services. His research has focused on the history of the U.S. presidency, Franklin Roosevelt, Congress, and the Lend-Lease Act. Michael received his Master of Arts from George Mason in 2002.