To the editor: No matter how much our founding fathers were concerned about unlimited executive power and the constitutional need for checks and balances on the president, there is a far more important conclusion to be drawn from the author’s historical account. (“The American presidency is the most powerful office in the world. Too powerful,” Opinion, Sept. 11).
That is to say, compared with any of the founders, the Federalist Society and its associated think tank, the Heritage Foundation, have recently made clear that they are not worried about an overly powerful presidency.
Wow, how things have changed.
Ted Rosenblatt, Pacific Palisades
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To the editor: It wasn't just the founders who would be frightened by our imperial presidency.
During Senator Frank Church’s investigations into the abuse of power by our government in the 1970s, he said the following during an appearance on “Meet the Press” in 1975:
“If this government ever became a tyranny, if a dictator ever took power in this country, the technological capability that the intelligence community has given to the government could allow it to impose total tyranny, and there would be no way to fight back.”
And it would be much worse 50 years later.
Paul Burns, Granada Hills
