None of this would have surprised the two most famous founding fathers, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. After the Reagan administration funneled money to the Contras from arms sales to Iran, the phrase “Iran-Contra” became the subject of endless investigations on Capitol Hill. He and the speaker of the House, Jim Wright, fought a virtual civil war over our foreign policy toward the anti-communist Contras who were fighting far-left Sandinistas for control of Nicaragua.
It erupted with particular virulence during Ronald Reagan’s presidency. Without informing Congress, the president decides to abandon the policy of quarantining the Communist government of Cuba.įew people besides a handful of historians realize just how long this contest between the president and Congress has been dividing Washington, D.C.-how, in fact, an ongoing debate over this issue has defined and redefined the balance of power in the federal government for more than two centuries. Congress invites the prime minister of Israel to come before it and attack the president’s attempt to negotiate a nuclear treat with Iran. The next day we hear that Congress is threatening to shut down the federal government or one of its crucial agencies. One day we hear that Obama thinks he can govern the country with executive orders. … Take executive action on immigration? Bucket!”) only confirmed what we already knew: This is a relationship that has grown more dysfunctional with each passing year of the Obama presidency. President Barack Obama’s comic and quasi-profane slaps at Congress at the White House Correspondents' Dinner over the weekend (“I have something that rhymes with a bucket list. This article is adapted from Thomas Fleming’s latest book, The Great Divide: The Conflict between Washington and Jefferson that Defined a Nation.
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