Truman and the Steel Seizure Case: The Limits of Presidential Power

Front Cover
Duke University Press, 1994 - Biography & Autobiography - 390 pages
Government seizure of the nation's strikebound steel mills on 8 April 1952 stands as one of President Harry S Truman's most controversial actions, representing an unprecedented use of presidential power. On 8 June 1952 the United States Supreme Court invalidated Truman's order with its monumental decision in Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. v. Sawyer. The history and significance of this case constitute the subject of Maeva Marcus's meticulously researched, brilliantly analyzed, and authoritative study. From Truman's initial assertion of "inherent" executive power under the Constitution to the High Court's seven opinions, Marcus assesses the influence of the case on the doctrine of separation of powers and, specifically, the nature and practice of executive authority. First published in 1977 (Columbia University Press), and reissued here in paperback with a new foreword by Louis Fisher, this book remains the definitive account of the Steel Seizure incident and its political and legal ramifications.
 

Contents

Limited War and the Economy
1
Truman Labor and the Politics of Limited War
17
The Steel Industry and the United Steelworkers
38
The Government Seizes the Steel Mills
58
The Country Reacts
83
The Steel Companies Go to Court
102
The Steel Seizure Case in the Court of Appeals
130
The Supreme Court Hears the Steel Seizure Case
149
Awaiting the Decision
178
The Supreme Court Rules
195
The Constitutional Significance of
228
Epilogue
249
Abbreviations Used in the Notes
262
Bibliography
359
Index
377
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (1994)

Maeva Marcus is Director and Editor of the Documentary History of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1789-1800.