The Presidents and the People

Five Leaders Who Threatened Democracy and the Citizens Who Fought to Defend It

28 October 2025

Territory Rights — Worldwide.

Description

American presidents have often pushed the boundaries established for them by the Constitution; this is the inspirational history of the people who pushed back

Imagine an American president who imprisoned critics, spread a culture of white supremacy and tried to upend the law so that he could commit crimes with impunity. In this propulsive and eminently readable history, Corey Brettschneider provides a thoroughly researched account of assaults on democracy by not one such president but five: John Adams, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Woodrow Wilson and Richard Nixon.

Brettschneider shows that these presidents didn’t have the last word; citizen movements brought the United States back from the precipice by appealing to a democratic understanding of the Constitution and pressuring subsequent reform-minded presidents to realise the promise of “We the People”. This is a book about citizens—Frederick Douglass, Ida B. Wells, Daniel Ellsberg and more—who fought back against presidential abuses of power and give hope about the possibilities of restoring democracy.

Reviews

"Corey Brettschneider traces a stunning pattern right across American history. Again and again, brave citizens wielded the Constitution against power, arrogance and racism to save the republic. The Presidents and the People challenges our conventional wisdom about the presidents, the people, the courts and democracy itself. Deeply researched, beautifully written, dramatic, wise and inspiring—a must-read for scholars, citizens and anyone interested in how the United States really works." — James A. Morone, author of Hellfire Nation and Republic of Wrath

"An inspired history dramatically rendered: the crises five past presidents inflicted on the nation and the moral sense, political skill and persistence the people mustered to restore constitutional order. Richard Nixon’s abuse of power, however, eluded recovery—why? The Presidents and the People supplies a guide and issues a warning." — Nancy L. Rosenblum, Senator Joseph Clark Research Professor of Ethics in Politics and Government, Harvard University

Also By: Corey Brettschneider

The Oath and the Office: A Guide to the Constitution for Future Presidents
Corey Brettschneider
Paperback, 2019
An essential guide to the presidential powers and limits of the Constitution, for anyone voting—or running—for our highest office.
The Oath and the Office: A Guide to the Constitution for Future Presidents
Corey Brettschneider
Hardback, 2018
An essential guide to the presidential powers and limits of the Constitution, for anyone voting—or running—for our highest office.
The Oath and the Office: A Guide to the Constitution for Future Presidents
Corey Brettschneider
E Book, 2018
An essential guide to the presidential powers and limits of the Constitution, for anyone voting—or running—for our highest office.