U.S. v. Nixon Theme of Rights and Privileges

What kind of special rights does a president need to do the job? Does he get special consideration because of his unique role as the chief executive? Can he break laws the rest of us have to follow so he can protect and defend the Constitution? What if complying with a law puts national security at risk?

Tough questions.

The president's lawyer had one take on it: that Nixon could operate like Louis XIV, absolute monarch of 17th-century France, answerable only to a court of impeachment. We're sure that impressed the Justices. Especially when they imagined Nixon in a wig.

In U.S. v. Nixon, you can see the Court weighing the president's need for certain executive rights against the fair rule of law. They go out of their way to acknowledge his unusual position and the respect it deserves, while still not giving him carte blanche to do whatever he wants. They try to tease out situations where a president's claim to executive privilege (confidentiality) would be justified and note that any info he has to release needs to be treated very carefully.

In the end, the court decided that the defendants in the case—the guys indicted for Watergate offenses—had rights, too: the right to due process, which meant that all evidence relevant to the accusations had to be produced. And the prosecutor had the right to the evidence he needed to prosecute. The court affirmed Nixon's rights to the executive privilege, but set some serious limits on it as well.

Unlike Louis XIV, the president doesn't have unlimited rights regardless of what his attorney claimed. We bet that attorney wishes he'd chosen a less provocative analogy.

1. How should the rights and privileges of the president differ from an ordinary citizen?
2. Should the president be able to use executive to suppress an investigation?
3. How did the U.S. v. Nixon define presidential privilege?

Despite the Watergate burglary being organized to help Nixon win re-election, it would ultimately lead to his downfall and resignation.

Because of the legitimization of executive privilege in U.S. v. Nixon, presidential power has both increased and decreased since the Nixon presidency.