On the record
It was an extreme proposition,--a new departure from the long-established usage of the Federal Government, and for that reason, if for no other, personally degrading to the incumbent of the Presidential office.
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gutenberg.orgJames Blaine: “It was an extreme proposition,--a new departure from the long-established usage of the Federal Government, and for that…”
Editor's note · Context
Blaine critiques a significant legislative change as a departure from established norms, highlighting its potential degradation of presidential authority.
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More from James Blaine
But what if the feeling in any State against the United States should become so universal that the Federal officers themselves (including judges, district attorneys, and marshals) would be reached by the same influences, and resign their…
Without the exercise of those functions which belong exclusively to the civil service, the laws cannot be executed in any event, no matter what may be the physical strength which the Government has at its command.
The right of the General Government to preserve itself in its whole constitutional vigor by repelling a direct and positive aggression upon its property or its officers cannot be denied.
Under such circumstances, to send a military force into any State, with orders to act against the people, would be simply making war upon them.
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