Governmental Practice and Presidential Direction: Lessons from the Antebellum Republic?

Abstract

In Association of Data Processing Service Organizations, Inc. v. Camp, Justice Douglas famously remarked, "Generalizations about standing to sue are largely worthless as such."' Justice Douglas went on to say, however, that one generalization was necessary, that is, that the question of standing had to be considered within the framework of Article III of the Constitution. My sense is that Justice Douglas's skepticism about generalizations applies with even greater force when the question is the extent of the President's power under the U.S. Constitution to direct other officers concerning the execution or implementation of federal law. But, one generalization might be hazarded: Almost anyone who addresses the topic argues from historical practice, not merely from the text of the Constitution or from judicial pronouncements.