Abstract
Abstract:
The article examines how the United States Congress treated the president and the Supreme Court in dealing with their requests for essential funds prior to and during controversial periods. In Federalist 51 the author wrote, "In republican government the legislative authority, necessarily, predominate." The authors of the Federalist Papers specifically called attention to the appropriations and taxation power of the legislature as a basis for its ability to dominate the other two branches. The author also examined the relationship between the executive and Congress by comparing base years with crisis years during the administrations of U.S. Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon. The author compares reactions of the Appropriations subcommittees in the House and the Senate to requests for funds for the presidency in various fiscal years. The crisis years include 1967 and 1968, a period characterized by sharp national divisions over the Vietnam War, which culminated with the tumultuous election of 1968.
