250th Anniversary of the USA Ep. 2: Dr. Charles C. Thach, Ph.D. on The Creation of The Presidency I

Episode 2 in the series marking the 250th Anniversary of the USA in this second quarter 2026. When the Founders signed their names onto the Declaration of Independence, they were committing a capital crime, and they were signing their own death warrants if they were caught. They took themselves not to be looking for a fight, but rather, refusing any longer to duck the fight that in fact had come to them. And they sought to ground their cause, their reaction, to right reason in the natural law, consistent with Revelation and the Scriptures. They sought to articulate such an argument for their cause in such a way that would be rightly persuasive to any future reader and any of the nations which may inquire as to the source of their actions. Of course, their cause was initially, in large measure, a reaction against Executive Power. But such a war require itself strong Executive Power. Therein lies the rub: how can Executive Power be strong yet consistent with the principles of Liberty ? We're making a fair use, transformative reading and discussion of Charles C. Thach's doctoral dissertation at Johns Hopkins in 1922 called "The Creation of the Presidency, 1775-1789 made available by Liberty Fund INC in Indianapolis, Indiana in 2007. Go out and get your physical copy today. Follow along. We'd like to thank Liberty Fund for making this material available, and we'd like to thank Charles C. Thach for writing it. This material was required reading in my Ph.D. program in Public Law and American Politics at The Claremont Colleges. It was used on the 6 hour comprehensive exams (6 hours each) and in a course called The Presidency and the Constitution taught by Joseph M. Bessette, who also served on my dissertation committee many years later. The Republican Professor is a pro-correctly-understanding-the-American-Presidency, anti-grade-inflation-plantation podcast. The Republican Professor is produced and hosted by Dr. Lucas J. Mather, Ph.D.