Before there was Caesar, there was Sulla; before there was Hitler, there was Hindenburg, and before a dictator in the U.S., there was Obama. In this post, I put forward the concern that President Obama’s actions with immigration are dangerous not because of what they do to our immigration policy, but because of the precedent that his actions has set for a future leader. I will do this by noting two other leaders of Constitutional Republics whose actions laid precedents for later dictators, namely Sulla in the Roman Republic and Hindenburg in the Wiemar Republic.
While virtually everyone has heard of Julius Caesar and know
the story of how he took his army across the Rubicon far fewer people have
heard of the first Roman general who invaded Rome with his army, Lucius
Cornelia Sulla. Most of the information
in this section comes from Larry Reed’s excellent paper that lays out in fuller
detail how Sulla set the stage for Caesar.
Sulla was a Roman General who, because of his success in
battle, was elected to the highest executive position, a consul. His rival,
Marius, out-maneuvered him politically and received a coveted military
assignment. Feeling that he had been wronged, in 88 BC, Sulla marched on Rome
with his army, forced the Senate to convene and to declare that Sulla’s
political opponents were enemies of the state. In 59 BC, Caesar followed the example set by Sulla and also decided to march on Rome with his army.
Sulla expanded the power of the historical office of
dictator which, under Roman law, was an elected position that lasted only six
months in which a single individual was given absolute control over the Roman
Republic. Sulla appointed himself dictator, and later extended the brief sixth
month term to a position for life. Caesar was elected dictator, but also
extended his position to a life one, following Sulla’s example.
Sulla was a politician who felt that Rome needed to return
to its more traditional ways in order to remain a Republic. After he took
power, he instituted a series of what he believed were necessary political
reforms. In short, Sulla took all his actions with the goal of preserving Rome.
Unfortunately, he ended up handing Caesar a playbook on how to become a
dictator of Rome.
Another example of a well-meaning leader who set up a
republican government for a dictator was Hindenburg of the Wiemar Republic.
When most people think of the name “Hindenburg,” they think of the famous zeppelin The person that the zeppelin was named after was Paul von Hindenburg, a WWI hero
that was President of the German Wiemar Republic before Hitler came to power.
Hindenburg wanted to
help the struggling German economy. After realizing that the German legislature
would not pass his proposed measures he declared the problem an “emergency” and
signed his measures into law without the legislature. This power was granted to
the President under Article 48
of the Wiemar Constitution which allowed the president to bypass the
legislature in an emergency. The problem was that it was the President who got
to decide when it was an emergency.
Hitler built on this precedent of laws being solely enacted
by the executive branch. The infamous Reichstag Fire Decree, which severely
limited civil rights, was signed into law by Hindenburg without going through
the legislature.
Later, the enabling act was passed which essentially eliminated the role of the
legislature in creating laws. Hitler could then make the laws without the legislature.
In his 2014 state of the union address, President Obama
talked about the various ways that he was going to act without the consent of
Congress to address various problems.
These problems include a higher minimum wage,
cutting red tape for certain projects and raising emission standards.
After acknowledging his need to work with Congress on immigration reform in the state of the union address, Obama
recently took unilateral action and effectively changed the immigration laws of this nation. He claims that his actions are temporary and will no
longer be necessary when Congress passes an immigration bill.
Such statements echo what Sulla or Hindenburg told their respective
republics.
Presidential rewriting of immigration law will not create a
dictatorship in America. The tension between executive and legislative power is
as old as the American Republic. What Obama IS doing is setting the stage for a
future despot just as Sulla set the precedent for Caesar and Hindenburg for
Hitler. Those who applaud the actions on
immigration law by President Obama need to ask themselves how enthusiastic they
be if a Republican President decided to deport the 5 million people living here
illegally. Because that is the precedent the Obama is setting. And if you
believe, as I do, that our long-term
liberty is best served when the checks and balances of government are respected
no matter who is in power, then Obama’s recent announcement should give you cause
for concern rather than for celebration.
