Episode 4: The Meese Doctrine | The Kingmakers

About this episode

This episode explores how Edwin Meese and conservative operatives shaped the unitary executive theory amidst political scandals.

Rather than retreat from Iran-Contra and other scandals, conservative operatives inside the White House — led by Attorney General Edwin Meese — went on the offensive. Drawing on newly uncovered documents and exclusive interviews, we trace how Meese helped turn a fringe idea into doctrine: that all executive power belongs to the president alone. This is the origin story of the unitary executive theory. TRANSCRIPT & BONUS MATERIALS: Click here to read a transcript and to explore bonus archival documents related to Episode 4. 🎧 BONUS: Listen to the full Ed Meese interview here. Get Master Plan episodes early and ad-free by becoming a paid subscriber. Enjoy bonus episodes, exclusive content, and support this show. Visit levernews.com/upgrade To leave a tip for The Lever, click here. It helps us do this kind of independent journalism. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: David Sirota

Topics covered

• executive power
• unitary executive theory
• Iran-Contra
• political scandals
• conservative operatives

Keywords

• Meese Doctrine
• executive power
• politics
• Iran-Contra
• scandals
• unitary executive theory
• conservative operatives

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Master Plan

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