Down With the Presidencyrnbv Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.rnThe presidenc must be destroyed. It is the primar e’il vcrnface, and the eause of nearly all our woes. It squanders thernnational wealth and starts unjust wars against foreign peoplesrnthat hae ncer done us am harm. It wrecks our families, tramplesrnon our rights, invades our communities, and spies on ourrnbank accounts. It skews the culture toward decadence andrntrash. It tells lie after lie. Teachers used to tell schoolkids thatrnanvone can be President. This is like saving anyone can go tornhell. It is not an inspiration; it is a threat.rnThe presidency—bv which I mean the executive state—isrnthe sum total of American tyranny. The other branches of government,rnincluding the presidentiallv appointed SupremernCourt, are mere adjuncts. The presidency insists on completerndeotion and humble submission to its dictates, even while itrnsteals the products of our labor and drives us into econoirricrnruin. It centralizes all power unto itself, and crowds out all competingrncenters of pouer in society, including the church, thernfaniih, the business, the charity, and the community.rnI will go further. The United States presidency is the wodd’srnleading eil. It is the chief mischief-maker in every part of thernglobe, the leading wrecker of nations, the usurer behind ThirdrnWorld debt, the bailer-out of corrupt goernments, the hand inrnmany dictatorial gloes, the sponsor and sustaincr of the NewrnWorid Order, of wars, interstate and civil, of famine and disease.rnTo see the evils caused b’ the presidency, look no furtherrnthan Iracj, where the lixes of innocents were snuffed out in arnpointless war, v’here bombing was designed to eause disease,rnand where women, children, and the aged have been denied essentialrnfood and medicine because of a cruel embargo. Look atrnthe human toll taken by the presidency, from Dresden andrnI liroshima to \4ieo and Ruby Ridge, and you sec a prime practitionerrnof murder b go crnment.rnLlewdlyn H. Rockwell, /r., is founder and president of the Ludwis.rnyon Mises Institute in Auburn, Alabama. A version of thisrnarticle was presented at the 1996 John Randolph Club meetingrnand published in the li’iple R.rnToda, the President is called tlie leader of the world’s onlyrnsuperpower, the “wodd’s indispensable nation,” which is reasonrnenough to have him deposed. A w’odd with any superpower atrnall is a world where no freedoms arc safe. But b in’oking thisrntitle, the presidency attempts to keep our attention focused onrnforeign affairs. It is a diversionary tactic designed to keep usrnfrom noticing the oppressi’e rule it imposes right here in thernUnited States.rnAs the presidency assumes ever more power unto itself, it becomesrnless and less accountable and more and more trannieal.rnThese days, when we sa}’ “the federal government,” what we reallyrnmean is the presidency. When we say “national priorities,”rnwe really mean what the presidency wants. When we sarn”national culture,” we mean what the presidenc’ funds andrnimposes.rnThe presidency is presumed to be the embodiment ofrnRousseau’s general will, with far more power than any monarchrnor head of state in premodcrn societies. The United Statesrnpresidenc is the apex of the world’s biggest and most powerfulrngo’ernment and of the most expansive empire m w orld history.rnAs such, the presidency represents the opposite of freedom. Itrnis what stands between us and our goal of restoring our ancientrnrights.rnAnd let me be clear: I am not talking about any particular inhabitantrnof the Wdiitc I louse. I am talking about the institutionrnitself, and the millions of unelccted, unaccountable bureaucratsrnwho are its acolytes. Look through the United Statesrngovernment manual, which breaks down the federal establishmentrninto its three branches. What ‘ou actualU- sec is the presidentialrntrunk, its Supreme Court stick, and its Congressionalrntwig. Practically e’erything we think of as federal—save the Libraryrnof Congress—operates under the aegis of the exeeutix e.rnThis is why the governing elites—and espeeialK the foreignrnpolicy elites—are so intent on maintaining public respect forrnthe office, and why the seek to gie it the aura of holiness. Forrnexample, after Watergate, they briefly panicked and worriedrnthat they had gone too far, The might have discredited thernOCTOBER 1997/27rnrnrn