The Corner

Politics & Policy

A National Disaster 90 Years Ago

On April 5, 1933, FDR issued his executive order seizing gold from American citizens. Lawrence W. Reed recounts the dirty deed here. 

Is there some provision in the Constitution stating that the president can take gold (or anything else) away from people who lawfully own it? Maybe it’s in the same place where it says the president is allowed to cancel debts owed to the government if he wants to.

Executive orders have been abused time and time again by presidents who swear to uphold the Constitution but are happy to trample upon it whenever they feel the need to act like a king.

George Leef is the the director of editorial content at the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal. He is the author of The Awakening of Jennifer Van Arsdale: A Political Fable for Our Time.
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