Power Wars: Inside Obama’s Post‐​9/​11 Presidency (Charlie Savage)

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As Pulitzer‐​prize winning journalist Charlie Savage documents in his new book Power Wars, from the early days of the Obama administration, “policy choices that departed from Bush‐​era programs dwindled, and those that continued— or even expanded— Bush‐​era programs rose.” Indeed, as president, Obama has launched more than seven times as many drone strikes as his predecessor, including the remote‐​control execution of an American citizen. He’s continued and expanded dragnet domestic surveillance programs based on a secret interpretation of the PATRIOT Act and launched two wars without authorization from Congress. Much has changed in the Obama era, but the imperial presidency endures and thrives.