“The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elective, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.”
— James Madison, Federalist No. 47
Feb. 1, 1788
Almost 249 years ago, on July 4, 1776, the founders of our country signed the Declaration of Independence, declaring that our new country would be founded on governance by the people, not a king. When the U.S. Constitution was ratified in June 1788, this idea was confirmed.
The Constitution created three separate, co-equal branches of government: legislative, executive, and judicial. No one branch was supposed to dominate the others. The goal was to ensure that no individual or small group could dominate the entire government.
As Madison said a few months before the Constitution was ratified, if these powers were all placed in the same hands, we would be back under tyranny.
In 1598, England’s King James I published a pamphlet titled “The True Law of Free Monarchies.” In it, he said that since kings had been created before parliaments and laws, “... so it follows of necessity that kings were the authors and makers of the laws, and not the laws of the kings.” He practiced this belief, as did his son Charles I.
The English people were so outraged that a civil war erupted, Charles I was beheaded, and ever after, British monarchs have had to swear that they would follow the laws of Parliament and English common law.
This is why every U.S. president swears this oath at inauguration: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the U.S."
In this oath, the president is swearing that he or she is not above the law, that the Constitution has precedence over any personal ambitions or goals the president may have. We now have a president, Donald Trump, who has turned all that upside-down, believing his personal goals are more important than the rule of law.
He has defied lawful court orders. He is issuing executive orders which are clearly unconstitutional. And he’s not hiding any of it.
On Feb. 15, Trump posted the following quote from Napoleon on his Truth Social site: “He who saves his country does not violate any law.” Trump believes that he is “saving” our country, so it doesn’t matter what laws he breaks to do so.
My high school government teacher was a great man named Leo Ryan, later murdered in Jonestown, Guyana. He taught his students that leaders who believe “The end justifies the means,” will use any methods to achieve their goals.
This corrupts everything the leader does, since it places him or her above the law and therefore above the will of the people. Even if the ultimate goal seems to benefit the country, the whole process becomes rotten, and the whole edifice will collapse.
This year, we will celebrate the 80th anniversary of the defeat of fascism in Europe. With our allies, we defeated this evil philosophy and restored freedom and democracy to much of the world. Those ideas spread and developed to overcome authoritarian government models such as communism.
On Nov. 9, 1989, the Berlin Wall fell. In December 1991, the entire Soviet Union collapsed. Much of institutional communism was destroyed.
Freedom and democracy spread around the world. Many of us were optimistic that countries would continue to preserve democracy.
Now what has happened in 2025? America has invited fascism right into our country, our government, our institutions and our homes.
Our president has shifted his allegiance away from freedom, democracy and the rule of law and towards several vicious dictators, including Putin of Russia, Xe of China, Kim of North Korea, Orbán of Hungary, and Erdogan of Turkey. The freedoms that millions died to protect are being tossed away like trash.
Trump is claiming he has the authority to ignore Congress and the courts. He is working to put all governmental powers in his own hands, along with a few select billionaires. He is trying to emulate his heroes, the dictators who have done exactly that.
In doing so, he is causing incalculable harm to our country and our people. James Madison realized the danger these kinds of actions would create. We need to listen to him and stop this power grab before we are destroyed.
Jeanette Strong, whose column appears every other week, is a Nevada Press Foundation award-winning columnist. Email news@lahontanvalleynews.com.