There is irony in a man determined to use the powers of the presidency and the administrative state capacity to disassemble the administrative state, aka ‘the deep state.’  Yet that is what we are seeing with the Trump Administration. The military, Department of Justice, homeland security and ICE are all aspects of the administrative state.  And the administrative state is a symbol of the evolution and expansion of our federal government ever since the 1930’s and FDR’s New Deal.  Since, at least 1980, the Republicans key project has been to try to take it apart because its goals have also trended along progressive lines. However, Ronald Reagan and the Bushes never tried to accumulate massive authority, as strongmen, in the way that Donald Trump is now attempting…and succeeding at doing.  The Imperial Presidency has to crown its champion, despite the founders attempts to limit the powers of the executive.  To discuss this timely subject is Terry Moe, co-author with William Howell, of the book, “Trajectory of Power: The Rise of the Strongman Presidency.”