[Music] you in 1951 the steelworkers contract was expiring and the United States forces were fighting as part of the United Nations force in Korea the steel industry was an important part of the armaments that were supporting those troops in the field so the prospect of a strike that would shut down steel production during a war was a gravely serious issue this was truly an important moment in American history it was during the darkest days of the Korean War President Truman seized the steel mills to avert a strike of 600,000 steel mill workers and he believed deeply that this was necessary to protect the troops in Korea with American troops facing the enemy on the field of battle I would not be living up to my oath of office if I fail to do whatever is required to provide them with weapons and ammunition they need for their survival therefore I am taking two actions first time directing the Secretary of Commerce to take possession of the steel mills and to keep them operating the steel companies file a lawsuit claiming this is private property it belongs to us not the government the president's not authorized to do this and that case very quickly on a very fast track makes it to the Supreme Court the steel workers wanted the government to take over the plants and force higher wages they argued that steel profits were at an all-time high Youngstown Sheet & Tube company versus Sawyer commonly known as the steel seizure case would not settle the labor dispute but it would define the limits of presidential power legality of that action debated with intense feeling was finally resolved by the United States Supreme Court this is the story of its ruling and the conflict that led to it the story of a president's power contested the steel seizure case is one of the great showdowns in American history between the President Congress and the United States Supreme Court so it is still one of the granddaddy it is the granddaddy of the cases dealing with presidential power in times of crisis and for that reason it still has a lot of rail ovince often haunting relevance to us today it was a complete surprise I think to everyone the Supreme Court got involved with such lightning speed President Truman was lining things up to try to really strong-arm both sides the steel industry and the Steel Workers to settle this thing and all of a sudden the Supreme Court came in took the case and from that point forward Harry Truman didn't stand a chance the court rules against Truman six to three and the opinion includes a lot of sophisticated discussion about executive power it was a stunning rebuke to President Truman in the waning days of his presidency he was already becoming unpopular and this was the final kick by the Supreme Court a six to three decision that made very clear that he had exceeded his power as president although the majority opinion was written by justice black the most important opinion in the steel seizure case was written by Justice Robert Jackson who authored in a concurrence that explained what the president's powers really are well as Attorney General he had faced these issues during the the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and he really had come to a conclusion that there was a spectrum of power that the President had it wasn't a one size fits all Robert Jackson was the intellectual leader of the Supreme Court he was a giant on the Supreme Court and he didn't particularly take a shine to Harry Truman who incidentally had passed him up for the Chief Justice ship in favor of Chief Justice Vinson who played poker with President Truman so he didn't suffer fools like Lee and I I don't think that he had the highest regard for Harry Truman so he told it like it was as well justice Jackson's concurrence in the steel seizure case is still the final word on presidential power in the United States it's as important today as it was in 1952 when he wrote it he explained that there was a speck of powers when it came to the president's power under the Constitution and he broke it down into three levels so the president's power was at its zenith the highest when he was acting with the approval of Congress it was in a zone of Twilight in the middle when Congress hadn't spoken but it was at its low point when he was acting without the approval with the expressed disapproval of Congress President Truman was not happy at all with the Supreme Court's decision he was stunned by it one of his aides Ken heckler later told me that there was blue smoke coming out of the White House four days after that decision came down it was very uncomfortable and shortly after that justice black hosted a dinner party for all the justices and the president at his home and the story is that President Truman turned to him and said I don't think much of your decisions but I like your bourbon pretty well I think the real legacy of the steel seizure case is that this is not about moral absolutes it's not about good or bad President Truman I think had all of the best intentions it is about making decisions during very difficult times especially times of crisis in the United States and being able to regulate how much power the president can exercise or else we do not have a constitution anymore in in hard times in in real security challenged times like our own those president alone president with Congress questions continue to be to be prominent and Jackson's opinion Jackson's sophisticated discussion really is the benchmark now for thinking about those issues