Presidential Visions of Transitional Justice

Reviews / Votes

With Presidential Visions of Transitional Justice, Teitel has produced a fascinating and much-needed look at how American presidents have used (and declined to use) the power of their office at pivotal moments that cried out for efforts to bring about justice in a given society. * Annette Gordon-Reed, Carl M. Loeb University professor at Harvard University, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family * This unique and compelling book by Ruti Teitel, who pioneered the legal concept of transitional justice, tells the story of US presidents from Washington to Obama who confronted their nation's past wrongs with honesty and transparency-not so much to apologize but to set a new tone and forward direction in foreign relations. "The law is also memory," as Obama put it, "a nation arguing with its conscience. * Jack Snyder, Robert and Renee Belfer Professor of International Relations, Political Science Department, Columbia University * Teitel establishes a historical foundation for an important expansion of foreign policy tools. She shows how presidential acknowledgment of and apology for past wrongdoing can be a sign of strength rather than weakness. Future American presidents who seek to face the past with honesty as a way to reset relations with historic adversaries can now invoke great patriotic figures like Washington, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt. Her book is a valuable contribution to international law and international relations. * Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO, New America * Ruti Teitel demonstrates that the United States has as rich a history of grappling with transitional justice as Germany and South Africa. Presidential Visions of Transitional Justice lovingly details how presidents from the beginning of the republic have forgiven and not forgiven those who have challenged the American regime. Every student of American constitutional development should learn this story. * Mark A. Graber, Regents Professor, University of Maryland Carey School of Law *