Fareed Zakaria GPS

Episode: America’s New Export: The Unchecked Executive
Date: November 30, 2025
Host: Fareed Zakaria
Guests: Walter Isaacson, Ken Burns, Beverly Gage, Ivan Krastev

Episode Overview

This episode of Fareed Zakaria GPS investigates the state of American democracy on the eve of the United States’ 250th anniversary, focusing on the rise of unchecked executive power at home and its global implications. Fareed explores historical and contemporary threats to liberal democracy, featuring conversations with historian Walter Isaacson on the Declaration of Independence, documentarian Ken Burns on the American Revolution, Yale professor Beverly Gage on historical echoes of the Trump era, and political scientist Ivan Krastev on rising illiberalism in Eastern Europe.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

Fareed's Opening Essay: The Rise of the Unchecked Executive

[03:33–09:17]

• America’s Shift Toward Executive Power

  • Fareed recounts a conversation with a Pakistani friend who compares Pakistan’s military empowerment to recent US Supreme Court decisions, noting that American legal precedent is now being “exported” as a model for unchecked executive power:

    “Didn’t your Supreme Court rule that the president could kill his political opponents and yet be immune from prosecution? Welcome to America's new democratic export: the unchecked executive.” ([03:51])

  • Founders’ intent was a fragmented, balanced government, particularly with a restrained executive—the presidency meant to faithfully execute laws within checks and balances (drawing from Federalist Papers 47, 51, 69, and 75).

• The Erosion of Constraints and Norms

  • Despite efforts, including the Inspector General Act (1978) established post-Watergate, Congress has lost political will over time, particularly after the 9/11 era, enabling an ever-stronger presidency.

  • Norms such as the firewalling of the Justice Department and financial disclosures have been disregarded, particularly under the Trump administration.

  • Fareed critiques the "unitary executive theory," which the Supreme Court has used to justify virtually unchecked presidential power, culminating in the Trump v. United States (2024) decision:

    “The court held that the president enjoys absolute immunity for actions within their core constitutional powers and presumptive immunity at a minimum for all other official acts.” ([08:10])

  • Justice Sotomayor’s dissent highlights the danger:

    “A president could arguably order SEAL Team Six to assassinate a political rival and be shielded from criminal liability, provided the order was given through official channels.” ([08:40])

• Conclusion: A Precarious Legacy

  • The presidency has evolved from a restricted position to a near-“modern dictatorship,” with Congress weakened and the Supreme Court “a rubber stamp.”
  • Fareed’s warning:

    “If not, the American presidency will become for the world not an example of limited constitutional government, but rather of a modern dictatorship wielding far more unbridled power than George III did when the Founding Fathers rebelled against him 250 years ago.” ([09:10])

Walter Isaacson: The Declaration’s Greatest Sentence and the American Dream

[09:52–17:11]

• Origins and Meaning of “We Hold These Truths…”

  • Walter Isaacson discusses the drafting and revision process of the Declaration’s central sentence, highlighting the blend of Enlightenment rationality and religious reference:

    “Jefferson starts it with, ‘we hold these truths to be sacred.’ And there’s Benjamin Franklin’s backslashes of apprenticeship putting in ‘self evident’…saying, okay, our rights come not from the dogma of religion, but from reason.” ([10:46])

• Balancing Religion and Reason

  • The editing process incorporated both divine and rational sources for rights, reflecting a pragmatic founding philosophy:

    “[They were] doing the balance of the role of divine providence, the role of rationality in creating the nation, but not banking it totally based on religious beliefs.” ([11:27])

• The Declaration as Aspiration

  • Isaacson emphasizes the sentence as a living mission statement, continually reinterpreted by each generation:

    “Most of us can subscribe to [the Declaration] as an aspirational thing, not something we've achieved or they achieved, but we have to keep achieving.” ([12:04])

• The Notion of “Happiness” and the American Dream

  • Fareed and Isaacson explore the evolution from “life, liberty, and property” to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” situating it in a broader context of personal and communal fulfillment—“serving your community, serve their own family, and serve their country.” ([14:30])

• Contradictions and Racial Exclusion

  • The founders’ awareness of slavery’s contradiction:

    “Imagine that room… Adams, Franklin, and Jefferson. But also Robert Hemings, 19 years old, an enslaved valet who's traveling with Jefferson…. So all those contradictions are there.” ([15:26])

• The Declaration and Its Legacy

  • Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address as an explicit reference to the unfulfilled promises of the Declaration:

    “That sentence, when written by Jefferson, did not include enslaved people, but that's what the Battle of Gettysburg was about.” ([16:35])

Ken Burns: Re-examining the Revolution

[17:52–25:03]

• The International Dimension of the American Revolution

  • Burns contextualizes the Revolution as part of a global conflict (the Seven Years' War), highlighting the British Proclamation Line that restricted colonial expansion:

    “In 1763, they put a line down through the Alleghenies, saying, you can't go over that. Which enrages not only individual folks...but also the big land speculators like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and George Washington.” ([19:31])

• George Washington in Three Dimensions

  • Recognizing Washington’s faults and humanity, yet his unparalleled historical significance:

    “We don’t have a country without him… He's able to defer to Congress. He's able to convince people...that they're not from separate countries… but Americans.” ([21:43])

• Global Impact and Enduring Inspiration

  • The Revolution as an inspiration for centuries of global movements:

    “Our revolution inspires revolutions that take place for 200 years… when Ho Chi Minh declares Vietnamese independence… he's quoting Thomas Jefferson: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident…'” ([23:07])

• The Value of Historical Perspective

  • Burns calls for revisiting the Revolution not for nostalgia, but for context and recommitment to founding ideals:

    “People are very much narcissistic in the present… But in fact, we are way more divided during our revolution, way, way more divided, obviously, and our Civil War.” ([25:03])

Beverly Gage: Echoes of Trumpism in American History

[26:00–33:17]

• Historical Parallels to the Trump Era

  • The “Make America Great Again” slogan is unpacked:

    “Well, the phrase ‘make America great again’ has always had this implied question, so when was America great?” ([26:45])

• The Gilded Age Analogy

  • Gage compares the current moment to the Gilded Age: rampant inequality, cronyism, and the spoils system:

    “At the time it was called the spoils system…you took what you could from the government, you gave jobs to your friends, and that's what you were there for.” ([27:42])

• Backlash and Reform

  • Pressure led to reforms—the civil service, direct election of senators—that set expectations of public service beyond partisanship.

• Repression and Red Scare Parallels

  • Fareed asks about parallels to McCarthyism; Gage agrees there are echoes, especially around speech and deportation:

    “My antenna goes up every time we're talking about deportation for speech related reasons…all very resonant with the Red Scare.” ([29:29])

  • But notes a key difference: the Red Scare was anchored in real external threats, whereas today’s anti-communist rhetoric floats free of context.

• The Loss of Progressive Hope

  • Gage notes that unlike past moments of crisis, today’s America seems short of hope:

    “During these earlier periods, you saw lots of energy and hope…Unfortuntately I think we've lost a little bit of that in our politics.” ([31:08])

• Historical Lessons on Partisanship

  • Polarization today is compared to the post-Civil War period; reforms and new crises ultimately created change.

• Memorable Moment

  • On transformative crises:

    “In a weird way, what we have to hope for in a sense is a huge crisis which will make the partisanship pale in comparison.” ([32:53])

Ivan Krastev: Eastern Europe and the Lure of the Strongman

[35:02–39:34]

• Resentment and the End of History

  • Krastev argues that imitation of the West after 1989 sowed the seeds of resentment:

    “Imitation is not a fun business. If I’m imitating you…it means that I recognize that you are better than me…resentment against imitation, in my view, was the reason why in Eastern Europe…you have this kind of a populist resentment.” ([36:27])

• Hungary’s Viktor Orban as Exemplar

  • Orban, an ex-liberal, pivoted to illiberal democracy:

    “At some point, he decided that what he does not like about liberalism is liberal democracy, that when you are winning, you are not winning enough.” ([36:36])

• The Right’s Complicated Relationship to Russia

  • Cultural, not just geopolitical, affinities emerge:

    “The idea of this liberal west…is replaced by a much more cultural view…white and Christian. So from the point of view of Russia, white and Christian Russia belongs in that way.” ([37:48])

  • For some, Putin is a model of the strongman:

    “Putin with his…focus on history…goes to a very kind of a strong understanding of East European nationalism.” ([37:51])

• Convergence of East and West

  • The region is not simply “moving West,” but the West is growing more like the East:

    “Rather than the east becoming more like the west, now, the west is much more dynamic, much more like the East.” ([39:30])

Notable Quotes and Memorable Moments

• Fareed Zakaria:

  “Welcome to America's new democratic export: the unchecked executive.” ([03:51])

• Justice Sonia Sotomayor (Quoted):

  “[A] president could arguably order SEAL Team Six to assassinate a political rival and be shielded from criminal liability, provided the order was given through official channels.” ([08:40])

• Walter Isaacson:

  “Most of us can subscribe to [the Declaration] as an aspirational thing, not something we've achieved or they achieved, but we have to keep achieving.” ([12:04])

• Ken Burns:

  “Without George Washington, we don't have a country. No him, no us.” ([22:49])

• Beverly Gage:

  “At the time it was called the spoils system…you took what you could from the government, you gave jobs to your friends, and that's what you were there for.” ([27:42])

• Ivan Krastev:

  “Imitation is not a fun business…this resentment against imitation…was the reason why in Eastern Europe…you have this kind of a populist resentment.” ([36:27])

Important Segment Timestamps

• Fareed’s Essay: The Unchecked Executive: [03:33–09:17]
• Walter Isaacson Interview (Declaration’s meaning): [09:52–17:11]
• Ken Burns Interview (Revolution’s global role, Washington): [17:52–25:03]
• Beverly Gage Interview (Historical analogies for Trump era): [26:00–33:17]
• Ivan Krastev Interview (Eastern Europe and populism): [35:02–39:34]

Tone & Language

• The episode maintains Fareed’s signature mix of historical erudition, urgency, and thoughtful inquiry, blending accessible explanations with learned references. Guests match this tone, engaging in reflective, context-rich dialogue rather than polemic.

Summary Conclusion

As America marks 250 years of independence, this episode grapples with the erosion of democratic norms at home and the global trend toward charismatic, unchecked leaders. The unchecked executive—once designed to be strictly bounded—is now both America’s new export and its central national challenge. Through history, poignant analogy, and global comparison, the episode urges a re-examination of ideals, a reclaiming of political will, and the humility to learn both from America’s founding contradictions and the turbulent lessons of other nations.