A Conversation with E. Thomas Sullivan: “The US Presidency: Power, Responsibility, and Accountability”
The University of Arizona James E. College of Law Office of the Dean, Rehnquist Center, Daniel F. Cracchiolo Law Library, Faculty Enrichment Series, and the University of Arizona Agnese Nelms Haury Program will host a conversation with E. Thomas Sullivan, former dean of University of Arizona College of Law (1989–95) and president of the University of Vermont (2012–19).
In discussion with Arizona Law Professor and Milton O. Riepe Chair in Constitutional Law Andrew Coan, Sullivan will talk about his new book, “The US Presidency: Power, Responsibility, and Accountability,” co-authored with University of Minnesota S. Walter Richey Professor of Corporate Law Richard Painter.
Few topics are of more urgent contemporary interest and concern than are the contours of presidential power. In recent years, the United States Supreme Court has interpreted presidential powers expansively, relying on a theory of “exclusive” constitutional presidential powers, paired with what has been described as the “unitary executive” account of Article II. This in turn has led to increasingly expansive assertions of presidential power by the Trump Administration. The Conversation will explore these issues from political, historical and legal perspectives. How is power acquired? How is it used or misused? How are the President’s powers checked and how are they held accountable to and by the people?
Rather than promoting a single theory of presidential power, Sullivan and Painter offer a range of arguments for and against power in various circumstances and Supreme Court holdings. The authors make a case for a democratic model of self-government centered on accountability and the rule of law.
Event: A Conversation with E. Thomas Sullivan: “The US Presidency: Power, Responsibility, and Accountability”
When: Monday, April 27, 2026, 12:15–1:15pm
Where: University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, Room 164, 1201 E. Speedway or on Zoom.
Who may attend: This event is free and open to the public. Registration is required.
Background
E. Thomas Sullivan is president emeritus and professor of political science at the University of Vermont, where he served as the 26th president from 2012 to 2019. Sullivan began his career as a member of the faculty of the University of Missouri Law School. He also served on the faculty of Washington University in St. Louis, before serving as dean of the University of Arizona College of Law (1989–95). In 1995, Sullivan became dean of the University of Minnesota Law School, and from 2004 through January 2012 he served at Minnesota as senior vice president for academic affairs and provost.
Sullivan has chaired the ABA Section of Legal Education and has chaired the Association of American Law Schools Section on Antitrust and Economic Regulation. On three occasions he has been a consultant to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on judicial nominations to the Supreme Court, and to the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee on mergers. In 2015 Sullivan received the ABA’s Robert J. Kutak Award for his contributions to the legal academy, the Judiciary, and the Bar. He has been an elected member of the American Law Institute since 1984 and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation (ABF) since 1994. Sullivan served as the ABF president from 2020 to 2022.
Those with questions about access or to request any disability-related accommodations that will facilitate your full participation in this event such as ASL interpreting, CART captioning, captioned videos, Braille, wheelchair access, or electronic text, etc., please email law-events@arizona.edu.