 Unable to muster any meaningful textual or historical support, the principal dissent suggests there is an established understanding that former presidents are answerable to the criminal law for their official acts. Conspicuously absent is mentioned the fact that since the founding, no president has ever faced criminal charges, let alone for his conduct in office. Accordingly, no court has ever been faced with the question of a president's immunity from prosecution. All our nation's practice establishes on this subject is silence. And now, why exactly