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Essay about Actions And Behavior Of The President

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Actions and Behavior of the President

The broad language of the second article of the Constitution left many questions about the power and authority of the President and the Executive branch of the Federal Government. Since George Washington, each Chief Executive has come to the position with different beliefs on the responsibility and power of the President. However the performance of the president is often shaped by outside factors which control how he must act as a Chief Executive. The behavior of presidents come from a number of different criteria. A president's personal character, his approach to the position and circumstances during his term all contribute to presidential behavior.

Presidents have approached the office from two …show more content…

When required all Presidents have assumed power to quickly deal with a situation.

A President's personality and beliefs are also a factor in determining his actions as a President. Barber argues that a person's personality is shaped by his character, world view, and style all of which are established at different times in his life. He argues that a person's character is established early in life, world view is shaped adolescence, and style in early adulthood.
These broad areas of personality come together to establish a style of leadership and presidential character. Barber goes on to establish four categories of Presidential Character which are; active-positive, active-negative, passive-positive, passive-negative. Jefferson was clearly an active-positive president who was proactive and enjoyed the power which he had. Barber explains this by his Enlightenment education and good humor. Adams would fit into his category of active-negative presidents who had a strong work ethic (a result of his Puritan heritage) but a harsh disposition. Madison can be fit into the place of passive-positive. He bowed to political pressure, but enjoyed his position because of his past in framing and support for the Constitution.
Finally a passive-negative president would be President Washington who was more or less forced into the office. He hoped for stability in the new government and allowed others to take an active role in

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