The Imperial Presidency By Arthur M. Schlesinger

Throughout its history, the United States has claimed to be a democracy that fights for freedom for all. Americans have opposed imperialistic states and have fought against empires. However, based on specific definitions of imperialism, U.S. leaders have been guilty of fighting multiple wars to build their empire, even if their explicit reasons for doing so suggest otherwise. Examples of these imperialistic trends include American actions during the First Seminole War, the Mexican-American War, and the annexation of the Philippines.

After the civil war, United States took a turn that led them to solidify as the world power. From the late 1800s, as the US began to collect power through Cuba, Hawaii, and the Philippines, debate arose among historians about American imperialism and its behavior. Historians such as William A. Williams, Arthur Schlesinger, and Stephen Kinzer provides their own vision and how America ought to be through ideas centered around economics, power, and racial superiority.

American foreign policy during the 1890s was based on many factors that each acted as an individual justification for our country’s behavior as a whole. Racism, nationalism, commercialism, and humanitarianism each had its own role in the actions America took against other nations.

In the article, “Unilateral Action and Presidential Power: A Theory,” Terry M. Moe and William G. Howell, two political science instructors from Stanford University, investigate a source of presidential power, which is the president’s capability to act individually and make his own law, that has been unacknowledged yet essential to presidential leadership that it defines how the modern presidency is distinctively modern. The authors’ purpose in the article is to outline a theory of this feature of presidential power by arguing that the president’s powers of unilateral action, which is developed from the ambiguity of the contract, are strengths in American politics since they are not mentioned in the constitution. They also claim that presidents push the ambiguity of the contract to make their powers grow and that Congress and the courts would not be able to stop them (Moe and Howell, 1999, p. 1-3).

Over the years 1930 through 1941 the goals of American foreign policy generally changed. In the earlier years America dealt with war and fought with other countries. America was not very smart in learning to stay out of war. Over the years, America became more neutral and attempted to stay out of war as much as possible. Throughout the years, important figures wrote documents to support America’s journey and decisions.

The 27th President of the United States was born William Howard Taft on the 15th day of September, in the year 1857 to Alphonso and Louise Taft, of Cincinnati, Ohio. As he was the first of their sons to survive past infancy, his mother did not mind that he had outgrown all the baby clothes she had sown for him when he was only seven weeks old. Due to his large size he was given the nickname of “Lub” or “Lubber” which only fueled his desire to succeed in school and on the playing field. He later became to be known as the largest president in the history of United States, weighing in at 320 pounds. Although it was rumored that due to his large size he actually got stuck in the White House bath tub. It took six aides and a gallon of butter to

Some may believe that John Adams’ presidency was a successful one, but in reality, his solutions to the problems that America was facing did not do much to solve the actual problems at hand. For instance, during the Quasi War with France, his solution was to go to war, which would only lead to an unnecessary loss of life on both sides, when there were various other, more practical ways of going about this issue. After the XYZ Affair, he made a number of questionable decisions regarding their treatment of Republicans and their supporters—namely, signing the Alien Act and the Sedition Act. Throughout his time as president, the Republican view of him worsened as time went on. The quote, “A political leader in a democratic society must not only face the great issues that confront the country, but he must also see to it that the people are behind him,” does not accurately represent the presidency of John Adams, which is seen through the actions he made and the reactions he had during the Quasi War, the acts he signed after this war, and the Republican view of him during this time period.

forces around the world. The grayness of this area comes from the fact that what

Father and son historians, Arthur M. Schlesinger and Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., asked some of the top historians in the country to rank each president in the categories Great, Near Great, Average, Below Average, and Failure based on their time in the White House (Schlesinger Jr. 179). The official ranking lists Andrew Jackson as the fifth best president overall, which landed him a comfortable spot in the “Near Great” category. Andrew Jackson’s presidency belongs in a much lower category due to his immoral character, unilateral decision-making, and his unimpressive presidency relative to that of other presidents.

Richard Neustadt’s presidential powers presents a very radical and nuanced approach to presidency. Even though his book is also aged, it was not a difficult read. In fact, the explanations made it seem like a well written history book that used facts from different era within its scope to support its arguments. The book tried to define terms clearly before

States. Three of these acts were the Espionage Act of 1917, the Trading with the Enemy

The modern presidency has in a sense become a double-edged sword in that presidents have become beneficiaries of anything positive that can be attributed to government, but also can be blamed for anything bad occurring in society. Quite simply, the modern president has become the center of our political system (The Modern Presidency, 2004). The men who have dealt with this double-edged sword known as the modern presidency have often walked a very fine line between effectiveness and ineffectiveness, but all have attempted to use their power in one way or another.

Most African Americans disagreed with the British view of "empire of freedom" because it excluded everyone except the Protestant British. Also, slaves were seen as property and not equal humans, therefore, they were treated very harshly. They could be bought and sold freely and punished, even to death, without any legal or civil rights. Spain on the other hand at least recognized slaves as people with natural rights. They could purchase their freedom and attain all the rights of the King's free subjects. In Florida, Spain even granted freedom to escaped slaves from English colonies although under the conditions that they convert to

Burkholder and Johnson’s text is a historical analysis of imperial bureaucracies that analyzes them from the top down. They begin with a discussion on the goals of Spanish and Portuguese colonization, the challenges distance and time posed, and the general administrative organization of the various colonies. They then proceed down the bureaucratic ladder in order of importance, beginning with the Council of the Indies and concluding with the local offices sold by the Spaniards as they were going bankrupt. Finally, Burkholder and Johnson address how Portuguese colonization differed from that of the Spaniards. The chapter is written very much as a history, focusing on dates and facts gathered from primary sources and other scholarly research,

The Next Decade, a novel by George Friedman, talks about the predictions of countries in the upcoming decade and how the United States should react to the various challenges. The novel’s first major claim is that the United States is actually an empire, similar to how Rome and Great Brian were. However, unlike the previous empires, the United States refuses to acknowledge its status as an empire. “What makes the United States an empire is the number of countries it affects, the intensity of the impact, and the number of people in those countries affected.” The implication of this quote is that the US has gotten to be so large, if the US decided to draw out of global affairs, the impact would be detrimental. Instead of escaping its duty to the world, Friedman claims that the United States must acknowledge its status as an empire and function as such in order to maneuver the next decade. This claim is a wise claim made by Friedman, but it his only claim of worth in the novel. In The Next Decade, Friedman fails to make his thesis credible because he doesn’t his sources, provide logical arguments on his predications of the future, or examine alternative possibilities.