Mr. President

When the Convention took up the question of the President, they had a few decisions to make: single individual or committee? Appointed or elected? And what powers should the President, in whatever form, be able to carry out? The debate started on June 1, when Wilson almost immediately moved that the Executive be a single person. States rightists wanted a weak executive; nationalists a strong one. Wilson noted that each of the states had single executives; the idea is well-known and seemed to work. When it came to a vote, the single executive prevailed. (http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_ccon.html)

Based on the way that the President’s office was created, the makeup of the Congress can present a challenge or an

The government of the United States of America has been around for over 2 centuries, in this time the original setup has been little altered. The government is composed of three individual branches: judicial, executive, and legislative branches. All three branches are held together using a system of checks and balances. While each branch has some kind of trump or has control over another branch, some branches are arguably more powerful than others. The main focus of this paper will be on where the executive branch stands power-wise. When our founding fathers first started building our nation from the dust, they had in mind a system of branches where no one branch was more powerful than the others. The decision of whether or not they hit

The executive branch is the strongest, most capable, and most important branch of government. The president, as commander in chief, can regulate an entire country’s military and have full oversight of the most deadly weapons available. They have the power to veto bills passed by Congress. They can also establish executive orders without the consent of Congress. Last of all, they have the power to appoint their own cabinet, justices to the Supreme Court, and ambassadors to other countries. Not only can these powers help the president get important actions done, but it also gives them a lot of capacity on what they can work with. Because of these powers and how highly regarded and important to society they are, the executive branch currently

The leaders at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 desired an unbiased, fair government. They believed they could keep a strong yet non-oppressive government form by creating three divided branches. The branches are the legislative, judicial and executive branches. The legislative branch is led by Congress which is split up into the Senate and the House of Representatives. The judicial branch is fronted by the Supreme Court. The executive branch is headed by the President of the United States. The three separate branches are necessary because it forms a sense of stability for the different motives of the different divisions.

Firstly, the Executive Branch is undemocratic due to the establishment of the Electoral College. Because the electoral vote decides the winner of presidential election, the Electoral College has the power to undermine the people’s power to elect representatives. The common practice of winner-takes-all is not mandated in the Constitution and allows from time to time for a candidate to the win the popular votes, but lose the election when the other wins the electoral votes. It gives the

So as a result of the powers of the Executive branch, it lead to the Election of 1788 and 1792 where the Commander-in-chief- was elected unanimously by the Electoral College in both elections. Since the President felt uneducated, he created Presidential Cabinet to help surround himself with expert advisors. One appointment position primarily important to this document, was given to Alexander Hamilton of Secretary of the Treasury. Due to taxes made by Hamilton, it created a

The Executive Branch, which consists of the President, Vice President, and the Cabinet has undergone a major expansion since 1789. The original Cabinet consisted of the Departments of State, War, Treasury, and the position of Attorney General, but has evolved into fifteen positions to meet the needs of the nation (Doc. A). With most new departments, one can pinpoint what sparked it’s development, such as the Department of the Navy being created during the XYZ Affair, a naval conflict between the U.S. and France. Similarly, the role of the

At the beginning of this time period, in 1820, the United States government was trying to figure out its identity. Both the Senate and House of Representatives were trying to regulate the executive office. John Quincy Adams addressed this issue in a personal diary while serving as Secretary of State to James Monroe, stating “One of the most remarkable features of what I am witnessing every day is the perpetual struggle in both the House of Congress to control the Executive ー to make it dependent upon the subservient to them” (Doc 1). Following the Panic

American politics is often defined by a continuing power conflict between the executive and the legislative branches of the government. This struggle for political power between the two stronger branches of the three is inherent in the Constitution, itself. The concepts of separation of powers and checks and balances ensure that the branches of government will remain in conflict and provide a balance that keeps the entire government under control. As it was first established, the executive branch was much smaller and weaker than as we know it today. Consequently, the legislative branch was unquestionably dominant. Over the course of history, the executive branch grew in both size and power to the point where it occasionally overtook the

George Washington defined the Executive Branch for future presidents not only by deciding to retire after serving two terms, but also by showing the "delicate balance between making the presidency powerful enough to function effectively...,while also avoiding...establishing

A law in the Articles of Confederation in the Executive Branch, “No executive to administer and enforce legislation” (Document 5). There was no executive leader (president) because the people were scared a king or tyrant would be created. The framers of the Constitution wrote in a president because they believed having one person to enforce laws would leave a positive effect on the United States. The federalists believed in a “Strong Federal government” (Document 3) because they wanted the United States to be a strong

One of the first debates over the institution of the National Executive was whether the Executive should “consist of a single person” as motioned by James Wilson, of Pennsylvania, and seconded by Charles Pinckney, of South Carolina. The idea of a single Executive met with strong opposition due to conjuring images of their former oppression under British rule. Due to the fact that all delegates were old enough to remember, many of them to have fought against, the rule by Britain, it was easy for them to compare what they were trying to create to what they already knew and in some cases detested. To defend against the Executive morphing into a monarchy there was a suggestion of a three person Executive branch that was put forward by Randolph who felt the people would not properly support a signal Executive. The idea of a three person branch would give a representative from the Northern, Middle, and Southern States. Pierce Butler of South Carolina, having seen firsthand in Holland the issues caused by “plurality,” strongly objected. As happened many times during the convention the motion was postponed. James Madison made the suggestion that the powers of the president devised before there be a decision of single or plural Executive stating, “definition of their extent would assist the judgment in determining how far they might safely entrusted to a single officer.”

| No single branch or person had the power to run the United States alone.

Imagine if the entire American government system was operated entire by the president. Every decision, law, and court ruling determined by only one person. There is no room for debate or questioning, ultimately leading to the abuse of power and authority. While this may seem completely absurd, many believe that this is not very far away from actual truth. Due to the uneven use of checks and balances among the three branches of government, it has resulted in the executive branch of the American government gaining too much power, therefore leaving the original intent of the constitution to be changed and unenforced.