Reasons why the Role and Influence of the Presidency has Increased in the Political History of the U.S.A Introduction The 21st century has greatly changed the institution of presidency than the one created during the 1700’s. During the early years, certain constitution provisions limited the presidency (Feldman, 2006). Since the inception of the constitution until the 1930’s, the congress was the most powerful branch of the government. Throughout the following decades of the 20th century, there has been a dramatic shift of power where the executive holds the same powers as the legislative branch. This paper aims at evaluating why the role and influence of the presidency has increased in the political history of the U.S.A. Discussion The constitution of the U.S was drafted by individuals opposed to an all powerful head of state. The founding fathers held the presidency as an office which required great honor and dignity, but which needed little real power. The colonialists believed in a parliamentary system of government but did not favor the idea that all powers should rest in only one body (Finkelman, 2015). This made them provide three separate bodies such as the legislative, executive and judicial when designing the constitution. According to …show more content…
However, the powers and responsibilities of the presidency have changed a lot. Currently, the president is the leader of the country, a title that is denoted by his name. His actions and words have the power to affect the U.S and the whole world (Feldman, 2006). In the early days, presidents would carry on their duties with little assistance from a small office. The first president of the U.S, George Washington performed presidency duties with the help of two clerks, a secretary and several messengers. Currently, the office of the presidency requires about 1500 staff to help in running the daily
The arguments made by Federalists and anti-Federalists regarding the office and powers of the presidency during the ratifying debates that followed the drafting of the Constitution in 1787 were persuasive, but distinctly at odds. Both sides, however, sought the same thing, how best to allocate power in a unified republic of states? From this question opposing views developed as to whether or not a President should even exist, and if so, what powers he should be granted. I will briefly examine the presidential powers that were primarily awarded under Article II of the new Constitution. I will then explore the opposing arguments that arose during the ratifying debates concerning those granted powers. I do so in the interest of offering a
The presidential power has increased over the years, because of many factors such as an increase in technology and increase in development of new roles for office. For instance, George Washington’s ragtag was around doing his presidency but it’s much more different from nuclear arsenal we have today. Many presidents have enlarged the power of the presidency by expanding the president responsibilities and political resources. For instance, Wilson set precedents for presidents to the server as world leaders.
Looking back through the history of the United States, the president has always been expected to serve as a gleaming example of all the US embodies and wants to present to the rest of the world. While some men have definitely carried this heavy task better than others, some were helped or hindered by the international or domestic issues at the time. With catastrophic events like war, economic crisis, or even assassination altering many American’s view of past presidents, it becomes evident that some received these tasks as an advantage while others were carried down by their negative effects. To clarify, examining the most adored and despised of presidents brings to light a number of significant details that helped to propel them to fame or
Since the world wars, America has been referred to the most powerful country in the world. Being the most dominant force in the air, water and on land, there seems to be no challenge, domestic or foreign, that the United States Military cannot handle. America is still very powerful and convincing when it comes to policy decisions that influence not only the United States but the whole world. Having a heavy hand in international law, the United States maintains the image of being the most powerful nation not only in the armed forces but even in political decisions. Heading American government is the President of the United States. The President is often referred to as the most powerful man in the world. Even as the head of the United States, the President has many institutional restrictions that limit his power. The limitation on his power is often reflected in his role for implementing legislation. The President has certain authority however, as different Presidents come and go the actual power they have does fluctuate. Other limitations come in the President’s role in War. Most people think that the President has unrestricted power when it comes to the laws of the United States, however they are very mistaken.
Presidency is a role that comes with demanding responsibility. Presidents are expected to serve impartially and to the interest of the populace. They should create a business-conducive climate by ensuring political stability, jobs and reliable social systems. To this endeavor, this paper discusses ten major events that characterized the Bush and Obama’s presidencies. The way either governance benefited or failed the country will be examined.
This chapter’s first section starts off by talking about how the presidency is structured. It covers everything from how the Framers first deciding on a single executive, to when term limits were set in place, how the Electoral College works, what has been done about presidential succession and disability, and lastly the process of impeachment. Moving on the next section covers the different theories of presidential power; this includes the stewardship theory and the constitutional theory. The difference between these two theories is the stewardship theory revolves around the idea that executive power can be used for any actions or initiatives as long as they are not specifically prohibited by the Constitution, constitution theory on the other
When running for President of the United States and actually being elected as President for the United States, the President faces much hardship. All the campaign promises he has made to the public to ensure change and better living, he now has to hold his word to, or at least try his best. In addition, they need to go off their predecessor’s example and fix or even completely change what they have established. The Founding Fathers of the original thirteen colonies had a smaller role for the President, but it gradually grew. At first the President was limited to defending the country when prone to attacks, enforcing our laws and had to follow the constitution. However, as time progressed, he was granted more powers. The President was soon allowed to become the nation’s spokesman, lead us into the free word and take a lead on foreign policy. President Barack Obama was elected in 2008, as our 44th President in place of our 43rd President, George Bush.
The constitutional theory and the modern theory are two prominent frameworks of presidency seen in American history. The constitutional theory is a framework of presidency that the president confines his powers to ones strictly given in the constitution. The modern theory of presidency is framework that the president explores options and gains of power; use of more external factors and less restraint of constitution. Throughout American history, from first president, George Washington to later presidents, these frameworks covered most of the actual practices implemented by American presidents. The two frameworks, however, at times differ greatly from each other, in terms of practice and focus. Despite their contrasting differences in actual
What does president do that makes the public feel as if they are strong, or powerful, and what determines a president to be labeled as limited? That’s really up to one 's views on politics, their morals, and opinions. In this paper I will go over three of what I consider to be the best, and strongest Presidents history has ever had. The presidents will be judged on how they handled themselves in office, as well as any important decisions or problems they may have faced during their terms, and the legacy they have left in history. Also, how life for them before they were elected
There are a great deal of factors that can impact both presidential power and presidential leadership. The authors we have read this semester have had interesting perspectives on these situations, and some are similar and some are very different, based on the author’s opinions on these subjects.
A modern day American assesses their country’s presidential history and comes across many, good and bad. As we have 44 presidents and the 45th president-elect, we must look back to our first president in comparison. This keeps us economically informed with the past, and how our executives have handled it. The thought process also teaches us history with problems foreign and domestic, and how our executives dealt with that as well. The president has 7 roles, and those are Chief Executive, Commander in Chief, Chief Legislature, Chief Administrator, Chief of Citizens, Chief of the Party, and Chief Diplomat. But the question to reflect on remains: How did the presidency form into what it is now? Those roles were embedded in the Constitution, but
Like the Legislative Branch, the American Presidency can also be viewed as a system of many paradoxes. Cronin and Genovese in their work, The Paradoxes of
The presidential system of government was created by the English immigrants who came to the East Coast of the United States to escape the excesses of the crown. When declared independence and wrote its constitution, the objective was to avoid despotism both legislative and executive absolutism. “The first presidential system there is found in the American constitution of 1787. This fundamental law set up a new type of relations between the executive and legislative branches, which resulted in a presidential regime and for this reason, it was felt that the Constitution American presidential system structures the classic, pure or par excellence. ”
The President of the United States represents the executive branch in its most important functions. In this sense, as stated in the Constitution, "the executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four years"¦together with the Vice President" (The United States Government Manual , 2008). The Cabinet led by the Vice President is the other part of the executive body. The increased role of the President, even if the Constitution had always envisaged it as strong, became visible during the presidency of F.D. Roosevelt who experienced the Big Crisis and thus the New Deal projects. At that time, there was a need for an increased role of the president, one that was legally supplied by the Constitution.
Presidency is the highest and has the most crucial function in a country’s activity of leadership. President acts as the main leader in a country, carry out the laws, assign works to other officials, talk terms with other countries, budget the funds and more acts that relates in the improvement of his/her country (SparkNotes, 2010). One person can’t surely handle a country on his/her own, for him to be of helped there are several cabinet officials that is responsible in every department. The cabinet officials serve as the eye of the president from the different departments. They also help the president in deciding and planning things related for the progress of the country (FactMonster, 2015).