The President Of The United States

Most of the specifications for the executive branch in the Constitution, other than how he is to be elected, have to deal with the interactions between Congress and the President. The president can (fill in the blank) but only if (this part) of Congress approves. The powers of the president have been interpreted widely so that he has more power than I believe the Framers intended. They wanted him to be able to check Congress with veto power and be the head of the military. However, I think that presidents nowadays have too much power. They are active in trying force their policy agenda through Congress, manage foreign relations, and act as the administrative head of the entire nation. The textbook lays it out well in, "The vast size of the executive branch and the number and complexity of decisions that must be made each day pose a challenge for the White House.” (316) In order to deal with the stresses put on the executive branch, there are thousands of employees that work to give the president the information that he needs to make decisions. He has advisors, cabinet members, legislative liaisons; the list goes on and on, but he is the person who actually gets to make all of the choices. The President is limited in some ways and given more power in other ways by the structure laid out for him in the Constitution, and evolved to be what it is now.

Executive power is vested in the office of the President of the United States. The President has the dual role of being the chief of state and the head of government. The President is also commander in chief of the armed forces. He issues executive orders, and appoints Supreme Court justices (with senate approval). The president is also called "the chief legislator" because he indirectly proposes many bills, considers all bills from Congress and signs them into law or vetoes them.

That includes appointees, administrative agencies, and governor. The President has a cabinet, which people appointed by the President, that include a Vice-President and 15 other executive departments. The President cannot create legislation or encroach upon the legislative branch. The legislative branch must approve many of the President appointees (Theodore Lowi).

s the head of the federal executive, the President is in charge of the vast federal bureaucracy. With the power to appoint department and agency leadership, dismiss Cabinet officials, issue executive orders, and control the budgeting process, the President can exercise considerable control over the federal bureaucracy. At the same time, the sheer size of the bureaucracy itself often undermines the ability of the President to influence and control it. By exercising bureaucratic discretion, agencies may mitigate the problems caused by the size of the bureaucracy.

Throughout the years we have had some great United States presidents and some terrible ones. When we elect a president, we want someone who will improve our country and stabilize our economy. However, many presidents do not accomplish this during their term and end up causing the opposite effect to happen. One president who is on the list of presidents that made the country worse and our economy decline is George W. Bush. He was the United States president from 2001 to 2009. George W. Bush was one of the worst United States presidents for many reasons, but the top three on my long list are first and foremost his decision to start the war on Iraq, second his support of the Military Commissions Act, and last but not least his handling of the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

The federal bureaucracy is the group of government organizations that implement policy. The federal bureaucrats belong, for the most part, to the group of government agencies led by the president’s cabinet (the collection of appointed officials tasked with leading various federal government departments such as the State Department, Department of Homeland Security etc.) (Geer et al.). These department heads, known as cabinet secretaries, are appointed by each new president. The federal bureaucracy is responsible for writing regulations that implement the laws. In this, the federal bureaucracy’s importance cannot be understated. Congress passes laws, the president signs them, but it is the responsibility of the bureaucracy to actually implement them in the most effective, unburdening way.

The 1883 Pendleton Act was just what America need to get away from machine politics. The act instituted a merit based system of competitive exams, requiring that civil servants prove their skills in order to be hired to a government office (Cashman 4). The Pendleton Act did not cover all government jobs.

President Richard M. Nixon on July 1, 1972. It is a civil rights law prohibiting discrimination in education programs and activities receiving federal funds. It was the first comprehensive federal law to prohibit sex discrimination against students and employees in these institutions. (U.S. Department of Education, 1997)

For the common American citizen a major concern, as suggested by a recent Gallup poll, centers around the idea that the President, as Chief Executive of the nation, has too much power and influence in the shaping of the United States (Americans' Belief). In particular, there exist a strong belief that the bureaucracy is directly managed by presidential preference (Roff). In contrast, it is a rarely suggested opinion that the President does not have enough power, control, or influence over the bureaucracy. With these two opinions in mind, to what extent does the President have control of the bureaucracy?

8. Pendleton Act-It stated that federal employees do not have to require contributing to campaign funds nor be fired for political reasons. It suggested that government jobs should be awarded based on merit.

The Tenure of Office Act was passed on March 2 1867. It guaranteed that all federal officials whose position required Senate approval could not be removed with the consent of the Senate. The Act did allow the President to suspend an official, and if the Senate refused to agree in the removal, the official would have been returned in their position.

There have been forty-four Presidents of the United States and most people can only name a few. One of the lesser known presidents is known as John Quincy Adams who was President from March 4, 1825 to March 4, 1829. His fame may have been enriched by the fact that he was the first son of a president to become president. “Quincy” as he was called to avoid any confusion with his father John Adams, was one of the most qualified people to ever be elected into the White House. His six years (one term) in office saw both success and failure. John Quincy Adams as Secretary of State had quite a few successes, but also had several failures as President; however, his Presidency led to the most successful post-Presidency in the history of the United States.

On September 11, 2001, America was attacked by terrorists. Before this traumatic event, one could not even imagine someone doing such a thing. When this event occurred everyone had been unaware and continuing their daily activities only to be stopped by this life changing news. The president at the time was George W. Bush. Doing day to day activities like the rest of us, he was reading to a second grade class that bright Tuesday morning. Upon hearing about the news, he was utterly shocked along with the rest of America. At approximately 8:40 p.m., which is around 12 hours after the event, he gave a speech to address this horrendous event. President Bush had successfully created a sense of unity and security throughout the country with his speech by using ethos, pathos, logos, tone and imagery.

The Civil Service Act of 1883 created the merit system by requiring that appointees to public office be qualified for the job, thereby ending the spoils system.

Presidents, in my opinion, do not have the explicit authority to control administrative agencies and their ability to promulgate law however; I do believe they do have the ability to pressure these agencies to some extent in a favorable direction. The President’s power, for lack of a better term, is granted by the constitution, authority delegated by the Congress or expressly provided by statute. The president does have authority to appoint specific agency heads. Article II, Section 2 also provides the President with authority to appoint officers of the U.S. “by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate.” This language demonstrates the drafter’s specific intent to place checks and balances on presidential power that is consistent with the