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The Role Of The Presidency Today

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When we think of the presidency today, it is hard to understand how much it has change since its inception. Many of the founding fathers disagreed on the role that the executive branch should play, largely because they feared a leader with too much power. It is safe to say that if not for the persona of one man the presidency would not exist in the way that it does today but there are many other who have transformed the role of a branch that had merely a skeleton of an outline of what the office’s role should be. In the beginning it was like playing a game where we were making the rules up as we went; today it is an institution that the Founders would not recognize. To begin such a study, it is only just that we start with the man who …show more content…

This period between the wars would shape Washington into the man that would become known throughout the colonies. His political views would be formed throughout the 1760s as he saw the need for resistance against the British Empire. When he was chosen to be the commander of the army by the Continental Congress it was the turning point of his life. Though he would be marked by failures throughout the war, his legend would grow as he was able to withstand the British army until the French entered the fray. With the help of the French Navy, Washington was finally able to defeat the British off the Chesapeake capes on September 5, 1781, leading Cornwallis and his troops to surrender on October 19, 1781. Though his military service had defined him, Washington would retire from the service in 1783, looking to recover his estate that had suffered greatly during the war. He would soon find out that his exit from public life would be short lived as the Articles of Confederation had established a state of politics that couldn’t exist without a strong leader. The tipping point may have been the Shay’s Rebellion. While the cause of the rebellion was a climate of unfair taxes that had caused many farmers to lose their lands, Washington saw these actions as a call for change. Washington would attend the convention, presiding as the president of the convention without participating in the

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