The United States ' Presidency And Executive Privilege Essay

The article I chose for this assignment was Power and the Presidency, From Kennedy to Obama written by Robert Dallek. I found this to be a very interesting article. This article is tied in with this week’s chapter because this week’s chapter was on the president. This article was on the increases in power of the executive branch. I learned more about the increase in power in the office of the president and how it has changed over time. I learned that the President’s control over foreign affairs has been growing since the Theodore Roosevelt administration. I learned Kennedy greatly expanded the power of the presidency particularly in the area of foreign affairs. I learned that by the early 1960s, the president had become the principle architect

Although nowhere in the Constitution are executive orders explicitly mentioned, Article II, Section I states that “The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.” The President’s power to issue executive orders comes from the Constitution and Congress. Executive orders have the full force of law when they take authority from a legislative power, which grants its power directly to the executive by the Constitution; executive orders do not require congressional approval. Similar to legislative statutes and regulations propagated by government agencies, executive orders are subject to judicial review, meaning that they can be struck down if deemed unconstitutional by the courts. Executive orders are not to be confused with executive agreements. Executive order carries out constitutional powers of the President without having to go through Congress. An executive agreement is an agreement with foreign heads of state concluded by Presidents under their power as Commander in Chief and their general authority in foreign affairs; executive agreements do not require ratification by the Senate. Examples of executive agreements include trade deals and military actions.

In United States v Nixon, five burglars broke into the Democratic Party headquarters. After investigations, president Nixon received a subpoena ordering him to release tapes and transcripts connected to meetings between him and some individuals who had been indicted in the incident. Although the president released edited copies of the transcripts, his attorney filed a motion to quash the subpoena on grounds of executive privilege. The attorneys claim was that the judiciary lacked the powers to determine the president’s claim of executive privilege. It was held that no individual, not even the president is above the law and, therefore, the president cannot use executive privilege to withhold criminal evidence. The problem of separation of powers in this case arises from the president’s attorney that the concept of executive privilege stems from the doctrine of separation of powers and the independence of the executive insulates the president from judicial proceedings. Although the constitution provides for the separation of powers, these powers are not intended to operate independently and the assumption that the president is immune to judicial proceedings would affect the constitutional balance and impair the functionality of the judiciary. It is noteworthy that the offenses that led to the resignation of Nixon were relatively minor and the crisis was constitutional.

In the Supreme Court case United States vs. Richard Nixon there was a lot of controversy about Nixon’s executive privilege. Well, what is an executive privilege? It is known as the privilege, or special right, claimed by the president in the executive branch of the US government, of withholding information in the public interest. Although Presidents get special privileges, their rights are “not absolute and must be balanced against other political interests”(United States vs. Nixon). Nixon abused his right of Executive privilege when he helped his government officials break into the Watergate complex. It was said that the Watergate affair relates to the re-election of Richard Nixon, which later worked out in his favor because he won the election.

Many argue that the most powerful branch in government is the Executive Branch. The President is considered as the most influential and the most important position in the U.S. government. However, the powers granted to Presidents and the prerogative they have exerted are not listed in the Constitution but instead have been adapted and expanded upon by each President. Although the Constitution does not define the powers of the President, it has defined Presidential powers in terms of peace, war, and emergency. A recent expansion of Presidential power, exerted by Bush and then Obama was this “War on Terror (WOT)”. President Barack Obama and his predecessor President George W. Bush have both expanded the powers of the President through the

Congressional authorization is the ability to empower and allocate funds, which supports Congress with an effective tool for omission and authority of intelligence activities. Congress is expected to have more power than the President and the Supreme Court. Its powers are also known to be Constitutional as well as evolutionary (ushistory). After the Senate as well as the House of Representatives approves a bill or proposed law, it then becomes an actual law. These two houses also share other powers, that involve coin money, the power to declare war, establishing rules of naturalization as well as immigration, raise an army and a navy, regulate commerce, and set up the federal courts along with their jurisdictions (ushistory). Although Presidents can have authority to act without Congressional authorization when necessary for the nations security, it would be better if they did seek Congressional authorization before acting or making any important decision regarding the nations security, in order to preserve Constitutional checks and balances, as well as make the right decisions and protect the President politically.

That same year, Congress would tap into its oversight powers once again as it launched a full-fledged investigation against Nixon and top White House officials who used their political positions for political advantage in the Watergate scandal. Citing “executive privilege,” Nixon asserted that he, as president, was immune from legislative oversight and that "the inherent power of the President to safeguard the security of the nation" authorized him to order wiretaps without warrants.

The views of the presidency by the first sixteen presidents varied widely but all of their actions set precedents for their successors to use, expand, or even curtail the power of the office. Some believed in the Whig theory of strict adherence to the constitution, while others believed the president was the steward of the people with a loose interpretation of it. The power of the office expanded through the years, however it only expanded as far as the public and congress allowed.

In the past, the power of executive privilege has been used by Presidents to conceal information that has to do with foreign affairs and negotiations, military, national security issues as well as deliberations and policy making that is done between the President and his top aides. This power is only used when Congress asks the President or one of his top aides to produce all of the information pertaining to an event or situation. If the President then feels that parts of this information needs to be kept secret to protect the best interest of the public, or the other issues listed previously, then he will use executive privilege in order

The Texas Governor’s formal executive powers differ from those of the president in many ways. The United states President 's formal powers are many, provided to the office by the Constitution. Though some formal powers mandate the approval of congress, they vastly expand the power and justify the importance of the office. The president is that of Commander and Chief of the armed forces and is the final authority in military matters and inevitably is responsible for the entire military.

The presidency of the United Sates of America has been an evolving office since the term of our first president, George Washington. This evolution has occurred because of the changing times and the evolution of society itself, but also because of the actions of the men who have become president. Starting in the 20th century, most have referred to the presidency as the modern presidency due to changes in both a president's power and the way that the office itself is viewed. As the office of the president has evolved so has who can become president evolved. Yet, even today there are certain individuals who because of their gender or race have yet to hold the office of the presidency. The men that

Technology has changed our lives in more ways than we can possibly write down. It has changed our lives more than we have even realized. The biggest impact that technology has had on the power of the presidency is the way the information spreads. Social media sites have made politics more accessible for many Americans to voice their own thoughts, whether negative or positive. The internet has had an huge impact on the presidential campaigns as well. The social networking sites have always played a powerful role in politics. The candidates can use social media sites as an advantage in order to speak to their voters by direct message. Social media tools including Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, and the television have dramatically changed how political campaigns are run and how Americans react to election offices.

The separation of power throughout the united states government prevents one part of the government from becoming so strong that it can infringe on the freedom of the governed (Bernstein 24). The united states government is a representative republic. A representative republic is a type of democracy where the people elect representatives to vote for them in the nations matters, rather than having every person vote on every single election and issue. The U.S. government is separated into three main branches, the executive, the legislative, and the judicial. Each branch has its own powers and weaknesses and they must all work together to govern the country (Bernstein 24).

In this module we have study modifications to the way Congress and the President do business. The Constitution lists specific duties for Congress to attend to; it is a little vaguer when assigning duties to the President. It is up to both of these institutions to best determine how to accomplish these duties. The major theme of this module is change, the addition of offices under the President and the modifications to the power distribution within the Congress to help better and sometimes hinder these institutions in accomplishing their duties.

Presidents of the United States of America have been around since the country became it’s own. Each president is given certain responsibilities and rights. Presidential power is listed in the Constitution but since then, there’s been room for more responsibilities to come into play. The powers exercised in the modern world surpass those included in the Constitution. Today, the president has a number of offices and departments serving under him. These institutions help keep the government together and everything running smoothly. The presidents rely on a number of other things. Some include elections, political parties, interest groups, the media, and public opinion. There are different kinds of powers granted to the president. While some