...Presidential power has been an important topic of consideration and debate since the founding of the nation. Many presidents have tested the limits of the Constitutional provisions regarding the authorities of the executive branch, and in response, both the judicial and legislative branches have imposed the proper checks and balances via court rulings and newly legislated limitations. In modern American politics, many question the Constitutional legitimacy of various executive actions taken by the most recent presidents. However, the expansion of presidential power is certainly not unique to Presidents Bush or Obama. Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, presidents have gradually increased their powers in response to wars, terrorism, and congressional gridlock, among other things. Furthermore, the broad definition of the executive branch’s duties found in the second article of the Constitution has led to contradicting interpretations about the proper applications of the executive powers. As...
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...There are multiple reasons as to why power has increased so much in the presidency, and why historically the presidents have grown in knowledge. One can find that such a growth in technology and great changes in the country is the reasoning behind such growth and overall change to keep up with modern times. There are also multiple reasons that there has been such an increase in presidential powers. One is that the people of the United States have always expected their chief executives and leaders to address the nation’s problems and to act when needed. The people want their president to take charge in important situations, but they do not want them to receive too much power, so in turn the people look to the other branches of government to...
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...9/11 changed the landscape of American foreign policy, including a sharp rise in Presidential authority in areas of foreign policy and war. The power struggle between Congress and the Executive Branch is not new, however, but it seems to have reached to new levels in recent years. The debate over who has more authority in foreign policy issues has existed since the framing of the Constitution. I doubt the framers, however, could have imagined a world in which the President has almost unrivaled power in the realm of foreign policy. Ever since the United States became a world power following World War Two, the Executive Branch has increased in power and authority. Does the Executive Branch need more authority and flexibility when foreign policy is concerned though? When the United States is at war, we may need quick and decisive decisions that only the Executive Branch can give. When the military found Osama Bin Laden, President Obama did not wait to consult Congress. He and his advisors simply sent in the Seals and killed him. This is a good example of why so many believe the President needs more authority in times of war. Wars need a fast response when a situation arises and the country does not need Congress to endlessly debate about what to do; therefore, they have given the President more leeway in war powers over time. Congress did briefly give war powers back to themselves in the War Powers Act of 1973 during the crisis over the Vietnam War and Watergate. People such as...
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...effect since. The powers of the President are as mentioned by Article II of the constitution. Even though the constitution itself has not changed and the powers of the President remain the same as vested by the constitution, there has been a great difference between the powers exercised by the first President; George Washington and the current President; Barack Obama. First, the powers of the President bestowed by the Constitution will be reviewed. Then a comparison of the powers exercised by George Washington and Barack Obama will be discussed. Presidential Powers according to the Constitution American politics is now dominated by the President. But the president does not govern the country. The government of America is composed of coordination of executive, legislative and judiciary bodies. The President should accept and recognize the legitimate powers of the senators and representatives for the usual day to day works. The following powers are given to the President by the Constitution: * The power to appoint members of Cabinet, ambassadors, Judges of Federal Courts and Justices of Supreme Courts (after consulting the Senate). * Power to veto bills formulated by the Congress. * Power to make treaties with other nations with the consent of two-thirds of the Senate. * Power to grant pardons and reprieves. * He is the commander in chief of the Armed Forces. The presidents have claimed inherent powers throughout the 20th century and other powers which were implied...
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...Presidential Powers Since the birth of modern Presidency in the 1930’s, Presidential powers have been growing at an alarmingly unreasonable rate. It would seem as though the further into the future we get, the more unconstitutional this country becomes. Many of the laws laid down by our founding fathers were very vague, however, for the most part, they were deciphered and regarded as the law of the land. Recently it would appear that political officials are twisting around these vague entries to fit the criteria that is convenient at the time, or worse, circumventing the laws entirely; thus debilitating our constitutional system of separation of powers. Let’s start with signing statements. According to the Constitution, Article II, the President can sign the bill or veto it. That is the Constitutional limit to his power with signing statements. Modern presidents, however, use these statements as ways to incorporate their own thoughts on the bill and “announcing a president’s intention to violate particular sections of the bill he is signing into law” (Swanson, 4). By doing this he is clearly overstepping his authority as president, since it is the duty of his Congress to make laws and not his place to either critique them or disregard them. While on the subject of inadvertence to law, let’s go over the ever so continuous controversy of the Anti Torture Act. In 1988 President Ronald Regan signed the UN Convention Against Torture, prohibiting any such acts as to...
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...Limits of Power The president of the United States is often referred to as the most powerful man in the world – and with good reason. As a global hegemon, the decisions made by the U.S. executive are under a constant spotlight, and are often scrutinized. With so much power entrusted in one man, things are bound to go wrong. The president is simply too powerful, and the American people would be better suited with a less-dominant office. Since not all powers of the president are created equal, it is imperative to first distinguish between certain functions, in order to get a better sense of the broad, main areas a president is actually dealing with on a day-to-day basis. A more practical approach to identifying presidential powers is by breaking them up into five key duties: (1) head of state, (2) chief diplomat, (3) chief legislator, (4) chief executive, and (5) commander in chief. Although the five functions mentioned above do not cover everything a president is required to do, it is relatively easy to place both expressed and inherent powers within each subcategory, which allows for greater in-depth analysis. To begin, we’ll dive into one of the president’s more ceremonial powers – as the head of state. Head of State The president is required to act in a formal role as head of state. This role is often referred to as being ceremonial,...
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...How much power does the President really have? Does the President sometimes overstep his boundaries? Can the President also be put in his place by the legislative branch or the judicial branch? The answer to both of the latter questions is yes. Yes the president oversteps his boundaries, but there are also times when he has almost no power and his powers can be taken away from him. There are times when he uses his influence and power to have an affair, when he goes to war without Congress making a declaration of war; there are times when he makes executive agreement that the Senate can do nothing about. There are also times when the president is impeached, which is the greatest of punishments when concerning the president. The president has many powers, both given by the Constitution and inferred. The president has a list of his powers and what he is allowed to do while in office. The Constitution itself gives the president his rights and boundaries. For instance, the president is allowed to be elected to a term for four years according to Article II of the Constitution. “He shall hold his office during the Term of four Years, together with the Vice President…” (Lawler, pg. 411) A follow up to this would be the 22nd Amendment which states that the president cannot be elected for more than two terms. “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice…” (Lawler, pg 422) This amendment was put into place after Franklin D. Roosevelt ran for...
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...Presidential powers have grown significantly since the framing of our country. The extent of this growth is not always fully appreciated by the public. Perhaps the reason for this growth is due to the ambiguously written Constitution. The constitutional text leaves room for interpretation and for the executive office “to grow with the developing nation”. (Milkis &Nelson) In Article I of the Constitution, it grants specific powers to Congress, Article II also grants powers to the President but are written in vague terms such as “executive power,” or the duty “to take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” (Milkis &Nelson) Unlike the legislative and judicial branch, the Presidency has consistently possessed significant inherent powers. Therefore, many of the President’s powers are recognized powers, such as the authority to declare war or the authority to act in times of national emergency. The framers of the Constitution purposely designed the separation of powers to protect the rights of citizens and prevent any one person or political group from “ruling with an iron fist”. (Mount) Whether or not a President has exceeded his powers is not often obvious because the powers of then executive office are somewhat unclear. Additionally, there is little case law addressing presidential powers so there is no precedent to follow. The way that previous Presidents use their powers in the past, stands as authority for current or future Presidents to engage in...
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...Presidential Power Congress holds all power to declare war, however the president is the commander and chief of the armed forces. This is where as a country we run into problems with the president over stepping his boundaries in some areas. When a president sends troops they are only allowed to be deployed for ninety days before war must be declared. The framers of the constitution meant by Article II, Section 2 that once war has been declared the president’s responsibility as commander in chief is to direct war. This clause has been interpreted that the president has the power to act with free hand in foreign affairs or can send troops to battle without consulting Congress. There have been many instances where presidents have sent troops without consent of Congress. President Truman sent American troops to the war in Korea without requesting authorization from Congress, Clinton sent forces to Bosnia to support NATO operations against the Serbian aggression, and President Obama led a missile strike in Syria . Some criticize these president’s decisions but others feel that they acted with the country’s best interests in mind. In June 1950 President Truman sent U.S. troops to Korea without congressional authority. This still today stands as the most important precedent for the use of military force without approval. Truman believes since he is the commander in chief that he has the authority to send troops to Korea without authorization. No president had ever launched anything...
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...had a vision of a republic that shared the balance of governance within a three branch system; each designed to organize a balance of power whereby Constitutional division of powers provide each branch the means to frustrate the goals favored by a single branch; in an attempt to promote interbranch cooperation. The Framers had extreme distrust in a large national government and especially in the case of executive power due to the events that led to the Revolutionary War. However, by the time the Constitutional Convention, most of the Framers were convinced of the need for a strong and independent executive at the national level. They also took steps to ensure the executive position could act with the necessary decisiveness and dispatch, most importantly the President was granted extensive powers, primarily the enumerated powers found in Article II of the Constitution. Despite the absence of a written provision of separation of powers in the Constitution, the Framers believed the principle to be implicit within the structure of government under the document. As John Marshall stated the framers sought to create a Constitution “intended to endure for ages to come and consequently to be adapted to the various crises of human affairs”. The ideas within the Constitution are seemingly designed to create perfect harmony, however, conflict and power struggles are as age old as the Constitution itself. Within five years of its ratification James Madison and Alexander Hamilton were...
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...of Presidential Power 0 inShare Download The App email The Limits of Presidential Power: All The President’s Power The Daily Reckoning Special Position Paper By Thomas E. Wood Jr. Vice President Dick Cheney recently told the Washington Post that when the Bush administration entered office, it was determined to reinvigorate the presidency and reverse the steady reduction in executive power and prerogative that had persisted since Watergate. But what reduction could the vice president have had in mind? “The vice president,” noted Sen. John E. Sununu (R-N.H.), “may be the only person I know of that believes the executive has somehow lost power over the last 30 years.” Whether or not the vice president was correct in his analysis of the state of the presidency in the year 2000, there can be no question that since then George W. Bush has dramatically expanded the powers of the president – primarily though not exclusively in matters pertaining to the war on terror. One of the most notorious examples involved the torture of prisoners, a power the administration claimed in the face of law and international agreements to the contrary. “The assertion in the various legal memoranda that the President can order the torture of prisoners despite statutes and treaties forbidding it was another reach for presidential hegemony,” wrote Anthony Lewis in the New York Review of Books. “The basic premise of the American constitutional system is that those who hold power are...
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...Effects of the expansion of Presidential power, and an argument for placing limits and rescinding the additional authority following a crisis By Timothy C. Sollenberger In the 200 years since the ratification of the Constitution, there has been an expansion in the executive branch power base. The majority of this expansion has occurred in the last 70 years. The changes themselves can be attributed to growth of the United States as a world power with gains in military prestige, diplomatic negotiations, as well as economic activities and interests globally which have perpetuated wars, and perceived emergencies. The current media formats and reporting have also had a profound influence on Presidential popularity which has exponentially increased the perceived notion that recent presidents are empowered by the people to make decisions which should require the acquiescence of Congress or the States. Presidents such as Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Franklin D. Roosevelt did make advantageous gains for the country in different areas, but the lack of dissemination of information to the elected legislature showed a general disregard for appropriate etiquette and initial public approval. The powers and duties of the president are outlined in Article II of the Constitution. Although the Constitution grants far fewer powers to the president in Article II than it does to Congress in Article I, the...
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...There are no effective checks on Presidential power. Discuss There are a number of ways the President has got a number of powers that make the executive more powerful than Congress and the Judiciary. Through the President’s power to announce legislation, appoint federal jobs, be Commander in Chief, negotiate treaties and veto legislation; hold the Executive as a more powerful body than the other two. However, there are a number of checks and balances that the Legislature and the Judiciary hold over the Executive that limit the President’s power. The extent of the limitations on the President’s power will be examined in this essay. The President’s ability to announce legislation during his annual State of Union address gives the President an opportunity to highlight the legislative agenda that he wants to get passed in the forthcoming year. This is an important power to the President because if Congress adjourns without acting on his proposals, the President has the power to call Congress into a unique session at his discretion. Also, the President can force adjournment in Congress if both houses cannot agree on a piece of legislation, therefore the president has a deciding vote in theory over some legislation. The President, as he is a powerful influence on public opinion he is a powerful influence over Congress. However, the President does not sit within the Legislature and therefore does not have the power to propose direct legislation. Congress can also adjourn his ‘emergency...
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...The pioneering work of Neustadt in Presidential Power seems to suffer from a case of the legend outgrowing the work itself. This week, most of the authors seem to be put in the position of defending Neustadt’s work, arguing that while many of the criticisms are valid, they miss the point. Jones (2003) attempts to defend Neustadt’s work from a number of criticisms in much the same way that Neustadt examines the presidency, by tracing Neustadt’s personal influences on his work. The major criticisms made by Moe and Skowronek, for example, in Jones’ argument are a matter of attempting to turn Neustadt’s work into something it is not. This is often a case of failing to understand what Neustadt is attempting to explain and what he is analyzing....
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...everyday life a president, and it is not what would be expected. His daily tasks did not include barking orders and everyone graciously following his every command. President Johnson was constantly attempting to persuade members of congress, bartering with what little power he had. He had to manipulate Capitol Hill in order to pass the Civil Rights Act, but he felt that he was doing it for the good of the American people. The president is not seen as someone who can control all things in All the Way, which is often what is portrayed in the media....
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