The Power of the Presidency

The powers that were delegated to the President under the Constitution can be seen as very tentative and careful compared to those we see in todays day in age. These constitutional provisions limited the earlier presidents, some of these names included George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson. Throughout the entire 1800s until the early 1900s Congress was the branch seen as the most dominant of the national government. As time continued on throughout the 20th century, the balance of power shifted and the executive branch gained more and more powers.

The Constitution assigned the following powers to the President; military power, diplomatic power, appointment power, and legislative power. The Founders gave this power with the mindfulness to check and balance this power, not wanting a military general to be able to seize power. The diplomatic power is mainly focused on foreign policies, this power is monitored by the Senate during treaties made with foreign nations. The Constitution gives the President to appoint many different positions, from the Judges of the Supreme court to other Officers of the US, the Senate also must approve this by way of a majority vote. And the President was also given the power to veto legislation.

One of the powers that I think that the executive branch should be refrained from is Legislative power. In my opinion legislative power and the making of laws should for the most part be in the hands of Congress and those representatives elected for that reason. Over the course of time big policy changes and the creation of new programs has taken a shift towards the power of the president and the executive branch. While the President does deserve a great amount of credibility and respect, I believe that the legislative branch should be the one to take charge with these particular issues. Especially with the current situation we have in our nation, the legislative branch needs to be as solid and responsible as possible.

It is astonishing how the role of our nations president has changed so much over time since the Founders drafted the Constitution. Since our last section which was focused on the role of the news and media in government, it seems as if the actual powers and actions that concern our nation from the President can go overlooked at times. People read stories about “Stormy Davis” and other forms of infotainment that cause the general public to forget about the actual duties our president is responsible for. The actual powers mentioned earlier like military and diplomatic powers can sometimes be pushed aside at times and forgotten due to the uprise of the media in society.

The transformation of power that the founders gave the executive branch to what is seen throughout the 20th century speaks for itself, but the Legislative branch is well deserving of its own legitimacy and decision making. Who knows, maybe at some point in time we may see more and more responsibilities delegated to the Legislative branch and congress?

https://courses.lumenlearning.com/americangovernment/chapter/the-design-and-evolution-of-the-presidency/

-The image in the actual post is a bit blurry, if you click on the link the image can be viewed clearly at the website.

4 Responses to "The Power of the Presidency"

Cassandra Martin says:

April 13, 2018 at 5:32 pm

Klein,

I agree with your point that much of the American public is misinformed about what the powers of the president actually are. As Chapter 12 discusses, the role of the president started out very different than what it is now. The framers viewed the president as an elite body that would be rather separated from the American people, and would more directly address Congress. However, that quickly changed as America’s presence economically and politically in the international realm changed. America now has new responsibilities as a superpower, and with that came new responsibilities for the president.

What I wish you would’ve touched on more is why you don’t think the president should play as big of a role in the legislative process. While I agree that there is a separation of branches for a reason, if the president has no say in the laws or policies being enacted, their role may not be as responsive to the American peoples’ wishes. I think if you could’ve been more descriptive and perhaps used a case in which a political leader’s private interests infringed upon popular sovereignty or his/her ability to govern, your point could’ve been demonstrated more clearly.

I think it is very interesting that you bring up the relationship between the president and the media. While it is true that infotainment is an issue which plagues the public’s perception of the political climate, some stories such as the Stormy Daniels one, do bring up some credible concerns. Especially in that case, where the FBI is seizing information related to her NDA and payoff agreement, it can be assumed that there is a credible issue being investigated. However, you are correct that the media will focus on the most scandalous stories to gain more profit. I think you also could’ve discussed ways in which presidents have attempted to bypass this media barrier by using social media to speak directly to the people, as mentioned in the textbook. Overall, nice job.
Thomas Cody says:

April 15, 2018 at 12:33 am

Klein,
Thanks for a very interesting post! I do agree that media gossip and personal scandals need to be given less attention than what a president is doing in terms of policy. That being said, I also think we overestimate the effect these stories have on voters. I think in every single modern election the economy has been easily the most influential factor in voters eyes. Look at how high Bill Clinton’s margins of victory and his approval ratings were despite the infidelity questions constantly swirling around him. He was able to keep the economy going strong, so the public looked past them. Look at 2016 with god knows how many scandals around Trump. He was able to upset Hilary Clinton despite a tape of him bragging about sexual assaulting women got released just a few weeks before the election. I would argue the biggest reason for this being that his economic message, especially with bringing back coal and manufacturing jobs, was received far better for voters in those rust belt states. While people may find these political scandals exciting and interesting, I think we overestimate how much people look at these things when stepping into the voting booth.
Stephanie Ellicott says:

April 15, 2018 at 11:19 pm

Thank you for your insights, Klein.

I think you bring up some interesting points regarding the power that the President holds, and how this power has evolved over time. However, I would like to point out, it can be argued that some of this power is misconstrued in the media, which leads us to believe that the President has more power than he/she actually does. What I mean by this is that many of times the President promises (or threatens) to enact certain policies and pass certain laws, but in reality he/she do not have the power to do so. For example, President Trump has made continued threats and promises throughout his campaign and presidency that he has been critiqued on based on the reality of the situation: he does not have the power to make those threats or keep those promises. He can most definitely work to see them through, but to actually change the law with one simple statement is simply out of the question.

However, I agree with you that it is wise to watch this shift in power between branches and to emphasize the importance of transparency within our government. I would also have to agree with Cassandra that I wish you had given us more reasoning and evidence as to why you believe the President should have less power than the Legislative branch.

Overall, I enjoyed reading your post – thank you!
Everett Harper says:

April 16, 2018 at 12:23 am

Klein,
This was a very well written and insightful post. I agree entirely with your post. I do not think that the president should have legislative power. It could be very problematic if the President had absolute legislative power because passing laws requires much analysis and a majority agreement on them. Although I believe the President should be able to have some say in making laws, he or she should have just as much power in passing laws as another member of Congress. I believe that the President should have the power to propose laws but I don’t believe they should have any more power than a member of Congress in the passing process. Overall great post!

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