The presidential powers have considerably extended since the time when the Founding fathers framed the Constitution of the United States. At that time, the thirteen colonies that formed a newly established state were afraid of a strong executive leadership. They feared that if a president were entitled by the Constitution to have extended powers, he would have misused or abused these powers, governed by self-interests, rather than the interests of the nation. This skepticism toward strong leadership resulted from the experience that the founders had when dealing with the English monarch (The Declaration of Independence, 1776). In order to prevent the authoritarian rule, the founders included serious system of checks and balances in the Constitution that sought to ensure that a single person in charge of the nation would not be able to seize and misuse power to his own advantage.
Nevertheless, through the course of the history the situation has significantly changed; as a result, nowadays, the President of the United States enjoys more powers in various domains than George Washington could only dream of during his presidency. This essay will demonstrate what sources of power and influence presidents have currently and track the changes that occurred regarding the extent of these powers during the 20th century. Besides, the paper will analyze the role that the development of communication technology played in the increase of presidential power. In addition, the essay will attempt to use the evidence of past events and their impact on the presidential powers in order to suggest the probable development in the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches of government in the United States.
The sources of presidential powers can be divided in three categories: constitutional, institutional and political. Article 2 of US Constitution defines presidential powers that fall in one of the following categories: military, diplomatic, executive, judicial, and legislative. As we see, in spite of the fact that the President of the United States is a head of the executive branch of government, he can and does influence other branches: the legislature and the judiciary. The military power of presidency means that the president is “Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States” (Article 2, Section 2). This power is somehow limited by the Constitution, as the president does not have an expressed power to declare war. This power is a prerogative of the Congress. However, during the course of history, many presidents have infringed upon this right of the Congress and begun wars without congressional consent. Such cases were particularly frequent in the 20th century. For instance, during the presidency of Harry Truman, the president sent American troops to Korea without asking for congressional action. Truman was the president who ordered to seize a striking mill, which produced steel, needed for Korean War. He stated that he had the “inherent power” to act in this way in the time of military emergency. Even though this presidential order was condemned by the Supreme Court, this case shows that presidential actions do not always follow the word of the Constitution and the powers of president can extend considerably, particularly in the time of military emergency. The “inherent power” that Truman used as an excuse to violate the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution means the power that is not expressed but is implied by the Constitution (Module 8, Lecture 1). Many presidents after Truman used the same excuse to involve in wars without congressional authorization, as they considered the defense of nation to be their inherent power (Ginsberg at al. 2014: 321). However, the Congress has an essential leverage in the foreign policy, including the participation in military conflicts, namely, the control of funding. Presidents can ignore the Congress and dispatch troops as a Commander-in-Chief, but he cannot wage a war without finances that only the Congress has a right to assign.
Then need for compromise and successful communication between the legislative and executive branches of government is even more visible, when we consider the legislative powers of presidency. Presidents play an important role in the agenda-setting, when they use the provision stated in Article 2, Section 3 to deliver a State of the Union speech to the Congress. In his address, a president can emphasize the priorities and initiate a proposal, and in this way, influences the agenda of the Congress. Another leverage of presidency is a power to veto bills and return it to the Congress without signing it. According to Ginsberg at al. (2014), the veto power has been proved effective, as “more than 90 percent of all vetoes in history have been upheld” (p. 318). Because of this, the Congress hesitates to pass a bill that a president may veto or choose the pocket veto method. The pocket veto occurs, if the Congress is not in session when the president decides to return the bill without signing. In this case, the Congress cannot override the veto and the vetoed bill dies (Ginsberg at al. 2014: 292). In addition, the president can influence the interpretation of laws, utilizing signing statements. In these statements, presidents may offer their interpretation and the ways to implement the law, as happened in the case of 1946 Hobbs Anti-Racketeering Act (Ginsberg at al. 2014: 332). Therefore, presidents can significantly influence the legislative process and offer their interpretation, employing administrative strategies. At the same time, the Congress has a right to oversee the implementation of laws. Through hearings and investigations, the Congress controls the executive agencies, evaluates their actions and programs (Ginsberg at al. 2014: 300). Thus, not only the president makes an impact on the law-making process, but the Congress also checks the activities of the executive branch: as agencies, so the president through the power of impeachment (Article 2, Section 4).
The powers that the Constitution grants presidents in the diplomatic domain include the power “to make Treaties”, “receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers”. The right to sign treaties is checked by the Congress, as the legislative branch advises the president in this area and gives its consent. However, even in this area, presidents have found the way to circumvent this check by signing executive agreements in place of treaties. Additionally, as presidents receive the representatives of other countries, they use this power to “recognize” other states (Ginsberg at al. 2014: 317). Interestingly, when in 1979 President Carter recognized the communist China and announced that diplomatic relations with Taiwan would be ceased, resentful Congress passed the act that established an “unofficial” representative in Taiwan instead of an official embassy and granted Taiwan a special status (Taiwan Relations Act, 1979).
As the analysis of three domains of presidential power: military, legislative, and diplomatic, has demonstrated and specific examples from American history illustrated, presidents in the 20th century significantly increased their powers through various strategies and methods. However, the most important role in the expansion of the presidential power was played by media and its use in public relations. Before communication technologies evolved, the relations of presidents with the public were limited. Print press and gossip were the only sources of information about presidential candidates, their programs and policies. However, the situation has changed in the 20th century, when various means of information and communication were invented and became popular: radio, television, the Internet. Presidents became more visible for the public as they utilized these communication tools. Franklin Delano Roosevelt handled the economic crisis of Great Depression and managed to gain the public support for his New Deal, thanks to his “fireside chats” by radio. FDR was able to address to worries and concerns of American people, calling them “friends” and introduced his vision of economic recovery plan during his talk on October, 23 in 1933 (FDR, 1933). Other presidents followed Roosevelt’s innovative approach and seized the opportunities that means of mass communication offered. For example, Kennedy employed television and was able to defeat Nixon in debates, Clinton appeared on the talk show, and Obama was the first president to actively employ the power of social media in his presidential campaign (Module 8, Lecture 3). Modern media helps presidential candidates and presidents in the office to establish connection with the public, influence the public opinion and in such way, expand their powers even further. In my opinion, the future balance between the Congress and the president will be even more influenced by the development of communication technology and their use by legislative and executive branches of government. The Congress may shift this balance to its advantage, if it overcomes partisan polarization and addresses the public with one voice via modern media, clearly communicating and gaining public recognition and support.
Works cited:
Ginsberg, Benjamin, Theodore J. Lowi, Margaret Weir, Caroline J. Tolbert and Robert J. Spitzer. "We the people: An introduction to American politics." (2014). W.W. Norton & Company
The Declaration of Independence (1776). Web.
The Constitution of the United States of America. Web.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt “Fireside Chat #4”. Web.
Taiwan Relations Act, 1979. Web.
Module 8, Lecture 1. PDF.
Module 8, Lecture 3. PDF.
