Healy is right in his observations of the manner in which the powers of the United States presidency have gradually expanded as they assume more responsibilities. The unprecedented expectations that the American public have towards the presidency are enormous and for the president to act as the national guardian and spiritual superhero that Americans consider him to be, there has been need to expand the presidential powers to enable the officeholder meet the expectations of the public. The capacity of the president as the commander in chief makes people believe that he is responsible for protecting them from virtually every situation that endangers them. The America perception that the president if responsible for everything that happens or does not happen in virtually every sphere of life means that the president has to broaden his powers to be able to fulfill every expectation for every American, even if it means becoming an imperial president.
It is important to note that the independence Constitution conferred considerably little powers to the presidency, because of the unpleasant experiences that Americans had to endure during the British colonial rule over the thirteen original States. A key indication of the limitations imposed by the constitution on the presidency is the fact that Washington, who was an army general, had to resign his position of army commander in order to become the president of the United States. His resignation as an army commander was mainly because Americans were afraid that too much concentration of power on the presidency would create an imperial leader. Such limitation of presidential power continued in the subsequent regimes and this is largely because the roles and functions of the presidency were also limited. However, as people continued to look up to the presidency to perform more political, economic, and social functions so did the executive require more powers. For instance, Articles 1 and 2 of the current U.S. Constitution provides enormous responsibility of the President as the Commander In Chief of the army, navy, and the State Militia (Baynton, 1947). As such, Healy captures it perfectly by intimating that the presidential powers are enormous, but in conformity with the massive responsibilities of the office.
The expansion of the presidential power has not been as negative as Healy portrays it. For instance, there is less bureaucratic delays over decision-making given that people exercising powers on behalf of the presidency report directly to the president. Accordingly, the enormous powers provide the necessary foundation through which the U.S. government stamps its authority on important issues that affect Americans throughout the world and within the American borders.
References
Baynton, H. (1947). “Presidential Authority as Commander in Chief of the Air Force”. Retrieved
Healy, G. (2008). “The Cult of Presidency”. Reason Foundation. Retrieved From
http://reason.com/archives/2008/05/12/the-cult-of-the-presidency/singlepage
