Essay On Presidential Power

The President of the United States wields an enormous amount of power, however, at times it may seem they are relatively powerless. This is because the Constitution only grants the President very limited powers in an attempt to prevent the possibility of an “Imperialist President,” or one that basically acts as a king or ruler with supreme authority. In turn, the founders believed Congress should be the strongest branch, which arguably it was for the first half of United States history. Inevitably, relationships between Congress and the President were bound to be important from the start. However, it wasn’t until the Teddy Roosevelt administration in the early 1900’s that President’s began to break out of the confinements of Constitutional

This of course is predicated on the belief that the public’s opinion will influence the actions of their representatives in Congress since representatives want to be reelected. In modern use, particularly with television and looser campaign finance regulations, Presidents now are more sending a message to party leadership or interest groups, letting them either take up the issue in Congress or mobilize the people. Of the powers a President has, the power of influence; especially in modern, media-driven society, is paramount. Although another aspect of Presidential power is the idea of executive privilege, or being able to keep all conversations the President has private. This is perhaps one of the more controversial powers given to the President because it begs the question of how a President can be held responsible if the people don’t know what they are doing? On the contrary, executive privilege is necessary because it maintains a certain level of security that is needed in all government