Presidential Power and the Constitution

The American Presidency has increased its power in the last century, in a positive way. The Constitution leaves much room for interpretation and many presidents have taken advantage of this. The example I will use includes Lincoln, Jackson, Washington, and Roosevelt.

Washington was an army general. It is no wonder that when elected president; he didn't want much part in the actual political process. For this reason he endorsed the help of Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton wrote a series of reports called the Federalist papers, and with Washington's support, served as sort of a prime minister-advising and politicking. Later, Washington decided to be more of a politician and Hamilton was no longer in a great position of power. This was a positive move on the part of Washington, because if he had let Hamilton stay as a sort of prime minister, the presidency would merely become a figure-head position and have very little legislative power.

Lincoln decided to go against what the Constitution said during the Civil War acting as a sort of benevolent dictator. The declaring of Civil War, the abolition of slavery, etc. went against what Congress said and Lincoln would probably have been tried for war crimes had he not been assassinated. The actions taken by Lincoln remained in place and presidents to come had Lincoln to thank for their increased power for interpreting (or just going against) the Constitution and Congress.

Andrew Jackson also interpreted the Constitution to his own accord in deciding that everything that was not a written power was an implied presidential power. He put the Executive Order into place and established the "Kitchen Cabinet" composed of chosen liked Cabinet members and shut out the rest (because of a squabble between Cabinet members' wives). This made the President more powerful because he had less people to advise him and hold him accountable. Presidents today often have "Kitchen Cabinets" of the members they appointed and have the same ideas.

Roosevelt was an energetic president, using his position as a sort of "bully pulpit" in which to threaten or demand others to support his decisions. He placed the Square Deal into effect by use of this and many presidents after him included his technique in the passage of their bills. For ex. LBJ used his towering height and bulk along with pounding and demanding from the podium during speeches to get his point across to the American public. This was a positive impact because it has forced presidents to be more public and political than just assigning duties to committees and only rehearsing lines at State of the Union addresses.

The Constitution was made by very wise men. But other wiser men have stretched and pulled it to the document it needs to be for today's ever changing political world. Without the impacts these presidents have made regarding the Constitution, we might still be a colony of England or still have slavery, or have a figurehead president!