The American President: Is He Truly Powerful?

As the head of the executive branch of the US government, the president receives a disproportionate amount of attention. The public believes that the president is extraordinarily powerful because of their lack of understanding that the US government is composed of not three distinct separated powers, but of three branches sharing powers (Neustadt, 29). Presidential powers have evolved over time, as political norms and the accepted role of government in American life has changed (Neustadt, 29). As Neustadt says in Presidential Power, "everybody now expects the man inside the White house to something about everything" (Neustadt, 7). In the past the presidency has been a relatively weak office, but in today's post 9-11 political atmosphere, the president has been able to wield powers akin to those of an "imperial" president.

Political power at a base level is the ability to manipulate other politicians as well as the public in order to have ones agenda, goals, or beliefs become those of the nation. A powerful politician is able to use his influence to both have legislations passed and speak to the public in a manner that will either changes people's minds or mobilize them on his behalf. In terms of the president, a powerful president would be able to use congressman to sponsor bills that mirror his beliefs. He would similarly use his very public position and many press opportunities, to charm the public into backing him. Neustadt divides presidential power into three arenas: the power to persuade, and professional reputation, and public prestige. A president uses the persuasion to persuade both politicians and (somewhat the public) via bargaining. The president needs to be able to wield this power not just the other branches of government but within the executive branch (Neustadt, 34). The many subcomponents of the executive branch have many other loyalties outside of the president, and he therefore needs to persuade them as well (Neustadt, 34). Outside of the executive branch the situation is the same, except it is even harder for the president to persuade, and he must be able to persuade individuals to believe that his ideas are in their self-interest. A positive professional reputation allows the presidents to bargain with those who believe he has the skill and will to do what he says he will (Neustadt, 50). A presidents' reputation is formed by the constant appraisals made of him for his every action and word (Neustadt, 68). The final part of Neustadt's definition of presidential power, public prestige, is based on the public perception of the president. As Popkin says, although Americans may not be well politically informed, they are able to make basic judgments about the views of politicians using "low-information rationality," (Popkin, 7). With this taken into considerations, the president needs public prestige in order for his, and his party's political success. Also, as Page and Shapiro write in "The Causes of Collective Opinion Change," public opinion changes rationally and slowly (unless in the case of a major event, in which cause it still responds logically) (Page, 321). Achieving presidential power has a simple objective, yet is clearly a multifaceted agenda.

Historically, the presidency has in fact been a relatively weak office. The president is only able to exert his powers in very specific situation. He has the ability to use executive orders, which have been expanding since FDR's presidency. These unilateral actions are permitted as long as they do not change appropriations or break any current laws. The courts can also declare the executive orders unconstitutional, not just illegal. For the president to wield very strong unopposed power, very specific conditions must be present. These conditions are outline in Neustadt's Presidential Power. These are, "assurance that the president has spoken," "clarity about his [the president's] meaning," "publicity," "ability to carry it [the order] out," and "the sense that what he wants is his by right," (Neustadt, 18, 20, 22, 23). Neustadt presents only three cases, in which these conditions have been fully met, because they are "relatively rare," with only three such instances occurring in the sixteen years of the Truman and Eisenhower presidencies (Neustadt, 24). The tree cases were Truman relieving general McArthur of command, his seizing steel mils, and Eisenhower's use of troops in Little Rock to ensure that black children could go to school during desegregation. In all three cases cited by Neustadt, the president becomes truly powerful in a last resort situation. When the president exerts power, he often is not solving the problem but simply delaying or slowing it, because of a lack of power to "gains his ends by fiat," (Neustadt, 26). In fact, these temporary measures are often costly, and so even if available they are not always exploited. They tend to be last resorts, and often come after a long period of time in which action was needed. Using these last resorts actually showed a lack of professional prestige, as situations eclipsed the norms in which drastic action was avoidable. Truman in his memoirs even said that he should have used his power two years earlier than he had in firing General McArthur (Neustadt, 24). Although the president is able to wield great powers, he is rarely able to, and even less often does he exert his power.

As an office the presidency is not an overly strong office in the USA. The multi-branched American government creates many structural restraints for the president. Although the president has powers over other branches of government they are not limitless. He can veto congressional bills, but that can be overridden if two-thirds of congress supports the bill. High level judicial, and bureaucratic appointments are also selected by the president, but again congress can over power him in confirmation hearing to decide if his choice is appropriate. Also, the founders, in The Constitution, gave congress power over the presidential election process (Article 2, United States Constitution). The judicial branch can also wield power over the president. Once appointed judges, like David Sutter can, and do stray from the politics of the presidents. Also the judicial branch is able to declare the acts of the president unconstitutional. The system of inter-governmental checks and balances keeps the presidency from being an overly strong office, as the "ambition" of one branch is made to counter the "ambition" of another (Madison - Federalist 51). As Wilson says, "the governments of the United States were not designed to be efficient or powerful, but to be tolerable and malleable," (Wilson, 376).

The presidency was not designed to be a truly powerful office but more to serve an executive role. This executive role was essentially to carry out the decisions of congress. The constitution includes the necessary and proper clause to give congress all powers not enumerated to congress, but gives no such flexibility to the powers of the executive (Article 1, United States Constitution). The executive was more designed to enforce law than create law and be powerful. Clearly, the presidency was not designed as a powerful office in the American government.

September 11, 2001 created a major change in the political atmosphere of the American public, and even the politicians in congress. Nine-eleven was the largest attack ever on American soil, and was an attack without precedent. The shock throughout the nation caused the public to rally around the president as the public manifestation of American power. This gave the president incredible public prestige achieving an approval rating of 90 percent (Draper, 166). Only three days later, with only one dissenting vote in all of congress, president Bush was given "all necessary and appropriate force" for retribution (Rudalavige, 215). In this act, congress suddenly greatly increased the president's power. No longer did congress need to declare war, as Bush had been given the power to act without further congressional approval. In fact, "whatever he asked for, congress gave him," (the patriot act passed in a 98-1 vote in the senate) but this power did not last much past the immediate post 9-11 political scene (Draper, 166). By the end of 2001, troops placed in Afghanistan had removed the Taliban from power, increasing his professional reputation, and his public prestige (Wilson, 217). He was also able to change air force rules of engagement (Wilson, 217). In a short time frame, President Bush had greatly increased the power of the president following the events of September 11^th 2001.

The extended power did not simple apply the President and immediate extensions of the executive branch. The Pentagon was able achieve previously impossible levels of autonomy, and congress lost much of its intelligence oversight powers (Wilson, 225). The president and his administration pushed these initiatives for greater control on the war on terror (Wilson, 225). Prisoners, who were not quite prisoners of war but "enemy combatants," were no longer entered into the American judicial system but into a system of military tribunals, which were under the executive rather than judicial branch (Wilson). Draper claims that congress gave him whatever he wanted, but congress was very resistant to these changes, and the issues of enemy combatants are still contested today (Draper, 166). These debates began the road to the president's decline in power, as he lost public prestige, and his professional reputation suffered as many citizens were at odds with his views as well as many congressmen. This led to a direst decrease in his ability to persuade people.

Bush showed further power over congress in the road to the war with Iraq; "president Bush has told members of congress "I want your vote. I'm not going to debate it with you"," (Wilson, 220). Bush capitalized on the situation and was able to extract large amounts of power. In a discussion with House leaders Denny Hastert, and Tom DeLay, Bush said, "this is a time to be supporting your president!" because he was facing opposition from congress (Draper, 169). His pressures on congress were successful enough to cause Senator John Warner (R-VA) to say, "We have an obligation to live up to the president's budget request," (Wilson, 234). The president was now not the head of the government branch responsible to enforcing the law, but had become a significant policy maker with the powers over the policy making body, congress. This shows that Bush had achieved an incredibly strong ability to persuade, one of Neustadt's major components of presidential power. Bush had been getting all he wanted from congress and had unparalleled presidential power in the wake of 9-11 but in the road to Iraq he was beginning to feel opposition again, and tried to minimize it.

As the road to Iraq became less clear and lost support Bush began to lose his power. After many scandals such as Halliburton contracts, to Abu Ghraib inmate treatment, the American public has lost faith in the war in Iraq and its champion, president Bush. His public prestige has suffered greatly; his professional reputation has suffered as many politicians now view the Iraq war as a mistake, and he is unable to persuade people who find them fundamentally at odds with what may be his largest legacy, the situation in Iraq.

Although a traditionally weak office, the presidency saw a surge of power post 9-11. The massive influence, and changed wrought by 9-11 created a temporary change in the American political atmosphere which allowed the president to act like an "imperial" president. Within a few years his powers had diminished again, and although many of his acts remain in effect today, they would be a much harder sale today. The presidency was created as a weak office, but in extraordinary situations, the power of the president may drastically increase, but only temporarily, as the country rallies behind the flag and the president in times of uncertainty, great change, instability, and insecurity.

1."The Constitution of the United States," Article 1, Section 8, Article 2, Section 1.

2.Draper, Robert. Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush. The Free Press, 2007.

3.Madison, James. Federalist 51.

4.Neustadt, Richard. Presidential Power. 3. New York: The Free Press, 1990.

5.Rudalavige, Andrew. The New Imperial Presidency. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press, 2005.

6.Page, Benjamin, and Shapiro, Robert. The Rational Public. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1992.

7.Popkin, Samuel. The Reasoning Voter. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1994.

Wilson, James. Bureaucracy. New York: Basic Books, Inc., 1989.