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President of the
United States of America

The power of the presidency has grown substantially [11] since the first president, George Washington , took office in 1789. [6] While presidential power has ebbed and flowed over time, the presidency has played an increasingly strong role in American political life since the beginning of the 20th century, with a notable expansion during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt . In contemporary times, the president is also looked upon as one of the world's most powerful political figures as the leader of the only remaining global superpower . [12] [13] [14] [15] As the leader of the nation with the largest economy by nominal GDP , the president possesses significant domestic and international hard and soft power .

Article II of the Constitution establishes the executive branch of the federal government and vests the executive power in the president. The power includes the execution and enforcement of federal law and the responsibility to appoint federal executive, diplomatic, regulatory, and judicial officers. Based on constitutional provisions empowering the president to appoint and receive ambassadors and conclude treaties with foreign powers, and on subsequent laws enacted by Congress, the modern presidency has primary responsibility for conducting U.S. foreign policy. The role includes responsibility for directing the world's most expensive military , which has the second largest nuclear arsenal .

The president also plays a leading role in federal legislation and domestic policymaking. As part of the system of checks and balances , Article I, Section7 of the Constitution gives the president the power to sign or veto federal legislation. Since modern presidents are also typically viewed as the leaders of their political parties, major policymaking is significantly shaped by the outcome of presidential elections, with presidents taking an active role in promoting their policy priorities to members of Congress who are often electorally dependent on the president. [16] In recent decades, presidents have also made increasing use of executive orders , agency regulations, and judicial appointments to shape domestic policy.

Under the Articles, which took effect on March 1, 1781, the Congress of the Confederation was a central political authority without any legislative power. It could make its own resolutions, determinations, and regulations, but not any laws, and could not impose any taxes or enforce local commercial regulations upon its citizens. [19] This institutional design reflected how Americans believed the deposed British system of Crown and Parliament ought to have functioned with respect to the royal dominion : a superintending body for matters that concerned the entire empire. [19] The states were out from under any monarchy and assigned some formerly royal prerogatives (e.g., making war, receiving ambassadors, etc.) to Congress; the remaining prerogatives were lodged within their own respective state governments. The members of Congress elected a president of the United States in Congress Assembled to preside over its deliberation as a neutral discussion moderator . Unrelated to and quite dissimilar from the later office of president of the United States, it was a largely ceremonial position without much influence. [21]

In 1783, the Treaty of Paris secured independence for each of the former colonies. With peace at hand, the states each turned toward their own internal affairs. [18] By 1786, Americans found their continental borders besieged and weak and their respective economies in crises as neighboring states agitated trade rivalries with one another. They witnessed their hard currency pouring into foreign markets to pay for imports, their Mediterranean commerce preyed upon by North African pirates , and their foreign-financed Revolutionary War debts unpaid and accruing interest. [18] Civil and political unrest loomed. Events such as the Newburgh Conspiracy and Shays' Rebellion demonstrated that the Articles of Confederation were not working.

Following the successful resolution of commercial and fishing disputes between Virginia and Maryland at the Mount Vernon Conference in 1785, Virginia called for a trade conference between all the states, set for September 1786 in Annapolis, Maryland , with an aim toward resolving further-reaching interstate commercial antagonisms. When the convention failed for lack of attendance due to suspicions among most of the other states, Alexander Hamilton led the Annapolis delegates in a call for a convention to offer revisions to the Articles, to be held the next spring in Philadelphia . Prospects for the next convention appeared bleak until James Madison and Edmund Randolph succeeded in securing George Washington 's attendance to Philadelphia as a delegate for Virginia. [18] [22]

When the Constitutional Convention convened in May 1787, the 12 state delegations in attendance (Rhode Island did not send delegates) brought with them an accumulated experience over a diverse set of institutional arrangements between legislative and executive branches from within their respective state governments. Most states maintained a weak executive without veto or appointment powers, elected annually by the legislature to a single term only, sharing power with an executive council, and countered by a strong legislature. [18] New York offered the greatest exception, having a strong, unitary governor with veto and appointment power elected to a three-year term, and eligible for reelection to an indefinite number of terms thereafter. [18] It was through the closed-door negotiations at Philadelphia that the presidency framed in the U.S. Constitution emerged.

As the nation's first president, George Washington established many norms that would come to define the office. [23] [24] His decision to retire after two terms helped address fears that the nation would devolve into monarchy, [25] and established a precedent that would not be broken until 1940 and would eventually be made permanent by the Twenty-Second Amendment . By the end of his presidency, political parties had developed, [26] with John Adams defeating Thomas Jefferson in 1796, the first truly contested presidential election. [27] After Jefferson defeated Adams in 1800, he and his fellow Virginians James Madison and James Monroe would each serve two terms, eventually dominating the nation's politics during the Era of Good Feelings until Adams' son John Quincy Adams won election in 1824 after the Democratic-Republican Party split.

The election of Andrew Jackson in 1828 was a significant milestone, as Jackson was not part of the Virginia and Massachusetts elite that had held the presidency for its first 40 years. [28] Jacksonian democracy sought to strengthen the presidency at the expense of Congress, while broadening public participation as the nation rapidly expanded westward. However, his successor, Martin Van Buren , became unpopular after the Panic of 1837 , [29] and the death of William Henry Harrison and subsequent poor relations between John Tyler and Congress led to further weakening of the office. [30] Including Van Buren, in the 24 years between 1837 and 1861, six presidential terms would be filled by eight different men, with none winning re-election. [31] The Senate played an important role during this period, with the Great Triumvirate of Henry Clay , Daniel Webster , and John C. Calhoun playing key roles in shaping national policy in the 1830s and 1840s until debates over slavery began pulling the nation apart in the 1850s. [32] [33]

Abraham Lincoln 's leadership during the Civil War has led historians to regard him as one of the nation's greatest presidents. [D] The circumstances of the war and Republican domination of Congress made the office very powerful, [34] [35] and Lincoln's re-election in 1864 was the first time a president had been re-elected since Jackson in 1832. After Lincoln's assassination, his successor Andrew Johnson lost all political support [36] and was nearly removed from office, [37] with Congress remaining powerful during the two-term presidency of Civil War general Ulysses S. Grant . After the end of Reconstruction , Grover Cleveland would eventually become the first Democratic president elected since before the war, running in three consecutive elections (1884, 1888, 1892) and winning twice. In 1900, William McKinley became the first incumbent to win re-election since Grant in 1872.

After McKinley's assassination, Theodore Roosevelt became a dominant figure in American politics. [38] Historians believe Roosevelt permanently changed the political system by strengthening the presidency, [39] with some key accomplishments including breaking up trusts, conservationism, labor reforms, making personal character as important as the issues, and hand-picking his successor, William Howard Taft . The following decade, Woodrow Wilson led the nation to victory during World War I , although Wilson's proposal for the League of Nations was rejected by the Senate. [40] Warren Harding , while popular in office, would see his legacy tarnished by scandals, especially Teapot Dome , [41] and Herbert Hoover quickly became very unpopular after failing to alleviate the Great Depression . [42]

The ascendancy of Franklin D. Roosevelt in the election of 1932 led further toward what historians now describe as the Imperial Presidency . [43] Backed by enormous Democratic majorities in Congress and public support for major change, Roosevelt's New Deal dramatically increased the size and scope of the federal government, including more executive agencies. [44] :211 12 The traditionally small presidential staff was greatly expanded, with the Executive Office of the President being created in 1939, none of whom require Senate confirmation. [44] :229 231 Roosevelt's unprecedented re-election to a third and fourth term, the victory of the United States in World War II , and the nation's growing economy all helped established the office as a position of global leadership. [44] :269 His successors, Harry Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower , were each re-elected as the Cold War led the presidency to be viewed as the "leader of the free world," [45] while John F. Kennedy was a youthful and popular leader who benefitted from the rise of television in the 1960s. [46] [47]

With the Cold War ending and the United States becoming the world's undisputed leading power, [56] Bill Clinton , George W. Bush , and Barack Obama each served two terms as president. Meanwhile, Congress and the nation gradually became more politically polarized, especially following the 1994 mid-term elections that saw Republicans control the House for the first time in 40 years, and the rise of routine filibusters in the Senate in recent decades. [57] Recent presidents have thus increasingly focused on executive orders , agency regulations, and judicial appointments to implement major policies, at the expense of legislation and congressional power. [58] Presidential elections in the 21st century have reflected this continuing polarization, with no candidate except Obama in 2008 winning by more than five percent of the popular vote and two George W. Bush and Donald Trump winning in the Electoral College while losing the popular vote. [E] Both Clinton and Trump were impeached by a House controlled by the opposition party, but the impeachments did not appear to have long-term effects on their political standing. [59] [60]

Critics of presidency's evolution

The nation's Founding Fathers expected the Congress which was the first branch of government described in the Constitution to be the dominant branch of government; they did not expect a strong executive department. [61] However, presidential power has shifted over time, which has resulted in claims that the modern presidency has become too powerful, [62] [63] unchecked, unbalanced, [64] and "monarchist" in nature. [65] In 2008 Professor Dana D. Nelson expressed belief that presidents over the previous thirty years worked towards "undivided presidential control of the executive branch and its agencies". [66] She criticized proponents of the Unitary executive theory for expanding "the many existing uncheckable executive powers such as executive orders, decrees, memorandums, proclamations, national security directives and legislative signing statements that already allow presidents to enact a good deal of foreign and domestic policy without aid, interference or consent from Congress". [66] Bill Wilson , board member of Americans for Limited Government , opined that the expanded presidency was "the greatest threat ever to individual freedom and democratic rule". [67]

Article I, Section1 of the Constitution vests all lawmaking power in Congress's hands, and Article 1, Section 6, Clause2 prevents the president (and all other executive branch officers) from simultaneously being a member of Congress. Nevertheless, the modern presidency exerts significant power over legislation, both due to constitutional provisions and historical developments over time.

The president's most significant legislative power derives from the Presentment Clause , which gives the president the power to veto any bill passed by Congress . While Congress can override a presidential veto, it requires a two-thirds vote of both houses, which is usually very difficult to achieve except for widely supported bipartisan legislation. The framers of the Constitution feared that Congress would seek to increase its power and enable a "tyranny of the majority," so giving the indirectly elected president a veto was viewed as an important check on the legislative power. While George Washington believed the veto should only be used in cases where a bill was unconstitutional, it is now routinely used in cases where presidents have policy disagreements with a bill. The veto or threat of a veto has thus evolved to make the modern presidency a central part of the American legislative process.

Specifically, under the Presentment Clause, once a bill has been presented by Congress, the president has three options:

• Sign the legislation within ten days, excluding Sundays the bill becomes law .
• Veto the legislation within the above timeframe and return it to the house of Congress from which it originated, expressing any objections the bill does not become law, unless both houses of Congress vote to override the veto by a two-thirds vote .
• Take no action on the legislation within the above timeframe the bill becomes law, as if the president had signed it, unless Congress is adjourned at the time, in which case it does not become law (a pocket veto ).

In 1996, Congress attempted to enhance the president's veto power with the Line Item Veto Act . The legislation empowered the president to sign any spending bill into law while simultaneously striking certain spending items within the bill, particularly any new spending, any amount of discretionary spending, or any new limited tax benefit. Congress could then repass that particular item. If the president then vetoed the new legislation, Congress could override the veto by its ordinary means, a two-thirds vote in both houses. In Clinton v. City of New York , 524 U.S. 417 (1998), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled such a legislative alteration of the veto power to be unconstitutional.

For most of American history, candidates for president have sought election on the basis of a promised legislative agenda. Formally, Article II, Section 3, Clause 2 requires the president to recommend such measures to Congress which the president deems "necessary and expedient." This is done through the constitutionally-based State of the Union address, which usually outlines the president's legislative proposals for the coming year, and through other formal and informal communications with Congress.

The president can be involved in crafting legislation by suggesting, requesting, or even insisting that Congress enact laws he believes are needed. Additionally, he can attempt to shape legislation during the legislative process by exerting influence on individual members of Congress. [68] Presidents possess this power because the Constitution is silent about who can write legislation, but the power is limited because only members of Congress can introduce legislation. [69]

The president or other officials of the executive branch may draft legislation and then ask senators or representatives to introduce these drafts into Congress. Additionally, the president may attempt to have Congress alter proposed legislation by threatening to veto that legislation unless requested changes are made. [70]

Promulgating regulations

Many laws enacted by Congress do not address every possible detail, and either explicitly or implicitly delegate powers of implementation to an appropriate federal agency. As the head of the executive branch, presidents control a vast array of agencies that can issue regulations with little oversight from Congress.

In the 20th century, critics charged that too many legislative and budgetary powers that should have belonged to Congress had slid into the hands of presidents. One critic charged that presidents could appoint a "virtual army of 'czars' each wholly unaccountable to Congress yet tasked with spearheading major policy efforts for the White House". [71] Presidents have been criticized for making signing statements when signing congressional legislation about how they understand a bill or plan to execute it. [72] This practice has been criticized by the American Bar Association as unconstitutional. [73] Conservative commentator George Will wrote of an "increasingly swollen executive branch" and "the eclipse of Congress". [74]

Convening and adjourning Congress

To allow the government to act quickly in case of a major domestic or international crisis arising when Congress is not in session, the president is empowered by Article II, Section3 of the Constitution to call a special session of one or both houses of Congress. Since John Adams first did so in 1797, the president has called the full Congress to convene for a special session on 27 occasions. Harry S. Truman was the most recent to do so in July 1948 (the so-called "Turnip Day Session "). In addition, prior to ratification of the Twentieth Amendment in 1933, which brought forward the date on which Congress convenes from December to January, newly inaugurated presidents would routinely call the Senate to meet to confirm nominations or ratify treaties. In practice, the power has fallen into disuse in the modern era as Congress now formally remains in session year-round, convening pro forma sessions every three days even when ostensibly in recess. Correspondingly, the president is authorized to adjourn Congress if the House and Senate cannot agree on the time of adjournment; no president has ever had to exercise this power. [75] [76]

Suffice it to say that the President is made the sole repository of the executive powers of the United States, and the powers entrusted to him as well as the duties imposed upon him are awesome indeed.

The president is head of the executive branch of the federal government and is constitutionally obligated to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed". [77] The executive branch has over four million employees, including the military. [78]

The power of a president to fire executive officials has long been a contentious political issue. Generally, a president may remove executive officials purely at will. [80] However, Congress can curtail and constrain a president's authority to fire commissioners of independent regulatory agencies and certain inferior executive officers by statute . [81]

The president also possesses the power to manage operations of the federal government by issuing various types of directives , such as presidential proclamation and executive orders . When the president is lawfully exercising one of the constitutionally conferred presidential responsibilities, the scope of this power is broad. [82] Even so, these directives are subject to judicial review by U.S. federal courts, which can find them to be unconstitutional. Moreover, Congress can overturn an executive order via legislation (e.g., Congressional Review Act ).

Article II, Section 3, Clause 4 requires the president to "receive Ambassadors." This clause, known as the Reception Clause, has been interpreted to imply that the president possesses broad power over matters of foreign policy, [83] and to provide support for the president's exclusive authority to grant recognition to a foreign government. [84] The Constitution also empowers the president to appoint United States ambassadors, and to propose and chiefly negotiate agreements between the United States and other countries. Such agreements, upon receiving the advice and consent of the U.S. Senate (by a two-thirds majority vote), become binding with the force of federal law.

While foreign affairs has always been a significant element of presidential responsibilities, advances in technology since the Constitution's adoption have increased presidential power. Where formerly ambassadors were vested with significant power to independently negotiate on behalf of the United States, presidents now routinely meet directly with leaders of foreign countries.

One of the most important of executive powers is the president's role as commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces . The power to declare war is constitutionally vested in Congress, but the president has ultimate responsibility for the direction and disposition of the military. The exact degree of authority that the Constitution grants to the president as commander-in-chief has been the subject of much debate throughout history, with Congress at various times granting the president wide authority and at others attempting to restrict that authority. [85] The framers of the Constitution took care to limit the president's powers regarding the military; Alexander Hamilton explained this in Federalist No. 69 :

The President is to be commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States.... It would amount to nothing more than the supreme command and direction of the military and naval forces... while that [the power] of the British king extends to the DECLARING of war and to the RAISING and REGULATING of fleets and armies, all [of] which... would appertain to the legislature. [86] [Emphasis in the original.]

In the modern era, pursuant to the War Powers Resolution , Congress must authorize any troop deployments longer than 60 days, although that process relies on triggering mechanisms that have never been employed, rendering it ineffectual. [87] Additionally, Congress provides a check to presidential military power through its control over military spending and regulation. Presidents have historically initiated the process for going to war, [88] [89] but critics have charged that there have been several conflicts in which presidents did not get official declarations, including Theodore Roosevelt 's military move into Panama in 1903, [88] the Korean War , [88] the Vietnam War , [88] and the invasions of Grenada in 1983 [90] and Panama in 1989. [91]

President Barack Obama with his Supreme Court appointee Justice Sotomayor, 2009

Two doctrines concerning executive power have developed that enable the president to exercise executive power with a degree of autonomy. The first is executive privilege , which allows the president to withhold from disclosure any communications made directly to the president in the performance of executive duties. George Washington first claimed the privilege when Congress requested to see Chief Justice John Jay 's notes from an unpopular treaty negotiation with Great Britain . While not enshrined in the Constitution or any other law, Washington's action created the precedent for the privilege. When Nixon tried to use executive privilege as a reason for not turning over subpoenaed evidence to Congress during the Watergate scandal , the Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Nixon , 418 U.S. 683 (1974), that executive privilege did not apply in cases where a president was attempting to avoid criminal prosecution. When Bill Clinton attempted to use executive privilege regarding the Lewinsky scandal , the Supreme Court ruled in Clinton v. Jones , 520 U.S. 681 (1997), that the privilege also could not be used in civil suits. These cases established the legal precedent that executive privilege is valid, although the exact extent of the privilege has yet to be clearly defined. Additionally, federal courts have allowed this privilege to radiate outward and protect other executive branch employees, but have weakened that protection for those executive branch communications that do not involve the president. [101]

The degree to which the president personally has absolute immunity from court cases is contested and has been the subject of several Supreme Court decisions. Nixon v. Fitzgerald (1982) dismissed a civil lawsuit against by-then former president Richard Nixon based on his official actions. Clinton v. Jones (1997) decided that a president has no immunity against civil suits for actions taken before becoming president, and ruled that a sexual harassment suit could proceed without delay, even against a sitting president. The 2019 Mueller report on Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election detailed evidence of possible obstruction of justice , but investigators declined to refer Donald Trump for prosecution based on a United States Department of Justice policy against indicting an incumbent president. The report noted that impeachment by Congress was available as a remedy. As of October 2019, a case was pending in the federal courts regarding access to personal tax returns in a criminal case brought against Donald Trump by the New York County District Attorney alleging violations of New York state law. [109]

President Ronald Reagan reviews honor guards during a state visit to China, 1984

The modern presidency holds the president as one of the nation's premier celebrities. Some argue that images of the presidency have a tendency to be manipulated by administration public relations officials as well as by presidents themselves. One critic described the presidency as "propagandized leadership" which has a "mesmerizing power surrounding the office". [118] Administration public relations managers staged carefully crafted photo-ops of smiling presidents with smiling crowds for television cameras. [119] One critic wrote the image of John F. Kennedy was described as carefully framed "in rich detail" which "drew on the power of myth" regarding the incident of PT 109 [120] and wrote that Kennedy understood how to use images to further his presidential ambitions. [121] As a result, some political commentators have opined that American voters have unrealistic expectations of presidents: voters expect a president to "drive the economy, vanquish enemies, lead the free world, comfort tornado victims, heal the national soul and protect borrowers from hidden credit-card fees". [122]

Head of party

The president is typically considered to be the head of their political party. Since the entire House of Representatives and at least one-third of the Senate is elected simultaneously with the president, candidates from a political party inevitably have their electoral success intertwined with the performance of the party's presidential candidate. The coattail effect , or lack thereof, will also often impact a party's candidates at state and local levels of government as well. However, there are often tensions between a president and others in the party, with presidents who lose significant support from their party's caucus in Congress generally viewed to be weaker and less effective.

Global leader

With the rise of the United States as a superpower in the 20th century, and the United States having the world's largest economy into the 21st century, the president is typically viewed as a global leader, and at times the world's most powerful political figure. The position of the United States as the leading member of NATO , and the country's strong relationships with other wealthy or democratic nations like those comprising the European Union , have led to the moniker that the president is the "leader of the free world ."

A person who meets the above qualifications would, however, still be disqualified from holding the office of president under any of the following conditions:

• Under Article I, Section 3, Clause 7 , having been impeached, convicted and disqualified from holding further public office, although there is some legal debate as to whether the disqualification clause also includes the presidential office: the only previous persons so punished were three federal judges. [124] [125]
• Under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment , no person who swore an oath to support the Constitution, and later rebelled against the United States, is eligible to hold any office. However, this disqualification can be lifted by a two-thirds vote of each house of Congress. [126] There is, again, some debate as to whether the clause as written allows disqualification from the presidential position, or whether it would first require litigation outside of Congress, although there is precedent for use of this amendment outside of the original intended purpose of excluding Confederates from public office after the Civil War. [127]
• Under the Twenty-second Amendment , no person can be elected president more than twice. The amendment also specifies that if any eligible person serves as president or acting president for more than two years of a term for which some other eligible person was elected president, the former can only be elected president once. [128] [129]

Campaigns and nomination

President Jimmy Carter (left) debates Republican nominee Ronald Reagan on October 28, 1980.

The modern presidential campaign begins before the primary elections , which the two major political parties use to clear the field of candidates before their national nominating conventions , where the most successful candidate is made the party's presidential nominee. Typically, the party's presidential candidate chooses a vice presidential nominee, and this choice is rubber-stamped by the convention. The most common previous profession of presidents is lawyer. [130]

Nominees participate in nationally televised debates , and while the debates are usually restricted to the Democratic and Republican nominees, third party candidates may be invited, such as Ross Perot in the 1992 debates. Nominees campaign across the country to explain their views, convince voters and solicit contributions. Much of the modern electoral process is concerned with winning swing states through frequent visits and mass media advertising drives.

The president is elected indirectly by the voters of each state and the District of Columbia through the Electoral College, a body of electors formed every four years for the sole purpose of electing the president and vice president to concurrent four-year terms. As prescribed by Article II, Section 1, Clause 2, each state is entitled to a number of electors equal to the size of its total delegation in both houses of Congress. Additionally, the Twenty-third Amendment provides that the District of Columbia is entitled to the number it would have if it were a state, but in no case more than that of the least populous state. [131] Currently, all states and the District of Columbia select their electors based on a popular election. [132] In all but two states, the party whose presidential vice presidential ticket receives a plurality of popular votes in the state has its entire slate of elector nominees chosen as the state's electors. [133] Maine and Nebraska deviate from this winner-take-all practice, awarding two electors to the statewide winner and one to the winner in each congressional district . [134] [135]

On the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, about six weeks after the election, the electors convene in their respective state