Evolution of the Presidency, Essay Example

The governmental structure of the United States was originally meant to state clear and narrow limits to the powers of the president, while Congress concentrated most of the powers win its hands. Such policy was supposed to decrease the possibility of tyranny, thus creating democracy. Therefore, little attention was paid to the executive branch of government, which the president represented, and the scope of authority given to the president was quite hard to establish. However,  the powers of the president of the United States have risen dramatically since that times, making the legislative branch much less influential than it was supposed to be. Some scholars argue that the president of the United States is one of the world’s most powerful elected officials.

The period in which American presidency actually experienced significant expansion was the time between the end of Reconstruction in 1877 and the 1960. These years make almost a century, and that century was full of the events which were groundbreaking not only for the American history, but for the world’s history either. The American nation has gone through two World Wars and Great Depression. That were the times when changes were inevitable.

One of the presidents who made greatest contributions to the changing the nation’s political system is undoubtedly Theodore Roosevelt. He regarded the figure of president as a pulpiteer who is supposed to preach morality. He succeeded in expanding the presidency, placing the figure of the president at central stage and making it important, due to the highest levels of popularity among the American citizens and his own clever acts. He had the introduction of the practice of issuing substantive executive orders to his credit. According to the Supreme Court such orders were ruled to have the force of law only after having been  justified by Constitution, though as a matter of actual practice they tuned out to cover a wide range of regulatory activity. Theodore Roosevelt was also prominent for using an alternative to treaties – executive agreements. After the ruling stated by the Supreme Court telling that such agreements were provided with the same constitutional force as treaty definitely made a huge contribution to the enhancing the powers of the president in terms of foreign policy.

Another prominent and ambitious president, making a significant impact to the enduing the figure of president the power, which is attributed to it nowadays was Woodrow Wilson. This man made a success in allotting a certain legislative power to the figure of president. Though he led his country into the World War I he was a prominent and bright politician, thus achieving popularity among the American people, and, due to the war, standing as the incarnation of the man, leading his people through crisis, therefore getting even more power and respect.

The actual transformation of the presidency is often attributed to the figure of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. This man managed to turn his country into mighty and prosperous state after the second World War and  the Great Depression, thus attaining huge popularity among the American nation. This politician is often referred to as the most prominent presidents of the United States of America. He was granted unprecedented powers in the midst of Great depression and from that times on the actual perception of the figure of president in people’s minds had changed. The thing was that the president started to be viewed as a man who can find the solution to any of the nation’s problems, therefore his personality became highly important. And what is more every positive event happening at the time was attributed to the president’s wise solutions, while everything bad what happened was considered to be the guilt of his opponents or wicked advisers. Franklin Roosevelt consolidated great power because of his huge popularity, lengthy tenure as president and performing as a leader during two major crises.

Therefore, the basic reasons of the American presidency experiencing serious expansions can be contributed to the appearance of ambitious and prominent leaders on the political scene at different times. An important thing and factor which undoubtedly influenced the success of the presidents in achieving more power and getting the ability to dictate their terms to the Congress were the crises happening at the times of their terms. However, we cannot omit the fact that the personality and talents of those man were also significantly important. Without proving to be successful leader in crises and coping with the situation he faced, Franklin Roosevelt, for example, would not achieve such popularity as he did. But still, as he coped with that, his figure started to be perceived as the figure if the man who saved his country and his nation, and thus Congress could not have had the power over him which it would have had over less popular and successful presidents. To sum up, the major reasons of the expansion of the power of American presidents at the period from 1877 to 1960 would be the groundbreaking events happening at that times, and the prominent politicians who were presidents at that time.