President Franklin Roosevelt, Essay Example

The federal governments divided into branches that are ostensibly intended to provide “checks and balances” against each other. The purpose of this system of decision is to ensure that no one branch wields much greater power over the other two. Within this framework, the executive branch presidency is often seen as being the most powerful position of the three, and there is no question that the power of the presidency –and the size and scope of the federal government- has grown significantly in the past century, especially beginning in the 1930s during the Great Depression, when President Franklin Roosevelt expanded federal powers to combat the economic situation. The power of Congress has expanded along with that of the Presidency, but its role as the body which produces and passes federal legislation and which serves as a counterweight to presidential power remains largely the same.

While the President of the United States is positioned as a representative of the entire population, the members of Congress are tied more directly to state and local constituencies. The members of the Senate are sent in pairs to Congress to represent the interests of their home states at the national level. This position and purpose was considered especially important when the nation was founded, as the individual states wanted to ensure that they were equally represented at the national level. The members of the House of Representatives are aptly named, as they are chosen to represent even smaller constituencies, and are elected by voters in districts within their home states. These congressional positions are intended to serve the will of the people by being beholden directly to smaller numbers of voters in their home states and districts.

The task of running for President of th4 United States has evolved dramatically since the 20^th century, for a number of reasons. First, the size and scope of the federal government has expanded significantly since the early 20^th century, as has the power and reach of the Presidency as the United States has grown into the position of a global superpower. With this growth has come the similar growth of the influence of money in campaigns, and any successful candidate must raise enormous sums of money. Television and media have also evolved greatly since the time the first presidential debate between Nixon and Kennedy was televised. Successful campaign strategies are expensive, and must take advantage of all available technology and other resources to reach potential voters.

A successful presidential campaign begins with securing the nomination of one of the two major parties, and this process is often quite different the process of winning the general election. Presidential candidates must reach out to the party base, which includes potential voters who are often more politically engaged and issue-oriented than the average voter who votes in the general election. In the simplest sense, potential nominees for the Democratic party must swing to the political left, while their counterparts on the Republican side must swing to the political right. For Democrats this could include appealing to members of labor unions, minorities, voters who rely on federal programs such as Social Security, and so on. For Republicans this could include appealing to corporations and business owners, and members of economic sectors that are concerned with getting or keeping tax cuts. After securing the nomination, however, the candidates must generally swing towards the political center to appeal to a broader cross-section of voters.

Successful strategies also include defining one’s opponent for voters. This worked well for President Obama during his reelection campaign, when the Obama team worked to paint opponent Mitt Romney as a man whose wealth made him out of touch with regular voters. This strategy was aided when a leaked video recording of Romney talking about the “47%” of Americans who were dependent on the federal government served as evidence that the Obama team’s message was accurate. There is no single successful strategy for securing the presidency, but the basic ingredients include appealing to the party base, shifting to the center after the nomination, and convincing voters that the candidate is a better choice than the opponent.