Defining the Role of the President of the United States as Outlined in the US Constitution - Research Paper Example

Defining the role of the President of the United States as outlined in the U. S. Constitution The powers and roles that the Office of the President of the United States wields are divulged on and enshrined in Article II of the American Constitution. Section I of Article II of the Constitution extends executive powers to the US President, so that the President can serve as the Chief Executive. In this light, the President can demand for written reports from the Principal Officer in every executive department on any subject which relates to the duties of the offices. Specifically, Section I of Article II states that, “The executive power shall be vested in the President of the United States of America.”1 The President can also appoint people to high-level positions of public administration. This role and power is enshrined and provided for in Section II of Article II of the Constitution where the Chief Executive can select top employees, subject to the approval of the Senate. Still, as the Chief Administrator, Section III of Article II bestows the power to make recommendations on fiscal policies on the President of the United States. The consideration of this article is always done in light of Article I of the US constitution which accords Congress the power to review taxes and spending. Nevertheless, the power to control the budget-making process is chief among the crucial administrative prerogatives of the President of the US. In this light, it is often the President who makes decision on how and where the money is spent. At the end of the 1990s, the Office of the President took over a more significant function in determining federal spending. Section III of Article also extends the Office of the President of the United States the powers of a Chief Magistrate. Particularly, Section III of Article states that the President of the United States “… shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed…”2 In a closely related wavelength, Section VII of Article I accords the President of the United States the powers of the Chief Legislator. This section of the US Constitution states that every bill which the Senate and the House of Representative shall pass shall be presented to the President of the United States prior to its becoming law. If the President approves the Bill, he shall append his signature to it. Otherwise, the President shall return the Bill to the House with his objections to it. The House from whence the Bill originated shall record the objections on its journal, before reconsidering the bill. In the event that the two thirds of the House agrees to pass the bill after reconsideration, the bill and the President’s objections shall be sent to the other House for reconsideration. If the Bill is approved by two thirds of the House, it shall become law. In relation to the foregoing, the President of the United States while serving as the Chief Legislator is to from one time to another issue the Congress with information concerning the state of union. In like manner and in similar capacity, he shall send to the Congress, his recommendations on measures that are expedient and necessary for consideration. The Constitution of the United States also requires that the President takes care that the Laws of the United States are faithfully executed. The gravity of the matter herein is that in the event that assistance is needed, the President can invoke the authority of the commander-in-chief to deploy armed forces in order to enforce the law. In a separate wavelength, Section of II of Article II of the US Constitution accords the President of the United States the Chief Diplomat. To this extent, the President is constitutionally describes the President as having the power with and by the advice and consent of the Senate, to enter into treaties, as long as two thirds of the Senator present are in argument. Therefore, the President shall nominate and appoint ambassadors, foreign ministers and consuls by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. Section III of the same Article continues that the President of the US “…shall receive public ministers and ambassadors...”3 There is another sacrosanct role that the President plays. The President is the Commander-in-Chief of all the armed forces of the United States. Specifically, Section II of Article II of the United States Constitution states that the President is to be the commander-in-chief of the Army and the United States Navy and of the militia of states when they are called into the actual service of the US. This means that the President is the US’ highest ranking civilian officer who takes charge over the armed forces. The President of the United States also serves as the Chief of State. As such, he presides over national ceremonies and functions. This is the very function that the king or queen performs in constitutional monarchies. Just as the king or queen serves as a symbol of national unity and the permanence of the national state, so does the President of the United States. In this light, the Constitution mandates the President to take the oath of office, make the annual State of the Union address, enter treaties on behalf of the country and to receive or meet ambassadors from other states or countries. Although this function is mostly passed on as merely ceremonial, yet it serves as a strong source of power since it elevates the Office of the President above the rest of public institutions and offices and helps the President to achieve constitutional functions and policy goals. Showing how the scope, power, and authority of the president have changed using presidents from Andrew Johnson up to Ronald Reagan Over time, the scope, power, and authority of the president have changed as shall be seen forthwith. For one, when it came to executive orders, initially, there were no guidelines which outlined what the executive orders could attain, until 1952. In 1952, the Supreme Court ruled Harry Truman’s Executive Order 10340 invalid, on the account that it attempted to make a law in the absence of the participation of the Congress. The Supreme Court observed that the Executive Order 10340 should have sought to extend or clarify a law, instead of seeking to create one. This development set a precedent: from this point onwards, American presidents such as Herbert Hoover, Calvin Coolidge and Warren G. Harding referred to existing laws as a way of eschewing the issuance of unconstitutional orders. However, there are presidents who believed in their abilities to act in a manner not allowed by the Constitution. These were wartime presidents such as Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Delano Roosevelt and strong presidents such as Harry S. Truman and Theodore Roosevelt. In light of Andrew Johnson, it is true that presidential powers have grown over time. The limitation of presidential powers is seen in Johnson’s inability to outdo the Congress to pass crucial bills. In his first 8 years, Johnson sought to prop up black codes as a way of consolidating slavery. When Congress resumed session, Congress passed the Freedman’s Bureau Bill to accord former slaves Civil Rights, the right to trial and their citizenship. All these were passed over Johnson’s veto, with the Amendment being the only exception. The Congress then passed the Tenure of Office Act to strip President Johnson of the power and authority to remove from office, federal officials, outside the approval of the Senate. Additionally, the Congress established a military reconstruction program to enforce Southern black’s sociopolitical rights. To this extent, the powers of the President were limited, throughout the nineteenth century. As is illustrated by the foregoing, throughout the larger part of the nineteenth century, the President’s power to define the national agenda was limited. According to Kirkland, instead, US Presidents did not formulate legislative proposals and Congress dominated the government. However, F. D. Roosevelt transformed the power of the presidency in 1933 when he made changes which made the President the chief initiator of important legislation. Specifically, this happened when F.D. Roosevelt made an array of legislative proposals as a way of responding to the Great Depression crises, commonly known as first hundred days. Instead of Congress dominating national agenda, Roosevelt’s legislative proposals dominated congressional agenda. F. D. Roosevelt’s amendments redrew the working relationship between the national life and the federal government, in that the latter became increasingly powerful. For instance, in 1935, the federal government accorded unions the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, the right to organize and conduct collective bargaining and a mechanism for setting minimum wages and set the maximum working hours4. Conclusion The foregoing clearly indicates that the powers and roles of the Office of the President are dynamic, with this dynamism being informed by prevailing political and socioeconomic factors in both domestic and foreign affairs. For instance, since World War I strongly indicated to the US, the need to move away from its doctrine of neutrality and non-interference, Woodrow Wilson worked hand-in-hand with the Congress to pass elaborate programs of federal oversight of America’s economy. Banking reforms under the aegis of the Federal System, federal regulation of enterprises, tariff reduction, federal aids for education and agriculture and support for labor laws and collective bargaining materialized under Wilson’s cooperation with the Congress. Presently, opinion is divided over the extent the power of the president should go. Some are convinced that since September 11 Attacks, the immediate former President George W. Bush arrogated the Office of the President too much power. Others are convinced that to win the War on Terror, a powerful president is a prerequisite. This means that power of the Office of the President will increase or decrease in power, or remain the same, depending on prevailing public opinion and collective agreement within the Congress. Works Cited Kirkland, L. Stacey. FDR and the New Deal: Expanding Presidential Power. North Georgia College & State University, 2007. Retrieved from: http://www.thepresidency.org/storage/documents/Calkins/Kirkland.pdf Electronic Tindall, G. Brown & Shi, D. Emory. America: A Narrative History. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 2009. Print Read More