Constitutional Power Vs Presidential Power

Inevitable Power Shifts Today, a consensus exists that revolves around the idea that the President of the United States is the most powerful person in the world. However, the Founding Fathers never intended for the President to seem or have so much power. They intended for the powers to be separate but equal between the President and Congress. In terms of constitutional power, the President’s power actually comes across as quite weak. To better understand, the constitutional powers granted to the President include veto power, command of the armed forces, convene or adjourn Congress, appoint ambassadors, nominate judges and justices, and recognize other countries ("The Evolution of the Presidency"). But in reality, the President’s power extends

The President’s informal powers have grown and over recent decades, Congress has seceded power to the President in reaction to several different factors such as the changes in the media, the need for the quick decisive decisions, and the increase of social and economic environments. A few past Presidents have stood out for their influence in changing the balance of power between the executive branch and Congress. One of them notably being Franklin Roosevelt due to his New Deal policies that contributed to the increased powers of the President. Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal policies were in reaction to the Great Depression. Prior presidencies felt that the economy operated on a laissez-faire scheme (Bateman, 2005). That means that the economic challenges faced by the country were natural and not the responsibility of the federal government to fix. When Franklin Roosevelt took office in 1933 he set out to combat the economic environment of the time through intense legislation that was unlike any other President before (Bateman, 2005). His New Deal policies that went outside the realm of constitutional powers ultimately saved the economy and turned the President into the nation’s hero. Not only did Franklin Roosevelt increase the power

FDR’s actions in response to the crisis of the Great Depression is an example of this among others. Another example includes the creation of the National Defense Council in 1916. At the time, the United States was confronted with its first industrialized war. This meant there was knowledge and strategy needed to organize and orchestrate things revolving around logistics, transportation, raw materials, labor, industry, food, and medicine. These were things that were too complex for Congress to deal with under intense pressure due to limited time. The National Defense Council was a group formed to advise the President of how to manage these different components. It was made up by experts of executive departments and showed to be an effective advisory group. However, once the war was over, Congress felt the council would shift the balance of power between the President and Congress and the council was disbanded. But after WWII, the President pleaded that times had changed and circumstances had evolved that the Founders didn’t anticipate and therefore the President needed professional help especially in terms of dealing with sudden crises and foreign policy. This lead to the creation of the Executive Office of the President. These people work directly under the President and are not under control of Congress. The Executive Office of the President