Does The Presidency Have Too Much Power Essay

]The Presidency: Too Much Power? Kings, Queens, dictators and tyrants; this was a fear of the American people. The New World was instead built on a democracy with the key executive branch consisting of a president. The president was given power, though few, in fear of a tyrannical leader. Since 1787 the presidency has been under a microscope, and it can be seen the presidency has evolved as the country has; delicately, the constitution was written to allow the presidency to do so. Because the presidency has changed, the president gaining too much power has come into question. While the presidency has gained more power in the past 20-30 years, the president does not have too much power because he was not given very many in the first place,

A key restriction placed upon the presidency was they are only aloud two consecutive terms lasting four years. This was ratified in the constitution as the twenty-second amendment. The purpose of this was to prevent one person from being in office too long resulting in the Americans fear of a tyrannical leader; although there have been presidents such as, Franklin D. Roosevelt who served four terms and did well all the while not becoming a dictator, the new and most of all “free” America did not want to take any more chances: not every president is going to be a FDR. Although the amendment does not solve the issue of the powers of the president broadening with each one as they push the boundaries, it allows assurance that eight years at most can a signal person occupy the presidential position. Considering the twenty-second amendment, the presidency does not have too much

The three branches of government—executive, legislature, and judicial—each keep the others from gaining too much power. The executive branch, consisting of the president, is under deeper scrutiny to make sure the branch does not gain too much power because it consists of one person, while the others consist of 9 to 535 people. Because of this, there are a few main components to keep the president in check. The constitution states that the president has the power to make treaties, however, the senate must approve of the treaty by two-thirds vote. In addition, the constitution also states, all appointments made by the president must be approved by the senate as well by a majority vote. Another power the president has is to veto laws; there is a check afterwards however for congress to override the veto with a two-thirds vote (US Const. Art. II, Sec 2). Also, the addition of the pocket veto was made.-- Because of these checks and balances placed upon the executive branch, the president cannot make illegitimate appointments or treaties without consent of the senate and may have their say on weather a law should not be passed, overruled. Phyllis Naegeli explains that “the president’s powers are limited in the system of checks and balances (“Keeping”). The presidents of the twenty first century does not have too much power because of the checks and balances in the