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Essay On Imperial Presidency

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In Imperial Presidency, imperial presidency is defined as constitutional power is upset in favor of presidential power and at the expense of presidential accountability, the presidency can be said to become imperial (Schelesinger 1). Imperial presidency is completely tyrannical and makes this country an authortian state. It goes against what our constiutition intended us to be. There is no longer a checks in power; let alone a democracy. I don’t agree with one sole person having power over this country but I also do not agree with congress making the decisions in a time of crisis. I would propose having a cabinet that the american people choose to overlook the president for foreign matters and crisis. Arguably, we have that concept and it’s …show more content…

Bush. Coincidentally when Congress was out of session, Bush deployed 11,000 troops to overthrow Noriega. His justification? National security and imminent danger. Let’s disregard that deploying that many of our men to overthrow a government is something that should be passed by Congress. An argument that is made is the notion of Congress not having enough time to deliberate and declare war. What if the country is suddenly attacked? Is it fair for the country to sit on their hands and wait for them to make up their minds when action needs to be taken immediately. The argument of a state of emergency is the loophole that the presidents over time have used to their advantage. Schlesinger says of the Cold War-era presidency, “The imperial presidency was essentially the creation of foreign policy. A combination of doctrines and emotions – belief in permanent and universal crisis, fear of communism, faith in the duty and right of the United States to intervene swiftly in every part of the world – had brought about an unprecedented centralization of decisions over war and peace in the presidency.”(Schlesinger 208). Playing to the constant fear of communism emerging after World War II, presidents have used that as enough of a justification to send our troops away. Surpassing congress by saying we were in imminent danger and essentially, what

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In The Rise of the Plebiscitary Presidency, Professor Craig Rimmerman argues against the “plebiscitary presidency”, where the president governs through the direct support of the American people. Rimmerman argues that the Framers of the Constitution assumed that the legislative branch would serve as the central policymaking role. The modern plebiscitary presidency has been shaped by the tremendous amount of personal power drawn from the people through the Supreme Court and Congress. Rimmerman argues that the consequence of a presidentially-centered form of government that Neustadt and other scholars failed to recognize is that presidents will strive to meet the expectations that come with the new presidency to the extreme, where they will exert

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Since its enactment in 1973, The War Powers Resolution has been a point of tension between the executive and legislative branches. It is a resolution that prompts the commander in chief to exercise his war powers “only pursuant to a declaration of war, specific statutory authorization from Congress, or a national emergency created by an attack upon the United States.” It places a set of requirements on the president for the introduction of armed forces into hostilities, including a forty-eight hour period for the notification of congress, and a sixty day period for withdrawal of troops in the absence of a war declaration, with an additional thirty days for the safe removal of troops. It also requires the president to consult with congress when

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Therefore, presidents’ have the power to prevent other branches to refuse his decisions.

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Another instance of imperial presidency took place in the 20th century with president Nixon. On February 22, 1969, the North Vietnamese launched a new offensive against American forces in South Vietnam from their sanctuaries in Cambodia. Instead of ignoring the social situation, Nixon instead went paranoid and took offense to it, launching a plan with his advisor, Henry Kissinger, that would have devastating effects. Nixon abused his power of presidency and launched a nuclear bombing of Cambodia, something that was definitely not under his jurisdiction, but was still a request put to action. These specific examples are just a few where a president in power utilized their war budget powers expansively and did something that would now be considered imperial

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The constitution attempts to evenly distribute powers between the executive and legislative branches of the federal government by providing the president or the commander-in-chief the power to control and supervise the military upon approval by congress, who have the power to declare war and to support the armed forces. The subject of debate regarding the act is whether the president has the authority to send military troops to war without congressional approval. The way the war powers act was written makes it difficult to decipher approximately how much power is the president privileged in the war-making process. According to the constitution congress have the powers to authorize war by formally granting letters that verify and confirm the

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“I can go into my office and pick up the telephone, and in 25 minutes 70 million people will be dead” (Nixon, NY Times). This is what former President, Richard Nixon, said in 1974 about the ease of firing nukes, which if done, sets off alarms about an imperial presidency. An imperial presidency is dangerous because it gives one person the unequivocal power to rule over a country. In the year 2012, Harvard Law professor Jack Goldsmith published a novel called Power and Constraint: The Accountable Presidency After 9/11 about whether or not an imperial presidency is achievable. He states that due to the accountability checks we have on government and the democratic process a 21st-century imperial president could not exist.

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On the other hand, the president picks people to be cabinet members, but they must be approved by the Senate. So unlike the White House Staff, Cabinet members can’t just be anyone, like his closest friends, they must be qualified. An “imperial president” is a term that describes a president who acts in secrecy or without consulting Congress. According to Schlesinger some characteristics that make up and “imperial president” are selective, stubborn and driven.

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