How Did Fdr Build The Power Of The Executive Branch

There are many checks and balances placed upon each of the three government branches. These checks and balances were created to insure that each branch would have nearly equal power. In this way, no branch will be able to rise above the others in power. This system has worked very effectively over the past years, however, there have been several situations over the past years in which this system has been challenged. Leaders of the Executive branch such as William Howard Taft, or Franklin D. Roosevelt have tried to expand the power of the executive branch. When a President oversteps boundaries, the balance of the governmental branches is endangered. So why would these leaders put the citizens in danger? And what do they achieve when the power of the Executive branch is increased?

FDR was able to (very covertly) bring the executive office's power up by lowering the power of the judicial office. He achieved this by passing a bill called the Judicial Procedures Reform Bill in 1937. This bill (better known as the 'court-packing plan') was a legislative initiative that was proposed by FDR to add more justices to the American Supreme Court. FDR's purpose in attempting to pass this bill was to obtain favorable rulings in regards to the New Deal legislation, that the court had originally ruled unconstitutional. FDR pursued the New Deal legislation in an attempt to provide relief, recovery, and reform to the nation during the Great Depression.

The bill would mainly serve to grant the President power to appoint an additional Justice to the U.S. Supreme court, up to a maximum of six, for every court member over the age seventy years and six