Presidential Roles

We as everyday citizens hold many roles and are subject to many different responsibilities in our professional and private lives. Therefore it makes sense that the responsibilities of those who hold public office would be increased in quantity and in virtue of their importance. The highest executive office in our government is that of the president, consequently the elected incumbent is the leader of our nation and holds some of the most important roles and responsibilities of any elected official. The disparate roles of the presidency historically has, and have the potential to and both add or detract from the Madisonian model. The powers of the incumbent president both formal and expressed filter through the operational system of checks

As the leader of their political party the president appoints members of their party to leadership positions of agencies. While this strategy may be effective if the congressional majority is the party of the president. Due to the tendency of the majority party in congress to shift to the opposing party of any two term president in what is called a wave election the party leadership approach to government is only effective for certain periods of time. The mobilizing of public opinion falters similarly to that of the party leadership strategy as presidents most often become less popular and have lower approval ratings the longer they remain in office. The most consistently effective approach is the utilization of administrative strategies. Strategies such as regulatory review where in the president can review the rules required to be enacted by the federal agencies and make suggestions or even order the adoption of particular rules, prove to be effective often due to the ability of the agency to take credit for the legislation if public opinion is positive or place blame upon the incumbent in the case of the legislation being viewed negatively. Amongst the most important administrative strategies is the executive order which is used to push major policies that would otherwise be difficult to pass through congress. Executive orders differ from executive actions which are often regarded on the state level as suggestive and not necessarily enforced. Executive orders have been responsible for some very historically important legislation and policies such as the Louisiana Purchase ordered by Tomas Jefferson, the Emancipation of Slaves under Lincoln, and the interning of Japanese Americans during world war two ordered by Franklin D. Roosevelt executive orders have produced some of America’s greatest triumphs and