The President of the United States is often described as ôthe most powerful man on earthö or ôthe leader of the free world,ö yet his office is an 18th century invention still bound by rules and conventions that date back more than 100 years. The modern status of the U.S. President reflects the office's transformation from a somewhat ceremonial post to a much more substantive role. This paper will examine the Presidency and explore whether the office has successfully evolved as the U.S. enters the 21st century.
After gaining independence from Britain in 1783, the 13 former colonies organized their national government based on the Articles of Confederation, which proved to be an abject failure as the constitution. The Articles of Confederation failed in large part because they did not include any executive power (not surprising, considering the colonies' experience with King George III) and because they conferred no real power upon the legislature. The framers of the U.S. Constitution sought to remedy those defects by erecting a national government with defined authority. Moreover, they had learned from the states that a government solely comprised of a legislature proved unworkable. An executive branch would have to be included in the new government.
To achieve their goal of conferring power while also limiting it, the framers created a system of checks and balances among three branches of government (legislative, executive, and judicial). Nonetheless, they still viewed the legislative body (Congress) as the most powerful. ôThe [f]ramers believed that Congress would predominate over the President to such an extent that the executive, which was naturally weak in a republican government, had to be 'fortified.'ö
This fortification amounted to a series of limits on Congress. The framers divided Congress into two bodies (the Senate and the House of Representatives) with different terms (six years for the Senate and ...