Presidency in the U.S Introduction The U.S. presidency has always been considered as the highest political office that any person can hold. It comes with an extremely large amount of powers and allows an individual to run the affairs of the United States in a way that no other individual can. While in other countries the presidency is considered more of a ceremonial office, the U.S. presidency olds a lot of vested powers. Over the years, several changes have been made to the presidency. These changes have been focused on making this powerful seat, an opportunity for the elected leader to serve the people. In addition, presidents have come to the seat with their own leadership style. This has subjected the American citizenry to a variety of …show more content…
A president is expected to serve as a symbol of unity in the nation as well as a legislative leader for the enactment of laws that meet the needs of the American populace. Few holders of the office have been able to hold these two roles without conflict. Notably, the Roosevelt as well as the Jefferson presidencies was able to manipulate these roles appropriately. However, other presidents such as John F. Kennedy struggled with the duality of the Presidency (Schlesinger 65). He was powerful as a uniting force for the American people, but this is where his capabilities ended. It was notably difficult for him to enact laws to govern different aspects of the American living. The Johnson presidency was opposite of this. With the enactment of important laws such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Johnson was seen as a powerful legislator. However, it is difficult to pinpoint the success of Johnson as a symbol of unity for the …show more content…
However, some of these challenges have been dismissed as part of the growth process for a democracy. One of the significant challenges was the development of the political party system that created an enormous upheaval in the election structure. The conflict between John Adams as the president and Thomas Jefferson as the vice president was notably one of the greatest challenges to constitutional governance in the U.S. Jefferson did little to support the presidency. On the contrary, he worked against it creating unprecedented conflict (Schlesinger 65). During the 1800 elections, more problems were witnessed in the voting system creating even more problems for the political class in the U.S. As a way to mitigate the problems witnessed between Jefferson and Adams, political parties nominated presidential as well as vice presidential candidates. However, there were no clear notes on which candidate served which
The President of the United States is instrumental in the running of the country. He serves as the chief executive, chief diplomat, commander in chief, chief legislator, chief of state, judicial powers, and head of party. Article II of the Constitution states that the President is responsible for the execution and enforcement of the laws created by Congress. He also is tasked with the authority to appoint fifteen leaders of the executive departments which will be a part of the President’s cabinet. He or she is also responsible for speaking with the leaders the CIA and other agencies that are not part of his cabinet because these agencies play a key role in the protection of the US. The President also appoints the heads of more than 50 independent
Examining the conceptualizations and theories of Neustadt and Skowronek’s in comparative perspective, this essay makes the principal argument that both of these theories only represent partial explanations of how success and efficiency is achieved in the context of the Presidency. With Neustadt focusing saliently on the President’s micro-level elite interactions and with Skowronek adopting a far more populist and public opinion-based framework, both only serve to explain some atomistic facets of the Presidency. As such, neither is truly collectively exhaustive, or mutually exclusive of the other, in accounting for the facets of the Presidency in either a modern day or historical analytical framework. Rather, they can best be viewed as complementary theories germane to explaining different facets of the Presidency, and the different strengths and weaknesses of specific Administrations throughout history.
As the President of the United States, a president have powers that other members of the government do not. Presidential power can be defined in numerous ways. Political scientists Richard Neustadt and William Howell give different views on what is presidential power. These polarized views of presidential powers can be used to compare and contrast the presidencies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
Of the most powerful people in the world, the President of the United States of America hits the top of the list. Even though the policy agendas that presidents set as they take office often go unfulfilled, the office of President is still one of the most envied spots to have. But why could this be? It is because the United States is the most powerful nation in the world and with the President as the leader, he is said to have the most power in the world ("Top Ten Most Powerful Countries in the World"). With power comes responsibility and with this position he must govern a country while abiding by the rules.
The summer of 1964, President Lyndon Baines Johnson finally decided to sign the Civil Rights Act. This bill permitted people of all races and skin tones to be free from segregation. It promised the extension on voting rights, stronger equal employment opportunities, and guaranteed all Americans the right to use public facilities such as schools, restaurants and swimming pools (Politics or Principle 405). Many Americans questioned if the true decision behind President Johnson signing the civil rights act of 1964 was political or principle. I strongly believe Johnson signed it in a principle matter due to seeing different perspectives in living with prejudice, he would do anything to get the bill signed and he was finally free from the South's persuasive bonds.
The most important expansion of the power of the presidency happened during the Jackson administration. When Jackson used the veto power of the president to influence legislation as a matter of policy and not constitutionality he arguably altered the balance of power between the legislative and executive branches. This shift in power resulted in presidents being able to dictate with the threat of a veto the way congress writes laws. This set a precedent for future presidents to push legislation such as "The New Deal", "The Fair Deal", and "a Great Society" all of which are presidential proposals.
This book follows Johnsons political career, from a eager hard-working congressional secretary to the landslide victor of the 1964 presidential election. It discusses his "liberal" political views, It seems as though Johnson thought he could help the American people single-handedly and he seemed determined to do it. Johnson is He is praised for his vast legislative record and his stand on poverty and eventually, civil rights. He is criticized for his methods and
When Johnson took over the Presidency following the assassination of Kennedy, he was determined to push through the Great Society agenda. President Johnson used the recent death as a reason to quickly enact laws for social reform in memory of Kennedy. Despite Republican opposition, Johnson was able to get the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 passed through congress,
...ights for African Americans as well as a political rights for the people, his goal was to abolish slavery and felt that “all men created equally” should uphold for everybody, everybody that was man at least. Johnson the president, in the beginning proved to be loyal to his radicals by chastising the confederacy making sure there would be repercussions for their actions. Also his amnesty plan to reinstate the south states was far harsher than that of Lincoln's. Johnson’s sanctions deprived confederacy officers, people in high power, and anyone who owned valuable assets could be subject to confiscation. The purpose was to shift political power in south and reward it to freed blacks and white southerners who stayed neutral during the war. Hahn states in his article that, “During reconstruction, black men held political offices in every state of the former confederacy”
He was also a huge factor in helping abolish discrimination. By signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Johnson made it clear that discrimination in the United States was coming to an end. Then, he signed the Voting Rights Act, which gave all Americans the right to vote regardless of a person’s race, a person’s color, or a person’s knowledge. After that, he abolished the poll tax which stated that citizens no longer had to pay a tax to go to the polls and vote for a president. He was also the president during the Vietnam War.
Political scientists have continually searched for methods that explain presidential power and success derived from using that power effectively. Five different approaches have been argued including the legal approach, presidential roles approach, Neustadtian approach, institutional approach, and presidential decision-making approach. The legal approach says that all power is derived from a legal authority (U.S. Constitution). The presidential roles approach contends that a president’s success is derived from balancing their role as head of state and head of government. The Neustadtian approach contends that “presidential power is the power to persuade“ (Neustadt, p. 11). The institutional approach contends that political climate and institutional relations are what determines presidential power. The last approach, decision-making, provides a more psychological outlook that delves into background, management styles, and psychological dispositions to determine where a president’s idea of power comes from. From all of these, it is essential to study one at a time in order to analyze the major components of each approach for major strengths and weaknesses.
In 1960 on July 13th Johnson was nominated for President of the United States by Sam Rayburn, a Speaker of the House of Representatives. On November 8th Johnson was elected Vice President of the United States and was re-elected to his third term in the United States Senate. On November 22nd, Johnson had become the 36th President of the United States after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas. Due to all the aftershock of Kennedy’s death, Johnson was given a climate that gave him the opportunity to finish the unfinished work of Kennedy’s New Frontier. Once Johnson became President a couple of very important pieces of legislation were passed. The first was the Civil Rights Bill that Kennedy had promised to sign. The second was the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. Johnson also did great things involving the Vietnam war, the Dominican Republic, He passed the Higher Education Act, Johnson also worked on the Elimination of Poverty and Stopping racial injustice. Johnson often was noticed as an ambitious, tireless, and imposing figure. He was ruthlessly effective at getting legislation passed. Johnson usually worked a number of 18 to 20 hour days with no break and usually was always absent of any leisure activities.
Jefferson was elected to be president in 1800. His opponents during the electoral run were Adams, the second president who was a Federalist, and Burr, a fellow Democratic-Republican. The Federalists had...
Understanding and evaluating presidents’ performance often poses challenges for political experts. The nation votes one president at the time and each presidency faces different tests. The environments surrounding a presidency have a tremendous impact on the success and failure of that presidency. In addition, the president exercises his power through a check and balance system embody in the Constitution. As stated in (Collier 1959), the Constitution created a government of “separated institutions sharing power.” As a result, a president works with others institutions of the government to shape the nation’s agenda. Thus, determining a presidential performance becomes difficult, especially when it comes to comparing the performance among presidencies.
Richard E. Neustadt, the author of Presidential Power, addresses the politics of leadership and how the citizens of the United States rate the performance of the president's term. We measure his leadership by saying that he is either "weak or "strong" and Neustadt argues that we have the right to do so, because his office has become the focal point of politics and policy in our political system. Neustadt brings to light three main points: how we measure the president, his strategy of presidential influence, and how to study them both. Today we deal with the President himself and his influence on government action. The president now includes about 2000 men and women, the president is only one of them, but his performance can not be measured without focusing on himself.