The role of the president was quite limited in the early years. The constitution gave the Congress more power in many ways, and even the means of the president of checking the Congress, like the veto, were used rarely (Sunstein, 1993). For instance, Washington utilized the veto tow times, while Jefferson and Adams never used this power. There were some presidents, like Lincoln and Jackson, who exercised more power, though, the role of the president in people’s life was limited by the late 1800s.
However, during the nineteenth and twentieth-century presidents started to expand their roles vastly. They achieved this by advocating for a progressive agenda (Milner, 2015). There were instances where the presidents displayed a strong assertion of leadership. For instance, the presidential power was boosted by Andrew Jackson when he recruited his bureaucracy through the spoils system. During the Civil War Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus as well as some constitutional rights (Milner, 2015). Lincoln also expanded his power in the army where he increased the size of the military and also ordered blockades of southern ports without approval from the Congress. Another change was the manipulation of today’s media which was foreshadowed by Theodore Roosevelt where he utilized the White House as a “bully pulpit.”
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The modern presidency, however, was launched by Franklin Roosevelt where he pushed through some reforms to bring out the nation out of the Great Depression. The President was also obliged by the Congress, creating executive departments as well as agencies to deal with the government programs that were exploding. Also, numerous presidents conducted foreign wars in the twentieth century without congressional approval. Some of the battles undertaken without congressional approval include World War I, World War II, and the Mexican-American War. Because of the increased willingness of the presidents to conduct war without getting approvals from the Congress, War Powers Resolution was made 1973 where the ability of the president to lead wars without permission from the Congress was approved (Sunstein, 1993). This resolution showed the president powers in the twentieth century had increased.
References
Milner, J. (2015). Evolution of the President. [Online]. Available at: https://www.slideshare.net/milnerj/growth-of-presidency-50602244. Accessed 1st Sep 2018 .
Sunstein, C. (1994). Changing the Constitutional Powers of the American President Feature: Forum: The Evolving Presidency in Eastern Europe. [Online]. Available at: https://chicagounbound.uchicago.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=12202&context=journal_articles . Accessed 1st Sep 2018.
