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Presidents and Power: Expansion or abuse?. The Expansion of Power for the Office of the Presidency and the Implications for American Democracy…. Establishing foreign policy.
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Presidents and Power: Expansion or abuse? The Expansion of Power for the Office of the Presidency and the Implications for American Democracy…
Establishing foreign policy • The President of the United States has broad powers to establish foreign policy for the nation. With less consequential matters, the President is allowed to create “executive agreements” with foreign nations. • The President is also able to negotiate more formal treaties with foreign nations. Treaties, however, require ratification from the United States Senate.
Establishing foreign policy Usually, once the President or his Secretary of State has negotiated a treaty with a foreign nation, there is pressure for the Senate to ratify the treaty. Occasionally, however, the Senate refuses to go along. For instance, the Treaty of Versailles, negotiated by Woodrow Wilson, failed to gain ratification from the Senate!
EXECUTIVE Privilege When the President invokes the right of executive privilege, he or she claims the right to keep some information secret from Congress and the Courts. Generally, the national security of the United States must be at stake for the President to invoke executive privilege. Richard Nixon is notorious for having invoked executive privilege to cover up the crimes he committed during the Watergate Scandal of the 1970s.
Presidential authority There have been many instances in American History when the President decided to act unilaterally – without the permission of the Congress – in order to preserve or protect the nation. In 1894, President Grover Cleveland intervened to end the Pullman Strike, because felt that the railroad unions were disrupting trade and preventing the delivery of the US Mail. In 1962, President John F. Kennedy negotiated a deal with Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev to remove missiles from Cuba in exchange for a pledge by the United States to never again invade the island. In 2001, President George Bush acted decisively to strike out against the terrorist group Al-Qaeda after attacks against the World Trade Centers, the Pentagon, and Shanksville, PA were carried out.
The Louisiana Territory Thomas Jefferson had grave reservations about purchasing the Louisiana Territory – mostly because he believed that he did not have the power under the Constitution to purchase land for the United States of America.
Truman and the steel Mills, the Korean War, 1952 During the Korean War, steel workers walked out on strike, demanding higher wages and improved safety conditions in the mills. Because the steel mills were so important to the Korean War effort, Truman ordered the government to take over the mills. He believed that he was authorized to do so as Commander-in-Chief in order to protect American troops in Korea. The Supreme Court, however, did not agree!
The watergate Scandal Richard Nixon paid common criminals to break into the Democratic National Convention Headquarters in Washington, D.C., and then lied about it before the Congress. He was about to be impeached – and would certainly have been removed from office – when he decided to resign from office. Gerald Ford ascended to the Presidency. The prestige and honor of the Presidency was at an all time low then Nixon resigned and President Ford had to pardon him.
