Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Presidency: too powerful or too weak?

"In the light of the nation's experience over recent decades, has the presidency grown too powerful or too weak?"

Over recent decades, many things have changed for our nation. We are now involved in a war over seas, we were attacked on American soil, 24 hour cable news is now available, cell phones and laptops are now a common place rather that a rarity and environmental issues have taken a priority. As the the role of the President, I don;t think it has changed much.

The President has a very difficult job, but in past decades I don't think is level of power has changed much. He may be expressing them more, but i don't think his level of power has changed very much. The purpose of the Constitution was not just to grant powers to people but to keep things from getting out of hand.

When the Constitution was written things like nuclear weapons, biological warfare, and other weapons of mass destruction were unheard of. The couldn't for see all that America has grown into with is economics and largely growing population. In a sense, the President has grown more powerful in the past few decades, but I think it is in moderation, keeping up with the ever changing circumstances of our country. The founding fathers could never imagine going into a country and being able to destroy it with nuclear weapons when all they had was a few hundred cannons.

In recent years, the Presidency has grown stronger, but I believe it is all in moderation. The President should be strong and powerful considering he is the leader of our country. He is the one that makes quick decisions when the nation is in an emergency. In the olden days, the army could only move as fast as their horse, now they could be in action as soon as the president declares an emergency. The president does have the most power, but 99% of the time, things pass threw Congress first. The 435 people in the House and 100 in he Senate all give guidance but the President does have the final say.

The president is elected on the votes of the people. He represents the whole county and whether you like him a lot he is the person 'running' the country and should be respected. The president may have gained more power in recent decades but I don't think the Presidency has grown too powerful.


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