The American Presidency

Overview

Every good Civics student knows the U.S. Constitution sets up a system of representative government with three separate branches: legislative, executive and judicial. The intent was to have each branch manage a particular portion of the government. Article II of the constitution gives a brief and limited outline of the powers of the president of the United States. Several powers are clearly enumerated, such as Chief of State, Chief Executive, Commander-in-Chief and Chief Diplomat. Many other duties have been added through the course of 44 presidents and are considered roles of tradition. I wonder if the average American stops to consider how one person takes on so much responsibility? They will when the election nears.

In recent years the American President has become Chief of the Party, Voice of the People, Protector of the Peace, Manager of Prosperity and World Leader. In The American Presidency, Clinton Rossiter sees these added roles as in competition or conflict with each other. ¹ According to Rossiter, "he is all these things all the time, and any one of his functions feeds upon and into the others." ² So, the modern American President must balance Commander-in-chief with Protector of the Peace. This task has become much more daunting in the atomic age and throughout the Cold War.

Woodrow Wilson reminded us in 1885, long before he reached the presidency,that "the Constitution in operation is manifestly a different thing from the Constitution of the books." And nowhere is this more visible than in the area of presidential power. ³

As public school teachers, we struggle to cover content and develop life skills in a time equivalent to the average sit-com. Students study the seven roles of the president in Civics and connect the theory to practice in 11th grade United States History. In past years I have led my students through an exercise where they rate the presidents based on criteria they develop. Students consider character, morals, leadership traits, and military experience. One area that seems to carry more weight is "ability to act in a crisis" and ultimately strengthen the executive office. No one event can make a president more popular than war, especially when he wins.

When Americans criticize the government, the president is the one person open to attack since most people closely associate the executive branch with the power of the United States government. The question of power in the American political system is often taught through separation of powers and checks and balances. The reality is that we have elected 43 men to the highest office in the land and each has conducted the executive branch according to their own interpretation of the Constitution. The White House website lists head of state, head of government and Commander-in-Chief several times before explaining specifics.

"To whom belong the powers of war and peace? The question has divided American from almost the moment the Constitution was ratified." ⁴ There was much debate at the Constitutional Convention regarding the nature of the presidency, but few arguments over who would control the military. Commander-in-Chief was clearly given to the executive. It was colonial custom to endow the governor with commander in chief powers. ⁵ Despite the fear of making the executive too powerful, most Founders agreed the system of checks and balances would keep one man from using the military for his own gain.

This unit will guide students in 11th grade through an examination of the powers of the executive branch with careful analysis of the president's war powers. Primary documents are used to set up arguments for and against the expansion of presidential prerogative. The spirit of the Common Core Standards for Language Arts and Social Studies is conveyed via rigorous document analysis, a close reading of the U.S. Constitution and skill building in line with the Advanced Placement program. The hope is to persuade public school students to gain an interest in the military actions of presidents since the passage of the War Powers Act in 1973. Comparing Barack Obama to other presidents allows students to participate in our democratic traditions while formulating their own opinion about the balance of power in our Republic.