2- Presidential history

Question 1

What happened to this system since 1787?

Answer 1

Since the adoption of the Constitution in 1787, the system of Checks and Balances although not altered in theory has been transformed in practice

Question 2

Orignally Congress

Answer 2

Congress was originally conceived as the first branch of the federal government and was seen by most as the dominant power in the American system.

Then, with the unfolding of history, the executive branch increasingly asserted itself to become the dominant power in the modern era.

==> concept of “imperial presidency” (cf Arthur Shlesinger).

American presidency = it is a weak power in theory but strong in practice.

Question 3

There are several eras in governmental history but the most relevant distinction for these classes

Answer 3

will be before and after the New Deal.

Question 4

The Constitution when adopted ? how many article ?

Answer 4

7 articles and 27 Amendments
was adopted after a long debate and a great part of it was devoted to the Nature and role of the completely new office, the presidency.

Question 5

Philadelphia convention of 1787 was divided between

Answer 5

Supporters of a strong executive
Supporters of a weak executive

Question 6

why executive created?

Answer 6

In fact, the Executive was created because the Legislative power had proved too weak and inefficient to govern the country under the Articles of Confederation ratified in 1781.

Question 7

Why system of check adn balances

Answer 7

At the same time, many leaders fearing tyranny and dictatorship wanted to divide the power into several branches. Dictatorship was not necessarily executive but it could also result from an abusive legislative government if it was based on a single institution.
So the System of Checks and Balances, dividing powers into 3 branches, the presidency being the only one that had never existed before.

Question 8

efficiency and safety

Answer 8

Two majors consents prevails : efficiency and safety
→ Supporters of a strong executive favoured efficiency
→While their opponents rather stressed the risk of tyranny as they tended to associate the executive branch with their experience of the british monarchy

Question 9

The result of efficiency and safety

Answer 9

The result was a constitution based on a compromise. The main principle was checks and balances / the separation of powers but many important powers were actually shared by executive and legislative branches : war powers, appointment, legislative process etc.

BUT Several phrases in the text were deliberately vague or general so that the constitution could be adjusted to evolution of government in practice. Executive powers in particular were not enumerated in detail unlike the legislative ones and the implication of such function as commander in chief were not here.

Question 10

Position of founding fathers towards presidency & Congress

Answer 10

On the whole most founding fathers initially distrusted the presidency & considered congress as the first and the main branch of government.

Question 11

Alexander Hamilton

Answer 11

Yet from the beginning, prominent leaders such as Alexander Hamilton believed that the executive was bound to lead the nation because it was by essence more dynamic & more action-oriented than the legislature.

+ Some argued that only Congress could decide on neutrality policy. However, Hamilton supported Washington initiative arguing that the Constitution by vesting the Executive power in the Presidency gave broad powers to the president

Question 12

Guerre d’indépendance des États-Unis dates

Answer 12

1775-1783

Question 13

Theory that prevailed through 20th century
BUT

Answer 13

All through the 20th century, theory of congressional / legislative primacy prevailed

BUT a few presidents took historic initiatives that asserted executive authority and set precedents for their successors of the modern era.

Question 14

Neutrality Proclamation & Jay Treaty

Answer 14

Washington raised issues of presidential powers in foreign policy when he issued his Neutrality Proclamation in 1793 and when he refused participation of the House (of representative) in negotiation of Jay Treaty in 1794. It declared the nation neutral in the conflict between France and Great Britain.

Question 15

Jay Treaty : date + what it is exactly

Answer 15

Jay Treaty : November, 19th 1794 it was a Treaty of Amity, Commerce and Navigation between his britannic Majesty and the United States of America.
It Averted war
It resolved issues remaining since the Treaty of Paris (1783, ended the American Revolutionary War)
It facilitated 10 years of peaceful trade between the US and Britain in the midst of the French Revolutionary Wars.

Question 16

Some argued that only Congress could decide on neutrality policy.
What about Hamilton & Maddison ?

Answer 16

Some argued that only Congress could decide on neutrality policy. However, Hamilton supported Washington initiative arguing that the Constitution by vesting the Executive power in the Presidency gave broad powers to the president whereas Maddison argued that the power to decide on war and peace was specifically reserved to Congress.

In the end, Washington and Hamilton prevailed

Question 17

After Washington, several presidents took unilateral decisions in foreign policy whose legitimacy was not questioned.

Answer 17

→ Jefferson for instance, purchased Louisiana without Congressional authorisation in 1803 from France without Congressional authorisation.

→ Monroe issued the Monroe Doctrine in 1823 [It is a principle of US policy originated by President James Monroe in 1823 that any intervention by external powers in the politics of the Americas is a potientally hostile act against the US]

→ Polke (president from 1824-1829) started the Mexican war in 1846 without the declaration of War and then he forced Congress to recognise the State of War. (1846-1848).

Question 18

1828

Answer 18

first election by Universal Sufferage (= White and male).

Question 19

What prevailed in domestic policy ?

Answer 19

In domestic policy however, Congress generally prevailed.

Question 20

Jackson’s presidency marked a turning point :

Answer 20

Jackson’s presidency marked a turning point : his impact was related to the evolution of the Party System as the State gradually abandoned voting restrictions. 1828 was the first election by Universal Sufferage (= White and male). Unlike his predecessors, Jackson could claim popular legitimacy.
==> This tightened the link between the Presidency and the people at the expense of Congress.

+ Then, he was the first president to use his power of veto in an assertive way as an effective means to block legislation he disapproved of.

Question 21

Lincoln & Congress

Answer 21

The next step was taken by Lincoln; he used extraordinary powers without consulting the Congress during the Civil War and even suspended the habeas corpus. He conducted the (civil) war alone for months as commander in chief. He then asked Congress to approve, which it did.
⇒ The Historic ascension of Presidential powers is thus justified by emergency circumstances.

Question 22

20th century paved the way for the modern Presidency : by what this was favoured ?

Answer 22

Then, the turn of the 20th century paved the way for the modern Presidency that change was favoured by the new international context and massive social and economic changes at home.

Question 23

Changes in the turn of 20th for Modern Presidency

Answer 23

→ With the Victory in the Spanish-American War in 1898 Mc Kinley asserted the Presidential authority as the Commander-in-Chief (he was 25th psdt of US from 1897-1901)

→ Then Theodore Roosevelt (26th psdt of the US from 1901-1909) extended his authority in Domestic & Foreign Policy. He appealed to the people to force Congress to pass legislation. This is rhetorical presidency. He proposed a presidential legislative program, this was the beginning of a new era.

→ The trend was confirmed by Wilson’s Presidency. (Woodrow Wilson, 28th President of the United States, 1913-1921). He won exceptional powers during WW1 especially to regulate the economy, he established Press conferences and ensured passages of progressive legislative.

Question 24

With who started the Modern Presidency ?

Answer 24

It started with F.D.R (Franklin Delano Roosevelt) : 32nd president of the US from 1933 to 1945

Question 25

New Deal

Answer 25

FDR’s New Deal between 1933 and 1935 which imposed presidential authority in Government.

It transformed the regime going from Congressional to Presidential Primacy.

Such transformation was made possible by two emerging situations : The Great Depression and WW2

Question 26

After FDR how was considered Presidential power ?

Answer 26

After FDR, the Presidential Power was accepted as a positive good.

Question 27

opinion on presidential power with Truman?

Answer 27

With Truman (33rd Prsdt from 1945 to 1953) and the Cold War consensus emerged about the legitimacy and the necessity of a strong executive to lead the Nation in the modern world.

Question 28

Between WW2 & early 70s : powers of the president

Answer 28

⇒ Between WW2 and the early 70s, the powers of the president kept expanding and politicians, academics and the public all approved of it.

Question 29

Arthur Schlesinger opinion in 50s

Answer 29

Arthur Schlesinger who later criticised the Presidency, by demonstrating how it had become imperial, was an advocate of strong executive powers in the 1950s.

Question 30

Robert Dahl & presidency

Answer 30

Robert Dahl defined the presidency as the representative of the real majority in the country

Question 31

Clinton Rossiter in The American Presidency & role of the President

Answer 31

Clinton Rossiter in The American Presidency published in 1956 described the new role of the President in the modern era with enthusiastic terms. He defined the modern President as Commander-in-Chief, diplomat, chief-executive, legislative leader and opinion leader.

Question 32

Richard Neustadt’s Presidential Powers : the politics of leadership published in 1960.

Answer 32

He argued that the American system of government was based on shared powers but that for Modern Government to be effective, the President had to struggle for power and was forced to use all possible means to persuade all other actors to do what he wanted.

⇒ In other words, Neustadt thesis was a modern variation of Hamilton’s doctrine of an “energetic executive”

Question 33

Vietnam War

Answer 33

(1955-1975)percieved as President Johnson‘s war : Lindon B. Johnson (36th psdt of US from 1963-1969)

Question 34

Watergate Scandal

Answer 34

in 1972-1974 which affected Nixon (president from 1965-1974) : he resigned because of it. [The Nixon administration (= republican) was accused on spying on their opponents (=democrats) : cameras & mics were put in a building were they had their meetings.)

Question 35

Result of Vietnam War + watergate scandal in 1973 :

Answer 35

⇒ The result was that by 1973 Presidential power had lost its prestige and it was deemed dangerous. 1973 is also the year of the Publication of Shlesinger’s book The Imperial Presidency.
⇒ Nixon’s presidency marked the end of the Consensus on the Presidency.

Question 36

Since 1973 & Executive Branch

Answer 36

Since 1973 The Actual power of the Executive Branch has not been curbed (=restrained). It is indeed still dominant in the current system BUT people have been divided as the debate over Checks and Balances has been revived.

Question 36

What marked Nixon’s presidency ?

Answer 36

⇒ Nixon’s presidency marked the end of the Consensus on the Presidency.

Question 36

Debate over checks & balances since 1973 : 3 opinions

Answer 36

→ Critics of Presidential Power argue that the modern presidency undermines checks and balances and jeopardises democracy.

→ Advocates of Presidential Power claim Presidential prerogatives are a necessity in the Contemporary World.

→ Most recent scholars try to offer a balanced view on the issue of legitimacy but most agree on the fact that the Presidency is the strongest power today

Question 37

study of the Modern Presidency up to 1985, Theodore Lowi

Answer 37

In his study of the Modern Presidency up to 1985, Theodore Lowi traces the emergence of what he calls the “plebiscitary presidency”. He argues that the major development of the Modern Era has been a personnalisation of the presidency through the creation of a direct relationship between the President and the people at the expense of Congress and parties.

YET he shows that such a relationship condemns the President to failure as it is impossible for a President to meet expectations in the modern context. He is bound to become alienated from the Public who elect him.

Question 38

Skowronek & historic perspective on history

Answer 38

the modern Presidency is not fundamentally different from the previous regimes. He demonstrates that whatever the eras, the President has always been a dynamic, transformative and disruptive power in the American system of Governement.

⇒ By studying the actions of key-president in relation to their context he shows that the essential role of the President is to shatter (=destroy) the existing order before creating a new one. This is the criterium to define a sucessful presidency.

Question 39

Rudalevige, The New Imperial Presidency

Answer 39

Finally, in The New Imperial Presidency published in 1985,Rudalevige examines the resurgence of the Imperial Presidency in the Modern post Watergate Era.