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The President of the United States has five major roles within his job. These include being the Commander in Chief, Chief Diplomat, Chief Executive, Legislative Leader, and the Opinion/Party Leader. The Commander in Chief is the role with the most power, it is the most visible role, and it commands the most respect from other institutions of government. The Commander in Chief is the nations highest military leader and is the only role named in Article II of the Constitution. The commander in chief and his closest advisors are the only relevant decision makers with our nations military, not Congress. Congress has declared only five wars since our nations birth compared to presidents have waged over 250 undeclared wars.
In the Constitutional Framers minds the role of commander in chief was little more than a military title. Article II, Section 2 of the Constitution states that the president was to be Commander in Chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States. But the meaning was still uncertain because it did not spell out what a commander could do in times of peace and war. Today a commander can decide if and when troops are deployed in a crisis and determine troop strength, call up reservists and the National Guard, formulate air, sea, and ground strategies for war, commit U. S. troops to battle for whatever duration, and specify when the war will end all without a declaration of war.
The role of Chief Diplomat is the second most powerful role of the President. This role allows presidents to define our nations relationship with other countries. Foreign affairs is considered to be more important than domestic policy by many presidents. This role decides what American diplomats and ambassadors will say to foreign countries, makes treaties and executive agreements with foreign nations, takes part in international conferences, proposes foreign aid agreements, tariff, and international monetary policy. The role of Chief Executive involves the complex and ongoing relations of the president with his staff, the federal bureaucracy, and domestic policy making. The president is expected to manage a bureaucracy, supervise subordinates, and implement public policies, yet he has little constitutional authority to carry out such duties.
Presidential authority as chief executive is found in two clauses of Article II, namely, one specifying that the executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America and another stating that the president has the responsibility to take care that the laws can be faithfully executed. The President as the Chief Executive enforces laws, court decisions, and treaties, nominates Cabinet officers, court justices, and other officials, assumes emergency powers, grants reprieves, pardons, or amnesty, and issues executive orders (orders that are followed without being passed by Congress). The role of Chief Executive has been important since our first President. Washington brought together the first cabinet and settled many of the issues that were precedent in the new country. The role of Legislative Leader implies that the president has a policy relationship with Congress. Presidency scholars have suggested that virtually all presidents who have made a major impact on American history have done so in great degree as legislative leaders.
The president may veto important acts of Congress, or refuse to appoint persons having legislative support to administrative positions, or neglect to consult with representatives on policy issues. The president has the authority to influence and participate in the legislative process. While members of Congress can introduce and vote on legislation in the House and Senate, the President plays an important role in setting legislative priorities through inaugural addresses and State of the Union addresses. The President has the Constitutional authority to veto any legislation the Congress passes. Because a two-thirds majority vote in each house is required to override a veto and pass a bill over the Presidents objections, the President can use the threat of veto to influence the legislative process. The President can call Congress into special session on extraordinary occasions although this is rarely done.
Thomas Jefferson was the first President to exert recognized leadership in Congress. To do so he had to create a party by assisting in the election of Jeffersonian-Republicans to Congress and once elected maintain the constant contacts with his congressional supporters to assure acceptance of his proposals. The role of Opinion/Party leader is the last of the five roles. Many argue that only the president and vice president are elected by the entire nation and only they are not a Congress elected from 435 House districts and 50 states, can claim a popular mandate to govern.
Andrew Jackson was our original party leader as president. He was president at a time when presidential politics reached the average man and saw political parties strengthened. In 1831 Jackson was the first President to be nominated by the prototype of the modern party convention. Jackson was a tribune for public opinion, as both the peoples educator and defender.
He used patronage to build his political base and help restore faith in government. Woodrow Wilson was another president who relied heavily on his party to rally public opinion. Wilson wanted to strengthen both political parties, believing that presidential power is greatest when the chief executive asserts leadership derived from his party and the public. The opinion / party leadership role is the weakest of all presidential roles. Presidents who are or have been able to sustain high popularity and good press relations are few in number, Kennedy and Reagan, and at times even these masters of public relations stumbled. Bibliography:
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Research essay sample on Commander In Chief President Of The United States
