Unit 2 Question 3- 2012-13 3.

The office of the president was to a degree invented and made potentially strong as a counterweight to the excesses of legislative bodies. This was a large new grant of power, a new office, unlike anything before in republican government.* What was new or different about the office of president devised at the Philadelphia Convention? In what ways did the office of president differ from that of consuls, kings, royal governors, or prime ministers? How did the Framers try to achieve a balance between an energetic executive and limited government? 1. What ideas did they borrow from the English government in establishing the office of the president? 2. Article II, Section 1, gives the president executive power but does not define what that power is. What other provisions in Article II give an indication of what the Framers meant by executive power? 3. In what ways did the office of president similar to that of consuls, kings, royal governors, or prime ministers? 4. What examples have there been of energetic executives in history? a. Andrew Jackson was the first president to make extensive use of the veto. b. Abraham Lincoln got more power as commander-in-chief during Civil War. c. Teddy Roosevelts power grew at an even faster clip during the great depression. d. Authorization for Use of Military Force against Terrorists passed after 911 gave the President more authority to exercise his constitutional powers as Commander in Chief. 5. How does the office of the president today compare to the one the framers envisioned? 6. 7. How well does the system of checks on the president work today? Has Congress relinquished too much power to the President? Yes, the presidents power has grown over how it should be. A good example of such growth was that, as the U.S. Supreme Court explained in Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, Presidential Commander in Chief power increase when Congressional intent supports the actions taken by the Commander in Chief. 8. What are the advantages and disadvantages of having the president chosen by the people rather than by the legislature? 9. Why has the power of the president grown over time? In particular period of time, the government needs rapid decision-making to deal with the problem in a timely manner. Obviously the Congress can not reach such requirement by time-consuming voting so the president becomes the only effective way to

execute rapidly. A good example is that during the great depression and World War 2, FDRs power grew over that of the Congress to make the New Deal for the benefit of the country. Another example is after September 11 Attack, the Congress passed the Authorization for Use of Military Force against Terrorists which gave the president more authority to act as Commander in Chief, in order to rapidly strengthen the national defense.