Essay Sample on The President as Chief Executive

The president of the United States has four roles to ensure safety and enforce rules of the country. The Chief Executive role in the Constitution states: “He shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.” (Article II Section III, 1787). This role is protected under the Necessary and Proper Clause because it allows the President to justify their power using executive orders, quick action, or any Executive action that might be seen as unjust or on a whim. Powers given to the President are to ensure they have the materials and ability to execute their authority appropriately. The  growth of Presidential Power as an imperial presidency occurs when powers beyond the bounds of the Constitution of the United States are relied upon. As the United States continues to advance as a considerable world power, the presidency constantly seizes an increasing amount of powers in spite of the Constitution. Former president of the United States, Donald Trump should be categorized as an imperial president because he did not justifiably and reasonably orchestrate all of his presidential powers highlighted in the Constitution for the greater good of not only the American people but individuals in the middle east and north africa during his time in office. This can be seen by examining his participation in executive branch lawyering, usage of bully pulpit, and the manipulation of the Take Care Clause.

Former President Trump did partake in executive branch lawyering, where presidents build power by appointing family and loyal individuals into White House Staff roles. Amid a White House briefing, Trump explained that he might “adjourn Congress and appoint his nominees for administrative positions” ( John Nichols,2020). He goes on to say “I have very strong power”  (Donald Trump,2020). Donald Trump did in fact have very strong power, seeing as though his wife, Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner were both appointed and served as cabinet members in 2017. Donald Trump’s “Attorney General, William Barr’s, son-in-law Tyler McGaughey held an attorney position in the White House and Barr’s daughter, Mary Daly, held a position within the Treasury Department” (Devon Link, 2017). This example of nepotism allows greater power granted to a president because the positions appointed by the President have the power to tell the President what to do. When the people in these powerful positions are your own blood there are no boundaries being set to prevent an overload of power in the hands of the President. 

The expansion of executive power is accessible in many different forms. In this case former President Trump used the media’s national coverage as a bully pulpit to spread his political promises and beliefs. This created backlash due to what he openly expressed. One of his ideals expressed to the media via speech, is his objective to furfill his 2016 campaign committment to deminish illegal immigration and to reform the legal immigration system. He mentioned enforcement attempts from inside the country which were to include raids to expose undocumented individuals for deportation. During these allegations, Trump claimed the individuals migrating are “bringing their problems with us. They're bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people'' (Lee, 2015). This caused outrage stemming from mass amounts of people for his feelings towards these illegal individuals seeking asylum. A law school professor that was in favor of Trump’s impeachment stated, "Trump abused the bully pulpit to intimidate witnesses, bully people and spread disinformation" (Michael Gerhardt, 2019). This is just one of many  illustrations of how Donald Trump tended to use media exposure to spread prejudice and misinformation to the masses.

Constitutional Indeterminacy is a vague and nonspecific text commonly interpreted from the Constitution for presidents to efficiently obtain powers even if they are deemed questionable to the Constitution. Trump used this method of expanding presidential powers through signing 220 executive orders during his presidency. On January 27,2017 former President Donald Trump signed an executive order for the purpose of temporarily banning the entrance of refugees from a handful of Middle Eastern countries to protect the U.S from terrorism. This ban included visa suspension , travelers, and individuals with Green Cards legally living in the U.S. were also restricted. After many blocks and restrictions from many different levels of court, the ban was ultimately eroded to the point where,after an agreement, the U.S Government began processing all the refugees again. According to an article published by “BBC News,” President trump violated the 1965 Immigration and Nationaliy Act which states that “no person could be "discriminated against in the issuance of an immigrant visa because of the person's race, sex, nationality, place of birth or place of residence". Written in the article explains why he dishonored this act: “So, the exclusion of all Syrians would be enough to challenge Mr Trump in court. The fact that they are all Muslim countries lends weight to the critics's argument that the order is "anti-Muslim". Former president Trump upheld a substantial amount of power by signing this order with the stroke of his pen. Signing an executive order allows the president to bypass congress when pushing a rule. While this is common for all presidents, the public and courts alike question whether or not an executive order is necessary. 

While some would argue that during his reign, former president Donald Trump ran the country as an imperial president because of the decisions he made as well as how he acted in order to increase his power as an already prominent figurehead. However, when one considers his campaign goals and how his decisions coincided with them, it is apparent that Trump devoted his presidency to unravel everything Obama had implemented. According to the novel, The Myth of The An Imperial Presidency, “Most of his early executive orders focused on erasing the Obama legacy by dealing major blows to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.” In conclusion, according to Federalist 70, “every man in Roman story, knows how often that republic was obligated to take refuge in the absolute power of a single man,”(Hamilton 1788). When pure democracy is in the hands of a society, the result is gridlock. In a democratic republic a single individual holds executive power but checks and balances are in place to limit their power and grip on the country. Presidents have this executive power and never fail to somehow increase their power throughout their presidency.