FREE ESSAY ON POWERS OF PRESIDENCY

POWERS OF PRESIDENCY

The Power of the Presidency
* I believe that most significant of the powers at the hands of the President are those
that are considered "informal", especially those that allow him to persuade and gain
loyalty of many people. 
The Presidency of the United States is said to be the most powerful office in the world.
Taking a closer look at this statement presents the questions of how and why the
president so powerful. It might shock some people to learn that a significant amount of
his powers are not prescribed to him or written in the Constitution, but are gained in
other ways. I believe that the most significant of the powers at the hands of the
President are those that are considered "informal", especially those that allow him to
persuade and gain loyalty of many people.
The President is usually more powerful during his "honeymoon period" or first hundred or
so days in office. This mostly stems from his recent approval of the voters and serves as
a notice to Congress that he deserves to be in office because the citizens like what he
has to offer. As an effect, Congress is more accepting of his legislative ideas and
proposals. This gives him an edge to get some legislation passed right off the bat and
show the country that he is performing his duties skillfully. His success or failure as
the President will be primarily judged on how well he was able to get his legislation
passed.
The President's power and approval rating is greatly boosted in times of war or foreign
troubles. This is called "rallying around the flag." Citizens feel more loyalty towards
their President when he is acting on behalf of the country in a serious matter such as
war or other serious foreign policy. The President even gains higher approval, and
therefore more power to influence the public, by surviving an assassination attempt.
A huge tool to gain power at the fingertips of the Presidency is the media. Not only does
the President address the nation during the State of the Union Address, he is able to
call press conferences whenever he wishes to reach the citizens. He is, almost without a
doubt, the only government official that has this power. As long as this tool is used
sparingly, it can cause a huge response among citizens. The President can persuade the
American people see issues his way and to take action in any way that he suggests. It is
rumored that during a Presidential broadcast in which the President asked the country to
turn down their thermostats in order to save gas that the monitoring utility companies
immediately saw a major drop in the amount of gas being consumed for heating all across
the country. President Lyndon Johnson used this tool to create support for his decision
to send troops to Vietnam. With strong public speaking skills , a likeable personality,
and a an assertive demeanor, the President can convince citizens, including other
government officials, that his agenda is in their best interest.
Winning the Presidency also confirms the President's status as the leader of his
political party. The President has a great amount of control over his subordinate party
members and their decisions on his policy proposals. This comes from his ability to
encourage loyalty to the party and the their need for his support during their elections.
The President will obviously have more power when his party controls a majority of the
House or Senate.
My argument that these "informal" powers are the most important is based on the idea that
they also help him to more effectively perform his formal or prescribed powers. His
effectiveness in using these persuasion powers will help him in order to produce approval
for his Executive Orders, use of Executive Privilege, Judicial appointments, vetoes,
treaties, and many other things. These powers are extremely important and can be subject
to great scrutiny depending on their seriousness. With appropriate use of all "informal"
powers, "formal" powers can be wielded with ease and a higher rate of approval among the
citizens in which our President has been elected to serve. 
The close election fiasco that is going on right now will most definitely affect the
president-elect, whoever it may be. If George W. Bush wins, their will be a great amount
of citizens who refuse to accept him as the legitimate President because of his extremely
small margin of victory that may or may not be accurate. If Al Gore turns out to be the
winner, most Republican supporters will see him as the guy who stole the Presidency and
will refuse to see him as the legitimate winner. Either way, the tight election will
probably hurt the elected President's credibility, ability to pass legislation, and use
his informal powers. This coming President will be known as the one who won only after
weeks of re-counts, legal battles, and a handful of votes. The "honeymoon period" for
this President will probably be a time of lower approval depending on the how much longer
the re-counts and court cases continue to flood the media and the minds of the voting
citizens. The President's relationship with the Judicial branch could suffer from the
presence of a resentful attitude of opposing party members regarding his Justice/Judge
appointments and the credibility of his achieved authority to do so. 
The country will benefit from a President who will convince citizens that he is fully
qualified to take on the job and restores dignity and honor to the office to make
Americans proud.