Essay Sample on Power of President

Quite frankly, the fact that the President has as much power as he does, is terrifying. When one actually looks at what powers the president is given, most aren’t even written down and of the ones that are written most aren’t very elaborated on. When any idea isn’t written out or very well elaborated on, the interpretation is up to whoever is in office. One could say that the fact that because the biggest power holders are shifted frequently as every two years for one third of the senate and only stay for as long as eight years when it comes to the president is part of the scare however, the change would be minor. Yet, one should also consider that this change being small means that the role of president doesn’t lose much or any power despite frequent shifts.

Going back to the unelaborated powers, the executive orders hold immense power especially considering they give the president the power to create an order with the power of a law. There is so much to say about the executive orders as they are just as powerful as they are impermanent. Due to the fact that executive orders are a power only moderated and used by the president, these “laws” are able to be undone by any other president put in office. This is upsetting for a number of reasons as it means that these orders are constantly being done and undone giving them a lot less face value when it comes to long term significance. When the president makes an executive order even when it is well liked, it is a hallow victory as it is just as easy to remove it as it is to put in place.

It could be argued that this is a good thing because it means that when a law needs to be put in place the executive orders would be an easier path to put it directly into power. The ease in removal could also allow these faux laws to disappear should they not be favorable to the public anymore. The impermanence is a double-edged sword even so because executive orders are equally as beneficial as they are problematic for social progress.

Continuing on the idea of being equally as beneficial as problematic for social progress, Executive agreements are another one of the presidents most powerful abilities that allows them to essentially single handedly make treaties. While this is an important thing as treaties rarely are agreed on by the senate, it also allows the president to decide which allies they want to make. What makes this especially bad is the executive orders are also easily removed which in turn makes the USA appear as a not very strong or trustable ally. This has already ruined some of America’s reputation with the Paris agreement and the Iran nuclear agreement. 

This isn’t the last of the president’s most immense abilities as the president also has the ability to veto any law that is being decided on. While this can always be overridden by the Senate with a 2/3 vote the likelihood that the Senate would come to an agreement is low especially considering this has already been seen to just about never happen the filibuster which only needs 60 Senators. Something else to consider is the fact that as mentioned the president can practically make laws on their own; Preventing laws plus making laws equals a lot of power for the president. One could argue that this isn’t much of an issue as the current presidents have used most of their executive orders undoing whatever the previous presidents did. This would be a valid argument except for the fact that politics is an everchanging thing, whether it’s currently a problem or not doesn’t determine if it will be a problem.

So why is the power the president holds scary? Simply put, it is an ever-evolving position that seems to be constantly growing in power. While it might appear we decide who to put into power the regular person isn’t properly represented. As it currently stands, not everyone votes or is able to, and the popular vote doesn’t even determine who is the president. With a president with crazy amounts of power and an unfair election who wouldn’t be a little bit worried about the power the president has.