Has Presidential Power Expanded Over Time?
Presidential Power Has presidential power expanded over time? Yes, yes it has. Over the years, the president's powers have been expanded a lot, even though the powers are outlined in article II of the constitution. In recent years with each new presidency, there seems to be an expansion of power, but even from the beginning with George Washington the president's powers were expanded. He set the precedent of the president being able to expand his powers when he refused Congresses request for documents pertaining to the Jay Treaty. This set in place the doctrine of executive privilege thus expanding the power of the presidency. Abraham Lincoln also expanded the powers of the presidency, mainly during the civil war. Lincoln had to act on the
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Roosevelt is another example of a president who expanded presidential power, especially during wartime. During World War 2 Roosevelt decided that is was necessary, for the safety of the United States, to send many Japanese-Americans to internment camps in case they were spies from Japan. This was something that no other president had done and was heavily criticized by many. The internment camps were later deemed constitutional by the Supreme Court, which stated that it was necessary to protect the U.S. This greatly increased the presidential power because it showed that the president had extreme power during war and in time of …show more content…
There is, however, choice in that. The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 outlawed the use of Cannabis, even for medical use. The drug was put into the same category as heroin. However marijuana is deemed legal in many states, even though it has been deemed illegal by federal government which should be the supreme law of the land. Even though recent presidents have know that this law was in place they have not acted to try to restrict states from legalizing the drug. This is because presidential power has expanded in such a way that they can essentially choose which laws to enforce. This mainly because of the vagueness of Article II, section 3, which states that the president should “take care that the laws be faithfully executed. Each president has the ability to determine the meaning of that, which in turn grants them more
Roosevelt is another example of a president who expanded presidential power, especially during wartime. During World War 2 Roosevelt decided that is was necessary, for the safety of the United States, to send many Japanese-Americans to internment camps in case they were spies from Japan. This was something that no other president had done and was heavily criticized by many. The internment camps were later deemed constitutional by the Supreme Court, which stated that it was necessary to protect the U.S. This greatly increased the presidential power because it showed that the president had extreme power during war and in time of …show more content…
There is, however, choice in that. The Controlled Substances Act of 1970 outlawed the use of Cannabis, even for medical use. The drug was put into the same category as heroin. However marijuana is deemed legal in many states, even though it has been deemed illegal by federal government which should be the supreme law of the land. Even though recent presidents have know that this law was in place they have not acted to try to restrict states from legalizing the drug. This is because presidential power has expanded in such a way that they can essentially choose which laws to enforce. This mainly because of the vagueness of Article II, section 3, which states that the president should “take care that the laws be faithfully executed. Each president has the ability to determine the meaning of that, which in turn grants them more