Imperial Presidency

On February 4, 1789, electors chose George Washington, who turned 57, to be the first President of the United States of America unanimously for the first of his two terms, and John Adams, as first Vice-President. This was the only U.S. presidential election that spanned two calendar years (1788 and 1789), and indeed, the first popularly elected President in world history.

During the American Revolutionary War (1775-1783), Americans called Washington “Your Excellency” or, more simply, “General,” in keeping with customs the world over. But there were no precedents for addressing an elected President.

Adams had been infatuated by the pomp of European courts he had visited as an American Minister during the War, and suggested addressing Washington as “Your Highness” or “Your Most Benign Highness.” Members of the Senate responded with long, pompous arguments deploring Adams’s suggestions as either too frothy or not frothy enough.

A Senator suggested calling Washington “His Exalted Highness.” Another scoffed at the suggestion as too aristocratic and insisted that “His Elective Highness” was far more appropriate. With that, the Senate debate fell into disorder.

Adams then proposed calling Washington, “His Highness, the President of the United States, and Protector of the Rights of the Same.”

After a few more days of debate, a Congressman re-examined the Constitution and reminded his colleagues that it prohibited titles. After murmurs of surprise diminished, members finally adopted the Republican simplicity of “Mr. President” setting the standard for generations of American Presidents to come.

Imperial Presidency is a term used to describe a President as an Emperor who acts without consulting Congress, or acts in secrecy to evade or deceive Congress. It is a term applied to the modern Presidency of the United States.

It became popular in the 1960s and served as the title of a 1973 book by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (1917–2007) an American historian, social critic, and public intellectual, whose more than 20 books shaped discussions for two generations about America's past, and who wrote "The Imperial Presidency" to address two concerns: that the Presidency was uncontrollable, and that it had exceeded its Constitutional limits.

A Presidency becomes Imperial when it relies on powers beyond those allowed by the Constitution of the United States. The Constitution established three separate branches of government, not for efficiency but to avoid the arbitrary exercise of power. The government outlined by the Constitution was to replace and improve upon the Imperial executive government of King George III of Britain.

The Constitution and its authors determined that the power to initiate a war belonged to the Congress. The President had the responsibilities to conduct ongoing wars and ongoing foreign relations, and to respond to sudden attacks if Congress was not in session.

As the United States became a great world power and then a superpower, the Presidency acquired more war powers despite the Constitution. That reduced Congress' powers and the separation of powers, which is necessary to avoid the arbitrary use of power.

The unitary executive theory is a theory of United States constitutional law, which, holds that the President of the United States possesses the power to control the entire executive branch.

The doctrine is rooted in (Article 2) of the Constitution, which vests "the executive power" of the United States in the President. Although that general principle is widely accepted, there is disagreement about the strength and scope of the doctrine.

"9/11 saw the beginning of the current move toward an Imperial Presidency, as George W. Bush keyed-off the crisis to expand executive authority in national security and domestic surveillance. In that, his administration had the legal but classified support of Congress, and for a time, a considerable portion of the public."

Zachary Karabell, an American author, and columnist, said that this trend continued under Barack Hussein Obama II, and that "stonewalling" from Congress "provoked the Obama (Joseph Robinette Biden Jr., Vice President) administration into finding innovative ways to exercise power," making Obama "one of the most powerful Presidents ever."

He wrote that this trend could potentially set precedent for further expansion of executive power. Karabell later argued that the presidency of Donald John Trump had the possibly unintended effect of eroding executive power, citing the rescission of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) immigration policy and the Trump administration's threat to use its position to withdraw from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) as instances, which, have led to some power being returned to Congress at the executive branch's expense.

Princeton University historians Kevin M. Kruse and Julian E. Zelizer argue that aspects of the Imperial Presidency are apparent in the Trump administration…

Food for Thought!