The Imperial Presidency
When Harry, the buck stops here, Truman left office he took the train back to Missouri. And he was broke. No fanfare, no long goodbyes, just a no nonsense exit for the man who presided over the end of World War II and dropped the atomic bomb on Japan.
Compare the office in Truman's time to the imperial presidency of today. The President flies around in a jumbo jet preceded by a huge advance team and followed by an entourage of staff and reporters. He's treated like a god and I resent that.
Even in non election years the President's activity dominates the evening news and the world awaits his every move in order to adjust to his daily whims and latest policy decsions. He's more like a King than a president and in recent years presidents have excercised executive power with little regard for the opinions of Congress. And of course, we always have to consider the power of the President to take us to war.
As long as the country is in the mood to mess with the Constituion, I think it's high time we looked at a constituional amendment to curtail the powers of the executive branch. I'd like the President to be the national equivilent of a city or county manager in which the President, appointed by Congress, would make executive decisions but all of those those decisions could be overruled by Congress. There would be no sweeping executive powers in any area of the government except for the power to hire and fire department heads. The President would just be a chief administrator reporting to Congress on a regular basis.
I don't think we need an imperial presidency in the 21st Century. In the event of a surprise attack the military takes over anyway and if we did away with the position of Commander in Chief we'd have a lot fewer wars and we'd have a lot safer world.
Think about it. No more endless presidential campaigns and no more special interests trying to buy the candidates. The presidency would just be a job, not a royal court of privilege and power.
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08-29-2004, 03:57 PM
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