How Powerful is the American President in Pursuing His Policies in Government?

The President is seen as an immensely powerful figure and it could even be said he is seen as the most powerful man on earth. This may be due to the fact that America is a superpower and people will misinterpret the power of America to be the power of the President. The President can be quite unsucessful in pursuing his domestic policies and more successful in pursuing foreign policy this will be shown by first discussing the nature of the Presidents power. Secondly the essay will examine how effectively and to what extent this power can be used in relation to policy making and implementation. Finally the main arguments will be brought together to form a conclusion.

The American President is indeed a powerful figure as McKay suggests because “all executive power is invested in the office” (McKay, pg 170, 2001) McKay goes further in his statement and suggests the President “has therefore, both great responsibilities and great power” (McKay, pg 170, 2001). Although McKay states that the power of the President is great he does not state the nature of the Presidents power. On the other hand however Richard Neustadt does give an indication as to the nature of the Presidents power as he says “The power of the presidency is to persuade” (McKay, Houghton, Wroe, Pg56, 2002). In keeping with this line of argument Edwards and Wayne claim “Presidents must influence congress because they generally cannot act without its consent” (Edwards, Wayne, Pg 325, 1999). This statement would seem to suggest that the President lacks the raw power to tell congress what to do but does indicate that the President can influence congress. Influencing or persuading are major components of the Presidents power as also are threats as can be gathered from this statement “veto threats often produce important congressional concessions to Presidential wishes” (McKeever, Zvesper, Maidment, pg 279, 1999). This can be very useful to Presidents because to date approximately only ten percent of presidential vetoes have been overturned by congress (McKeever, Zvesper, Maidment, pg279, 1999).

Continuing with the examination of the nature of the Presidents power it can also be said that the President not only has the Power to persuade or threaten but he also has the power to impose his will although this can be difficult. The difficulty in imposing his will can be seen from the statement that “compared with the leaders of most other democracies the president of the United States faces a daunting task in imposing his will upon the political system” (McKeever, Zvesper, Maidment, pg 277, 1999).  However this statement would seem to suggest that the President does have the power to impose his will although it will be quite difficult in fact it will be a daunting task. The Presidents job of persuading congress or imposing his will upon congress should be made easier if he comes from the same party as the one that controls the congress. In theory it should be easier for a President who is a Democrat to persuade or influence congress with a democrat majority than a Republican President.