Federal Power: Presidents and the Constitution
Debate about the limits of the president's power began at the Constitutional Convention and continues today. James Madison, considered the "Father of the Constitution," believed that strict limits on federal power were best for liberty. Powers of the federal government which were not enumerated in the Constitution were forbidden. Many later Presidents agreed with Madison, while others, beginning with Theodore Roosevelt, took a more expansive view of the scope of federal power. Theodore Roosevelt was the first President to argue that powers not forbidden were granted. He presided over the greatest expansion of federal power in our nation's history to that time. While the President has the power to "recommend measures" to Congress which he believed are necessary, the President is not a lawmaker. Franklin D. Roosevelt and Lyndon B. Johnson, capitalizing on what Theodore Roosevelt had called the "bully pulpit," were open advocates of policies they believed were needed, and which also increased the size and power of the central government. Ronald Reagan worked decrease the side of the national government and restore what he saw as the rightful place of states in our federal system. Tension between these two understandings (expressed powers and implied powers), and debate over the outcomes of their exercise, has persisted throughout American history.
0:00 [Music] what emerged from the Constitutional Convention of 1787 was a plan for a compound Republic that was partly National and partly
0:22 Federal to paraphrase Madison an independent executive had control over National Administration Affairs the states kept important powers to address tasks that did not require National direction or Management Madison never regretted his support for a national rather than
0:43 confederal system of government but he worked over several decades to preserve what he believed was the right balance between the national government and the states on the one hand and the legislative and executive powers of the central government on the other he believed that the concentration of power
1:04 in the central government as a whole or in the executive branch would not be good for liberty or good government Madison’s last significant action as president was his veto of the so-called bonus bill that included a wide- ranging plan for internal improvements such as roads and
1:25 canals although he understood the benefits that would come from these improvements Madison believed that the powers contained in the bill were not among the enumerated powers of congress as set out in the Constitution for Congress to assume these powers on its own would represent a dangerous challenge to the
1:47 Constitutional system the people in their capacity as The Sovereign body had been entrusted with the power to revise the Constitution through the addition of amendments argu Madison where Madison and most other presidents into the 19th century believed that powers not granted were
2:10 forbidden president Theodore Roosevelt took a different view Roosevelt asserted that powers not forbidden were granted and while many of his predecessors saw themselves as the servant of Congress Roosevelt saw the president as the servant of the people he transformed the
2:31 legislative role of the president from simple legislative advisor to outspoken advocate of policies that would strengthen America he said famously I suppose my critics will call that preaching but I have got such a bully pulpit his use of presidency as a bully
2:53 pulpit contributed to the greatest expansion of federal power in the country’s history to that time modern presidents routinely take the lead in calling for National Action to address all types of problems in this manner president Lyndon Johnson also acted as what might be
3:13 called chief legislator in the 1960s he submitted 87 bills to Congress and signed all but three of them into federal law he championed civil rights and poverty legislation the monumental Civil Rights Act and the Economic Opportunity Act better known as the war
3:34 on poverty Bill following the assassination of President Kennedy and this Administration today here and now declares unconditional war on poverty in America President Johnson used the phrase Great Society to
3:56 describe the various programs that he believed would EMP power Americans to shape the civilization that they wanted for themselves during Johnson’s time in office and in sharp contrast to Madison’s presidency the national government enacted the Civil Rights Acts
4:17 of 1964 and 1965 established the Medicare and Medicaid programs and passed legislation to protect Wilderness areas and strengthen education it is significant that all this action by the national government triggered no constitutional crisis none of the
4:37 programs were declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court but many prominent citizens argue that programs aimed at poverty Education Health or civil rights fall outside the sphere of proper National Authority Ronald Reagan for example criticized federal education and
4:59 Civil Right rights programs during his 1980 presidential campaign he worked to reduce federal spending on social welfare programs and restrained Federal regulatory activity his statements provoked a national debate over the case for big government Reagan is credited with helping to shape a supreme court
5:21 that would protect the place of the states in the American federal system the one area that Reagan believed did call for large scale action by the federal government was defense defense spending increased by over 100% between 1980 and 1987 the Constitutional Arrangement that
5:44 emerged out of the Convention of 1787 reflects the framer’s attempt to match presidential Powers with responsibilities where the line should be drawn in the distribution of powers will continue to be debated [Music]