- So, John, how has the role of the presidency changed
over the last several hundreds of years?
- It's changed dramatically.
First of all, when the founders created
the presidency, they left it kinda loose.
They weren't exactly very specific
about what a president would do.
And they realized that the first president,
George Washington, and this is why he was so important,
was a man of virtue and that he in his behavior
would set the precedence for the next president after him.
That means the job is basically handed off by tradition
from president to president but that also--
- And the reason why they didn't know what a president
should do is that there wasn't a notion of a,
there wasn't a precedent for being a president.
- That's right, they knew what they didn't want.
They didn't want two things, they didn't want a king,
they'd just gotten rid of one of those.
They didn't want a king and they also didn't
want somebody who's whipped around by mob rule.
Those were the two things they were
trying to get between.
But, a president has a lot of room
to move in between the two of them,
and they thought we'll put it
in the hands of a virtuous American.
George Washington, a good first virtuous American,
and that person, through their virtue and character,
would stay in the right place.
Would not become a king and would not give over to the mob,
but it also meant that it relied
on the character of the person in the presidency.
And so, each president in subsequent years,
has taken shape in the presidency both
by what was determined by their predecessors,
but also by what they could do in the job.
And what's happened is, a job that started out
very weak in the American system has now
become one where some people think of all
the entire of American government as the president.
And that's not what the founders wanted.
- But how does that evolve?
'Cause obviously the constitution talks
about the powers of the president.
So, how does it change so much over time?
- What happened was, when they originally
created the presidency there was a debate,
and the debate was, we need somebody who can move quickly.
We can't always be calling them in to Congress
because, of course, when the America
was started they used to take several months,
or sometimes it would take weeks
to get on a horse and get to Washington.
So, we need an executive who can move quickly.
Well, what happened was, in various wars,
America needed to move quickly,
and they needed one person to act
on behalf of the entire Union.
Well, there's only one person who can do that.
But, as people wanted quick action they handed
over more power to the president.
Congress, which used to fight with the president a lot,
during the Second World War
and then on into our present day,
has given up a lot of its power to the president.
One of the key ones being the power to make war.
Presidents can now go and make war.
Well, that's not the original way it was arranged.
And they've done it because there is a hunger
in the country for quick action,
but the problem and challenge of that is,
if you invest somebody in with power
to do things quickly in an emergency,
they hold on to that power and they don't let it go,
and that means that they start
doing things when it's not an emergency,
that is then not vetted by the American system.
And that system has both the judiciary
and the legislative which are meant
to hold back a president who's trying
to act too quickly and do too much.
- Let's go on this notion of making war as an example.
There's clear powers that Congress has
to approve a war, has the power of the purse,
So, how did this happen?
They just do that as a ritual now?
- Well, basically there are times
and Congress tries and makes attempts
to try to pull power back from the president.
The only times they've been successful
after the Second World War is really after Watergate.
The view was that the president had gotten too powerful.
That President Nixon, who left the office,
had abused the office and so Congress tried
to pull some power back, but again,
political parties which are now very close to the president.
It used to be that political parties were not so powerful.
If I'm a Republican in Congress
and I want my Republican president to do well,
I'm gonna give him the power he wants
because we're connected.
In the old days, if the president in the office
was my party, well that's nice,
but I've got my own views and I'm in Congress,
and I'm gonna do what I want.
And so, essentially a lot of these powers
that have gone to the president
have been handed over to him, not with a ceremony,
but just by a lack of a fight by members of Congress,
in withdrawing from their traditional role
as the founders wanted it as the key actor
in American government.
That's no longer case, in America today,
the president is the key actor.
- And then every time that happens
the next president or the next several presidents,
we allowed that to happen to that person.
I should have that power as well.
- That's exactly right.
It's almost like the powers conveyed
to the new president like the furniture in the Oval Office.
And so, they think, well this chair's pretty comfortable.
(Sal laughs)
I'm not gonna get rid of that and sit
in the old uncomfortable wooden chair.
I want all the plush trappings.
And here's another reason.
American politics has created a situation,
and television has made this so much worse,
where people run for office promising
the sun, the moon, and the stars.
So, they say I can, Donald Trump,
when he was running said I alone can fix it.
That is not the way the country was originally founded.
That one person could fix or unfix things.
It was supposed to be a country
with representatives of the entire country.
But, politics has created a system
where, whether it's a Republican or Democrat,
they run by saying I can do anything.
Well, that means when you get in the office
you want those quick powers that allow
you to keep those campaign promises,
and those quick powers are only quick
if Congress and the courts aren't in the way.
So, politics and the way you run
for office makes presidents want
to have every possible power at their disposal.