Imperial Presidency: A Definition

"Webster's Unabridged Dictionary bluntly defines imperial presidency as 'a US presidency that is characterized by greater power than the Constitution allows'" (Am. Foreign Policy 118). This asserts for questionability of the acts performed by the President defined by the Constitution.

The Founding Fathers chose, instead of concentrating Constitutional authority in a single body, to disperse authority among three independent branches. This separation of powers has worked out for the best for the most part but there have been instances of what has been christened by Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. as the Imperial Presidency (vii). According to Schlesinger, the Imperial Presidency results from the swelling of the presidential bureaucracy.

It all began under the direction of Franklin Roosevelt; he began a series of significant transformations within the office of the President. President Roosevelt took advantage of the authority provided to him in the Reorganization Act of 1939 when he issued Executive Order 8248, which created the Executive Office of the President. Roosevelt's order provided for the creation of a White House staff and subsequently permitted presidents to exercise more control over the Cabinet.

Harry Truman, Roosevelt's successor to the presidency, built upon these institutional changes to expand upon the constitutionally granted presidential powers. Problems pertaining to the coordination and implementation of foreign and military policy during the World War II (WWII) period prompted President Truman to advocate for increased presidential power in the military and foreign policy sphere.