What is the Modern Presidency?

Many political scientists contend that starting with Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency, there was a metamorphosis in the presidential office.

1) Legislative action: The expectation that Presidents should regularly initiate and seek to win support for legislative action.
2) Unilateral Action: Many more occasions for direct policy making through executive orders not approved by Congress.
3) Executive Bureaucracy:  President now has in the Executive Office a bureaucracy to implement his initiatives.
4) Increased Symbolic Leadership: More public attention is paid to the president, and he receives credit and blame for everything that goes on in the federal government.
5) Use of the media: FDR is the first president to regularly use the radio, although both Coolidge and Hoover did use it.  FDR was the first president to use the radio to push a particular policy or piece of legislation.

All of these characteristics were in place during the administration of Franklin Roosevelt.  But, it was really Harry Truman who solidified these changes.  Otherwise, Roosevelt would have been an aberration, like Jackson or Lincoln or TR.  But Truman institutionalized these characteristics, and made them a part of the presidential office.
 

The modern presidency is a double-edged sword in that presidents have become potential beneficiaries of anything positive that can be attributed to government (such as a good economy) but also can get blamed for anything bad that is going on in society. Quite simply, the president has become the center of our political system.   There was a rise of expectations about the appropriate duties of the President.  These expectations had started to rise during the Progressive Presidency.
 

The Modern Presidency—Republican Precursors

Wilson---Harding—Coolidge---Hoover---FDR

During the Harding presidency, the first national budget system was created, enhancing the president’s authority to oversee the expenditures of executive departments and agencies.  The Budget Act of 1921 required that the President submit a comprehensive annual budget. It established the Bureau of the Budget to help the president formulate a budget.  Now the president could oversee all the spending within the executive branch.

Coolidge—first president to use the radio.  He broadcast his 1923 State of the Union address on the radio, the first address to Congress to be broadcast.

Hoover—food administrator during Wilson’s presidency, and Secretary of Commerce under Harding and Coolidge.  He brought a great deal of government experience to the table.  Seven months after he entered office, the stock market crashed in October 1929.  He did not think that the national government was the answer.  Instead, he believed that the answer was to persuade private institutions (corporations) to develop more just economic arrangements.

But Hoover did not believe that he had the power to lead Congress aggressively.  He resisted the growing public demands that he act as the nation’s legislative leader, even when the Depression had hit.  This might have had something to do with the fact that Hoover had never held an elected office before.  He did not understand how to forge coalitions; he understood how to build and manage organizations.

Hoover remained rigid, although he did encourage private groups to provide the needy with aid.  But he resisted government intervention altogether.  By 1930, when the Republican Congress was replaced with Democrats, Hoover was out of sync with the demands of the political system.  The Depression had changed the expectations of government, but Hoover was from a different mold, a different era.

Franklin Roosevelt

FDR was elected in 1932.  He built upon the Progressive’s conception of the presidency.  He brought the welfare state to America.  The Progressives believed in economic regulation.  Roosevelt believed something further—that it was the government’s responsibility to guarantee economic security, not just oversight.

Convention: FDR’s first innovation is that after he secured the nomination at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, he took a plane to the city and accepted his party’s nomination in person.  This is the first tradition he broke.  It also challenged the party system in the United States.  FDR didn’t wait around to be notified that he had won the nomination.  He wasn’t subordinate to his party

Bank Holiday: FDR’s second innovation was declaring a bank holiday one day after his inauguration.  It suspended banks from doing any transactions, and was aimed at halting the heavy withdrawals from American banks.  This was a measure that was used in World War I, and Hoover had been reluctant to exercise this authority during peacetime.  But FDR did not hesitate.

Fireside Chats: FDR’s first fireside chat was issued after the bank holiday. FDR used the radio not just for formal announcements, like Coolidge. Instead, he used the radio addresses to shape public opinion or to enlist popular support.  In this sense, FDR picked up where his cousin Teddy Roosevelt had left off.

It wasn’t clear that the first month of FDR’s presidency did much in the way of solving the Depression, but it lifted the spirits of the American people, because finally someone was doing something to solve the crisis.

The New Deal:  The New Deal created the welfare state in America, which transferred the responsibility of helping those in need from the states and private donors to the national government.  The most important piece of legislation in the New Deal was the Social Security Act, which provided old age insurance.  This flew in the face of the “self-reliant” American.  FDR successfully changed the public perception of rights.  Instead of rights only consisting of protection against government oppression and intervention, FDR argued that citizens had the right to expect their government to insure economic security.

Another important piece of legislation was the NLRA (National Labor Relations Act) or the Wagner Act of 1935.  This increased unionization in the United States, because it gave the government the power to conduct fair and unbiased elections amongst workers who wanted to unionize.

Brownlow Committee:  As the president became more responsible for the success or failure of federal policy, it became necessary for him to increase the size of his staff.  FDR formed a committee on this subject.  The committee famously stated, “The President needs help.”  This committee created the Executive Office of the President, which would be staffed by loyal presidential aides who had a “passion for anonymity.”

The Executive Reorganization Act went into effect in 1939.  FDR didn’t get everything he wanted—he didn’t get complete control over the bureaucracy and all the federal agencies, even though Brownlow recommended it.  But he did manage to create the EOP, which was a significant gain. And the Reorganization Act moved the BOB from the Treasury Department to the EOP.

What is the Executive Office of the President?  It plans, coordinates, and manages.  It is an oversight and managerial arm of the President.  It sets agendas.  It does NOT operate programs.  During the Reagan administration, the NSC operated a program called Iran Contra, which caused a constitutional crisis.

Right now, it includes a mix of offices and agencies, such as the OMB (Office of Management and Budget), NSC (National Security Council), CEA (Council of Economic Advisors, the Office of Trade Representative, the Office of Science and Technology, the Office of Administration, Domestic Policy Council, Office of Faith Based and Community Initiative, Office of AIDS Policy, USA Freedom Corps, Office of National Drug Control Policy, White House Military Office, President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.

One of the major changes was that the Bureau of the Budget (BOB) was moved to the White House.  It became part of the new EOP.  Previously, it was in the Treasury Department, and it was an arm of Congress that was created in 1921 to control expenditures.

With the BOB in the White House, the President now had the power to formulate the budget.  Because he had the power to formulate the budget, he also had the power to put forward his own domestic policy agenda.  The creation of the EOP enhanced the President’s ability to manage the expanding activities of the executive branch.  When the BOB moved to the executive branch, it did not simply just control expenditures anymore.  Instead, it became involved in economic planning.

Three Failures of FDR’s Overreach:  Although FDR is often thought of as one of the most powerful American presidents in history, it is true that several of the initiatives he sought were not successful.  For example, in 1937, Roosevelt tried to get his “Court-packing” bill through Congress.  Roosevelt wanted to enlarge the Supreme Court from nine to fifteen justices.  The SC had struck down some important pieces of FDR’s New Deal legislation, and FDR wanted to regain a majority on the Court.  The “Court-packing” bill died in Congress, but the Supreme Court never invalidated any of FDR’s legislation again.

The second failure was FDR’s purge campaign of 1938.  FDR intervened in several primary races during the mid-term elections in 1938 and tried to replace conservative Democrats with liberal Democrats who would support the New Deal.  This effort was more aggressive than Taft’s attempt to purge his party of the progressive element.  Roosevelt bypassed the regular party organization.  This is important, because it shows that the influence of party had decreased significantly.  The purge campaign was a big failure.  It was seen as dictatorial on the part of FDR.  As a result, the Democrats sustained heavy losses in the 1938 general election.

The third failure was the Supreme Court decision Humphrey’s Executor v. The United States. In this decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the President could not remove appointees to independent regulatory commissions or agencies.  What are independent regulatory agencies?  Most were formed in the 19th century.  They include the NLRB, FCC (Federal Communications Commission), Civil Aeronautics Board, SEC, EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission), Farm Credit Commission, FEC (Federal Election Commission), FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Commission), FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency).

They are located outside of departments, and they are run by boards of 5-9 people.  They make policy by majority rule.  Presidents appoint commissioners with the advice and consent of the Senate, and they serve fixed terms.  These agencies are the thorn in the sides of presidents.  FDR wanted to get rid of them completely, but Congress resisted that.  Instead, FDR wanted to remove members of the independent agencies at will, but the Supreme Court told him he could not do so.

Foreign Powers:  United States v. Curtiss-Wright (1936).  The decision was about whether the President could place an embargo on the sale of American weapons to countries at war.  But the Supreme Court went further than the details of the case, and granted the President sweeping powers in foreign affairs.  The SC called the President the “sole organ” of the government in the field of international relations. The President has more powers in the realm of foreign policy than domestic policy.  This codified Hamilton’s conception of the presidency, as he defended it after Washington’s Neutrality Proclamation.  This paved the way for FDR to sell destroyers to G.Britain in 1940, effectively ending the policy of American neutrality in WW2.
 

Institutionalizing the Modern Presidency: Harry Truman’s Presidency

Following FDR: It was questionable if Truman would continue the activist presidency that FDR had created.  But Truman defended the New Deal, and even after the Democratic Party lost control of Congress in 1946, Truman defended New Deal policies.  He threw the presidency in the midst of the debate about domestic policy.  He did not stay in the foreground.  After Woodrow Wilson, Warren Harding chose to retreat and not follow an active role for his presidency.  Harry Truman decided he would not follow in Harding’s footsteps.  Therefore, even though FDR initiated many of the modern developments of the presidential office, it was really Truman who institutionalized them.  Truman made these changes permanent.  In this sense, Truman is the father of the modern presidency.

Truman is probably best known for his independent actions as president.  They include:

Veto of Taft-Hartley:  This assured Truman’s New Deal legacy, because the bill was an attack on labor unions.  Truman vetoed the bill in 1947, but his veto was overridden.  However, the labor unions were attracted to Truman’s loyalty, and this helped him greatly in the 1948 election.  Also, Truman refused to enforce the Taft-Hartley Act in 1952 when a dispute in the steel industry threatened a work stoppage.  Instead of imposing a 60-day “cooling off” period, Truman seized control of the steel mills.  The Supreme Court, in Youngstown V. Sawyer, disagreed with Truman’s interpretation of executive power.  The Supreme Court argued that Truman had, in fact, created his own laws by seizing control of the steel mills.  However, the majority opinion of the Court only applied its ruling to the specific 1952 case of the steel mills. Although the decision was a shock to Truman and his administration, it did not broadly diminish the President’s authority as commander-in-chief, but confined its ruling to the particular issue at hand.

Formation of President’s Committee on Civil Rights:  Truman was the first president to take formal steps towards securing civil rights for minorities in the United States, and all of his achievements were unilateral executive actions.

Commit Troops to Korea:  In 1950, Truman committed troops to Korea without Congressional authorization.  This was the first time the President committed troops in a full-scale war without Congress.  Truman argued that under the United Nations Charter, he was obligated to help South Korea.  He also argued that during the Cold War era, the President’s power as commander in chief had expanded, and Congress’s authority on foreign policy had diminished.

Development and Strengthening of the EOP:  Truman used the Bureau of the Budget office more to his advantage than Roosevelt.  He used the BOB to formulate policy that he would later send to Congress.  Truman did not need to develop policy—he simply approved or disapproved of the policy that was presented to him by the BOB.  Also, Congress created the Council of Economic Advisors and the National Security Council for the presidency during Truman’s presidency.  The CEA was created in order to regulate the economy.  Originally, Congress thought that the NSC and the CEA would act as a check on the president’s power—that it would curtail presidential power.  But Truman used these councils to his advantage.  As a result, they worked for Truman, rather than against him.  Truman strengthened the Executive Office of the President.

Another development during Truman’s administration is that the President gained the right to appoint chairs of the independent regulatory commissions.  This was important, because it decreased the influence of Humphrey’s Executor v. The United States.  The chairs were given quite a bit of power.  But the President still wasn’t given complete control over the independent regulatory commissions.

Eisenhower Presidency

-Eisenhower is reminiscent of George Washington and patrician politics.  Eisenhower was not a partisan, and only reluctantly joined the Republican Party.  He was a war hero with a national reputation, evidence that the American public still likes to pick disinterested statesmen when the opportunity arises.

-Story of Eisenhower with all the papers piling up in his office: The bottom line is that the modern presidency had become a part of the institution.  There wasn’t an option anymore for presidents to sit back and take a secondary role.  The president had become the most important actor in the American political system, and Eisenhower found that out.

Hidden Hand Presidency:  Ike was considered as not a very activist president by most political scientists, especially Richard Neustadt.  However, Fred Greenstein resurrected Eisenhower by contending that he exercised much more power than originally thought.  Greenstein called this the “hidden-hand” presidency.  To the public, Eisenhower stayed away from politics, but in reality, he exerted a lot of political control.  Eisenhower did not want to appear as a politician to the public.  Instead, he wanted to appear a statesman.

McCarthy: The best example of hidden-hand leadership was DDE’s handling of Senator Joseph McCarthy.  Eisenhower did not criticize McCarthy in public, but his behind-the-scenes work led to the censure of McCarthy by the Senate in 1954.  Eisenhower never condemned McCarthy in the press, just the types of actions McCarthy engaged in.

Vague Language as Deception: Greenstein also contends that DDE deliberately used vague language and ambiguity to remain evasive about important matters, including national security issues.  In 1955, the State Department asked DDE not to discuss a delicate matter concerning China, and Eisenhower told the proper authorities before the press conference, “Don’t worry, if that question comes up, I’ll just confuse them.”  Eisenhower’s tendency to garble his words and to ramble led to charges that questioned his intelligence.  This is very reminiscent of George W. Bush.  Could Bush be imitating Eisenhower in this regard?

Acceptance of the New Deal:  It wasn’t clear if Eisenhower was going to try to repeal popular New Deal programs, such as Social Security, or accept them.  It turned out that Eisenhower could not undo FDR’s legacy.  The New Deal had become entrenched.  The more liberal, activist American state had become a permanent fixture of American life.

Brown V. Board of Education of Topeka: After the 1954 decision, Eisenhower refused to offer his opinion.  In 1957, the Governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus, refused to desegregate a high school in Little Rock.  Students were turned away at the high school, but Eisenhower did not act.  When Faubus refused to handle the situation using local police or state law enforcement, Eisenhower was forced to act, and he sent federal military forces into Little Rock.  We will read more about this episode in Richard Neustadt’s book Presidential Power.  Neustadt contends that this was a weakness of Eisenhower’s leadership—he failed to persuade Faubus to obey the Supreme Court, and was forced into act with authority.  According to Neustadt, acting with authority is the last chain of action as president.  As president, you don’t want to act with authority—you would rather persuade.  When you act unilaterally, you use up a great deal of your political capital.  Eisenhower was criticized for his leadership in Little Rock.
 
 

Summary:  The “modern presidency” is a double-edged sword.  During this time period, presidents gain more avenues for pursuing authority and power.  In the process, they gain more responsibilities, and become firmly ensconced as the center of the American’s political system.  However, these gains are not without their problems.  Presidents are forced into an activist type of governing.  They are forced to accept the gains of their predecessors.  Presidents must become active political agents—they cannot be “patriot kings” anymore.  They are also saddled with the burden of trying to fulfill all of their increased responsibilities, and it is not clear that the executive branch can possibly do that. Although they are bestowed with the power and authority of the “first branch” of American government, they also reap the criticism when things go awry.