ABSTRACT
During the William McKinley presidency, a significant shift in political power occurred. Congress declined and the executive rose. The understanding of the Constitution's meaning changed as well, as McKinley, along with Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, would expand presidential power to fill America's new global role. McKinley did not fully exploit the opportunity to gain power afforded by the rise of the United States as a world power. The progressive Teddy Roosevelt offered an expansionist view of presidential power. The executive power was limited only by specific restrictions and prohibitions appearing in the Constitution or imposed by the Congress under its Constitutional powers. If the presidency emerged from the depression stronger and more central to American politics, the Second World War placed Roosevelt and the presidency at the pinnacle of political power. When World War II came, Roosevelt, bolstered by public, congressional, and Supreme Court support, articulated an expansive view of the president's wartime power.
