ABSTRACT
It is a common allegation that the terms in which the President's powers are granted are the loosest and most unguarded of any part of the Constitution. The Executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America; "the President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy". The Constitution was hardly set going when an indicative and decisive event occurred to head the Presidency toward its destiny. "The Executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States", was originally intended merely to settle the issue whether the National Executive should be single or plural and to baptize the office. Thomas Jefferson's conception of executive power, on the other hand, was more Whig than that of the British Whigs themselves in subordinating it to "the supreme legislative power". In Jefferson one may encounter for the first time a President who is primarily a party leader, only secondarily Chief Executive.
