ABSTRACT
The president of the United States holds the most powerful office on the planet. In general, an executive is a person or group that has administrative and supervisory responsibilities in an organization. The presidency today is much more powerful than the office held by George Washington. Most of the changes in the presidency have come not from formal legal alterations but from informal custom and precedent. The power of the presidency, in short, derives in no small part from the legacy of the individuals who have occupied the office. Some presidents resisted the lure to expand their office. James Buchanan and William Howard Taft took a restrictive view of presidential power, arguing that the president could exercise only the powers specifically granted by the Constitution. Many Americans welcomed President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal and its bold government intervention into the social and economic patterns of the nation.
