What Is The Role Of The President In The Early 20th Century

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The President is often called the most powerful person in the world. All over the planet, when one thinks of the United States, they usually envision the head of the executive branch. Every leader since Washington left their unique impact on the office, but the idea behind the President has changed dramatically since the Constitution was written. Especially in the past century, the Executive branch gained much more power. Of course, to understand we have to go back to the Constitutional Convention. Ray Raphael, a Revolutionary War historian, explains that one of the most important topics discussed at the convention was how much power the chief executive would wield. Ideas constantly bounced off the walls of Independence Hall that summer of 1787. Luminaries like Ben Franklin and James …show more content…
Jackson used his populist support to advance his personal agenda, while Lincoln enacted special powers during the Civil War. Most of the time however, it could be said that the Speaker of the House was actually the most powerful man in the United States. This hierarchy changed during the early 20th century. The advent of American Imperialism and the Progressive movement allowed Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson to create new organizations that strengthened the role of the Presidency in both foreign and domestic affairs. International diplomacy become much more important following World War I, and the President served as the main executor of American policy abroad.
The Presidency became especially “Hamiltonian” during the terms of Franklin Roosevelt. The Senate willingly ceded powers to the Executive branch says Rick Pildes, an NYU law professor. This allowed Roosevelt to create legislation meant to help alleviate the Great Depression, like the WPA, or the reason we’re here tonight, the Rural Electrification Act, which kickstarted electric cooperatives across the