Title: The U.S. President and constitutional limits
Headings: The American President

Content: That may be, but you wouldn't think so by reading the Constitution. The U.S. presidency (the "Executive Branch") is the second of the three branches of government established in the Constitution. ( The first is the "Legislative" â€“ the Congress; the third is the "Judicial" branch â€“ the Supreme Court and subordinate federal courts.) The popular American myth that the three branches of government are "separate and equal" has no basis in the Constitution. While the branches certainly are separate, with fairly clear demarcations of authority, one finds no hint of an "equal" division of authority among them in the Constitution. Rather, the founders clearly indicated precedence when they gave both pride of place in the Constitution and the lion's share of power to Congress (including the power to remove the President under circumstances which Congress itself defines), the only branch with representatives elected directly by the people, and therefore having the clearest democratic mandate. The President, who is not elected directly by the people, was given limited authority, and is answerable in all his actions to the more representative Congress. Constitutional Powers of the President
We can count some nine distinct presidential powers under the Constitution. Those are the powers the first "G.W." had in 1789, and they're all that the current "G.W." has. (