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

Content: The U.S. President and constitutional limits




The American President
An administrator, not a ruler
October 2006
Abstract: The U.S. Constitution gives the President remarkably limited power. His (constitutional) job is largely to carry out the policies of Congress. The Presidency of the United States is (constitutionally) not a policy-making position . He's been called the most powerful man in the world. 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.