Imperiled thesis

                The claim that the President is actually imperiled rather than imperial derives from the thirty-eighth President of the United States Gerald Ford. As with Schlesinger, the timing of the observation is highly pertinent. Historically, Ford was unusual in that he gained the highest office in the land with no democratic legitimacy whatsoever. He was not even on the presidential ticket of 1972. Vice-president Spiro Agnew resigned before he got the opportunity to become President due to a charge of tax evasion. Ford therefore took over a discredited Republican administration. Moreover, he faced a significant level of hostility from the Democrat-controlled Congress. Proving that ideological polarization and partisan bickering is nothing new, the relationship between the White House and Capitol Hill was very hostile with many prominent congressional Democrats on Nixon’s enemies list. Thirdly, this was an era characterized by the congressional fight-back against the perceived excesses of the imperial presidency. Quite frankly, Ford could hardly have taken over in worse circumstances.

                In order to substantiate the imperiled line of argument, one might consider the various limitations upon the Head of State. Taking each branch of government in turn, the legislative branch holds eight checks upon the power of the President. The judiciary can also limit the powers of the President on the basis of judicial review. The legislative and judicial branch can also remove the President via the process of impeachment. More prosaically, the President may find it difficult to impose his authority over the executive branch of government due to rivalries within the administration itself. Finally, the President is and always will be constrained by public opinion.

                Ford’s comment about an imperiled presidency was a direct retort to Schlesinger’s claim that the US had an imperial presidency. The very fact that both arguments were made in space of a few years of each other illustrates just how quickly things can change in politics. The Prez. can go from ‘hero to zero’ (and back again!) in a relatively short space of time. Moreover, he is rarely in control of what might be called ‘events.’ A great deal of what faced Gerald Ford as he moved into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue was not directly of his own making. Indeed, some commentators might reasonably claim that Gerald Ford did the best he could under difficult circumstances not of his own making. It is always difficult to govern without any direct mandate from the people regardless of the democratic system in question. However, in the American system the Democrat-controlled Congress had every opportunity to limit what Gerald Ford (a Republican) could actually do.