Political Science

The president is a very instrumental figure of a national leadership.  In most nations, the president is above the law while others defined a president who is subject to the law.  However in history, many countries have been found to fight over leadership with some even resulting in genocide.  United States of America like any other State or country in the world has history of the presidents that have ever led the nation. The following is a list of those presidents who have lead and propelled the activities of the Unites State since the office existence. It the 18th Century, there were two presidents that are in the record George Washington and John Adams.

In the 19th Century there was the third to the twenty fifth in the give order. Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, James Monroe, John Q. Adams, Andrew Jackson, Martin V. Buren, William H. Harrison, John Tyler, James K. Polk, Zachary Tayler, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, Abraham Lincoln, Andrew Johnson, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford Hayes, James Garfield, Chester Arthur, Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, and the twenty fifth being William McKinley closing the 19th Century presidents.

The 20th Century was opened by the twenty sixth presidents and was closed by the forty second president.  They include Theodore Roosevelt, William H. Taft, Woodrow Wilson, Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald R. Ford, James Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and William J. Clinton closing the twentieth century.
 
The twenty first century was started by the president George W. Bush the son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, then the current president Barack Obama who is the number 44 president of the United States of America and the first African -American president to serve the U.S.   The political science ranking of the presidents of the U.S state that George Washington of the 18th Century as the best so far, followed by Abraham Lincoln of the 19th century and the third position is taken by Franklin D. Roosevelt of the twentieth century.

The current constitutional review of the duties and roles of a president in the U.S are as described below.  The roles of the president may either be inherent or expressed according to the U.S constitution.  The powers of the president is a guideline to the kind of president the nation expects of a president while in office and it is constitutionally accepted that the president must work in accordance with the stipulations and those presidents who go against this are said to be defiant.

However, some of the presidents have not bee able to work in accordance to the constitution and have therefore expanded their powers thus making the office more of an imperial office than a presidential one.  The expressed presidential powers include that he is the commander in chief of the armed services. The president has the authority to pardon or grant amnesty.  He is also mandated to formation of treaties as per the agreement with his senate. The president appoints different officials as the ambassadors, senior officers of his government as well as the judges to the supreme court of the United States of America. The president makes appointments to the vacancies that may be found during the senate recess sessions as well as to welcome public ministers and ambassadors.  He is also bestowed with the mandate of taking great care of law that he makes sure that the law execution is as per the agreement in the constitution.  Apart form these roles, the president may also make recommendations to the proposed bill as well as propose bills. He has the veto powers over the congressional bills. 

In addition, the president in the U.S has inferred powers which a president may assume by the virtue of his position in office such that his decision can not be objected to.  Inherent power as per the statement by Campbell Black, is a necessity in vital leadership positions especially in maters of emergencies where he says that the inherent powers makes the presidential powers difficult to limit. 

As a result, some presidents like George W. Bush made war attacks in the name of the inherent presidential powers that by virtue of his position as the president, he was the commander in chief of the armed forces thus he had the authority to stage war with Al Qaeda terrorists and make use of the army to combat them regardless of the cost implications in the war.  He also made approvals to the NSA wire tapping through the inherent presidential powers.  Although the inherent powers are supposed to be limited by the congresses as well as the judicial sector of the government, to some extend some presidents have not been able to adhere to it. For example, President Bush claimed to be above the law and that he would declare war as long as he found it necessary. Some inherent role of the president can extend from the presidential elections to the media influence among other departmental roles that are quoted in the constitution or elsewhere in the inherent presidential roles by the founders of the constitution.  Some of these papers are still in use especially if the judges are needed to clarify if the president is correct to have taken a certain role as an inherent decision of his position.  However, the papers are not the constitution but they are important and are acceptable in the legal practices of the supreme courts to obtain guidance to the powers of the president that may be hidden to the public.
The presidential election inherent powers encourage the citizens to vote for a president that they feel will be good to their leadership and that the president is elected from a combination of the fifty State election and not from a national voting session.  The president is inherently expected to support civic education through the States so as to be sure that all or the majority of the citizens understand the role of the president before they cast their votes. The media can also give an opinion of the president in order to influence the public or the congress thus the media will have used the presidential inherent powers.

The leadership of significant presidents in the 21st Century has been highlighted here in this review to make readers understand why the presidential office in America is significantly important and that it needs not be taken for granted.  The discussion of the leadership of the president George W. Bush the 43rd president of the United States of America gives a clear picture of the role of strong leaders for strong nations as well as give a hint of whether of not the president was a performer or a bully or even an oppressive one.  Was he constitutionally right or he assumed his powers a different script which would be an expected of the congress and the citizens  There is also some explanation of the future prospects of presidential leadership and the direction of America in terms of the office of the president. President George W. Bush led between the year 2001 and 2009 as the number 43 president of America. He entered office on the 20th January 2001 and re-elected after his first term in office on the 2nd November 2004 ending his office term in the January 2009 when he was succeeded by the current president of the U.S Barack Obama.  Before his presidency, he had been a governor for Texas State for six year.  Bush, having some fundamental knowledge in his scholarly work after a degree in History and a masters degree in Business Administration acquired by 1975, would effectively take the lead as a president later after assisting in the campaigns for his fathers presidency. President Bush was well known for his bipartisan leadership approach.  His leadership policies include the extension of freedom to all, provision of more security at home and the best of his policies being the No Child Left Behind Act. In his era, he expanded educational programs for all children to be educated.

In his first term, President Bush supported education for all children as well as cutting down of the federal taxes.  He also set good targets on the creation of jobs for most unemployed American Citizen thus gaining fame as a president.  He at the same time worked towards the modernization of Medicare. In the Medicare, provisions had increased the benefits of drug prescription that made more than 40 million people in America gain better access to the required medicine.  He is said to have initiated the global HIVAIDS which has saved many live that would otherwise have gone into a waste. The president is said to have widened the transaction program of NATO by signing a significant agreement with India on the non proliferation of nuclear weapon.  This made India to comply with the global organizations that dealt with anti-nuclear proliferation which was a promotion towards world peace. He is known to have implemented free trade agreement with many nations in the region thus promoting the so called culture of life through the formation of an empowered army system for security provision.

The former American president is commended for the improvement of quality energy supply and good environmental conditions.  His efforts in the transformation of strong armed forces aimed at more protection for the States encouraged more security in both business and individual activities.  In 2001 when terrorists attacked the Unite States of America killing close to 3000 persons, Bush strategically countered the terrorism in a bold manner that resulted in protection and more security measures to the Americans.   The formation of more security departments in America, like the Homeland security department, was a sure way to increasing security for the American citizens. Bush is also credited for the role he played in the set up of global. The imperialism of the American presidency is rather a controversial issue since it has always been feared that there would be any president who would dominate and dictate the law and constitution of the State.  A number of constitutional amendments have taken place towards the reduction of the presidential powers making the president a subject to the congress, a president who constitutionally needs support from the congress in many ways. For example, the president may not fire the vice president from the office while the president too can be fired through an impeachment. 

President Gorge W. Bush was one of the national presidents who functioned as though to implement imperial presidency.  During his eight year legacy, he stretched his powers beyond the legal requirements of a president in the United States of America.  He introduced the already feared imperialism.  The U.S has since time immemorial feared imperial leaders because they take the nation to war yet this was the role of the congress.  The presidents remark in 2007 was that he did not think that the congress would lead a war and as a result he declared war to Iraq.  The congress which was supposed to fund the wars would not object since that president had dictated in his capacity. Although the United States of America constitutional framework as framed by the constitutional reviewers who were against the formation of kingdom or imperial leaderships in their nation, found there goals hit a wall.  President Bush was assuming more powers than it had been in the constitution. According to Edmund Randolph, the constitution was designed to guarded against the imperialism and that this was so due to the reduced powers of the president thus he called it the foetus of a monarchy. Edmund was the first attorney general in the U.S. as well as delegate in the constitutional convention. 

The perception of the presidential involvement and authority in war is skeptical.  It was speculated that the president wanted fame from the war if it succeeded.  James Madison who was famously known as the father of the constitution warned that the executive powers of the president would be expanded leading to his patronage in his position in war.  Criticism in the Bush presidency immensely negated the constitutional definitions of the presidential powers as they appeared in the constitution.  President Bush stated that he was the commander in chief of the armed forces yet this was not so in the constitution of the U.S.  It was then felt that the president amassed himself some powerful titles and would be the overall in leadership dictating all that he wanted the nation to do thus assuming the leadership of a king or and emperor which is not what the constitution had defined.  The position of the president in the constitution of the United States was that he would only be the top ranked official in matters of war but this did not mean that he was the commander in chief of the armed forces to dictate whatever the nation was to do in terms of war.
 
However, President Bush startled the functioning of the congress to extend that they sought to write him empty checks for the war funding.  This was aimed at paralyzing his position in that war that he had declared.  The constitution allowed the allocation of army funding for a maximum of two years rather than the long duration that Bush intended to take in the war. The congress during the President George W. Bush leadership insisted that there was need for the president to respect the constitution and play his assigned role of a president and not to behave as though he had been a king which he was not.  This called for the mobilization of the State to support the role of the congress and negate the idea that they had developed that the congress was overstepping their roles in the management of presidential powers. 

The former president George Bush of the U.S had always insisted that he remained the sole decision maker for the constitution of the U.S and that he would not be held responsible for the judicial or congressional power checks.  To him, no one had the authority to deter him as the president from any action he considered right in his sound mind. Most are the times he reminded the congress that he had the power to declare imprisonment or detention of any of the Americans as rebel suspects as long as he thought it was necessary.  He said that he had the authority to tap any of the American Phone conversations without any warrant which he would achieve through the Secrets privileges of the State. It is believed that in his last term of rule, the president had a dictatorial authority like the Roman emperors.  He did not only dictate war matters but also business and economic affairs, in which he ordered some companies on revenue collection with high tax allocations depending on what he thought was justifiable.  It was even feared that he would deny the next president the chance to succeed him. However, the change over ceremony was peaceful and remarkable as he gave way to the next president, Barack Obama in 2009.

On the other hand, the current president Barack Obama, being the first African  American to take leadership has his own leadership personalities well founded within his strengths to mobilize masses in many ways.  However, it is beginning to sound like the Obama leadership is a continuation of president Bush legacy after records on Obamas statements that the secrecy privileges of the State in the constitution did not merely prevent the federal government from airing matter of the State leadership that were thought to be sensitive but more to it that the federal government could as well restrain the whole lawsuit and fire the litigants as it wills. 

These sentiments have down washed the majority of the Americans expectations on what he had promise the U.S during his campaign in 2008.  He promised the people a change in the kind of leadership and reforms that are now not visible thus they are almost loosing trust in his formerly displayed audacity of hope character.  It is undisputable that Obama at first in his presidential power gave a signal of change. Obama issued distinctive orders that pleasantly scaled down the executive powers of the secrecy of state matters as well as the bar of torture to American citizens by the administration.  Although the Obama administration admits that the president is not above the law and that he stands to be checked by the judicial and congressional roles, it is rather heart breaking that the president should utter such commends as they contradict the expectations of the citizens.

However, president Obama promises to give a more encouraging package of what the presidential roles are in serving the people and not participating in war.  His team employs war like terms in their description of economic affairs describing it as crisis.  Obama is almost impatient with the slow motion in the passing of important bills that will result in to the reforms and change that he had promised.  He was recorded while pushing for the passing of his stimulus bill, 2009 where he made the following statement, the time for talk is over.  He insisted that it was an emergency to have the pace of acting in the office increased since so much time was spend in talks that were not fruitful. 

It seems that the president has long been underestimated and therefore he needs to stand his ground and deliver the change he had promised unless he wants to be classified as a non performer.  That is possibly the reason as to why he finds himself contradicting the views of the citizens or the congress.  He feels that although he did not have the excess power to make changes in the security unit of the Nation without consultation, he can do any changes in the financial sector authorities. Obama seems to have inherited the undoubtedly Americas extremely powerful presidency historically.  The conservative have always pressurized for the amendments of the presidential powers to give more authority of the president but now they are on the watch unless they influence Obama.

The future of the presidency in America is rather controversial with the current president expressing his desire to work with the economies and little interest in the war matters that jeopardizes the state of security in the States. However, this is not a major problem since there is the congress which does the funding of wars and the Judicial service that checks on the matters of security in the States.  More emphasis is required in the scientific development due to the raising global warming and environmental degradation that has already taken route.

The former president Bush embarked more on the war to combating the terrorists and managed little in science and less even in the economic development of the U.S.  The formerly appointed scientific representative to the president Bush, Marburger failed in his advisory role to the president in matters of science although many argue that he had no power to advice the dictatorial president who only thought of combatants especially in his second phase of presidency where he only embarked on the exploitation of nuclear power to enlarge his power supply systems for his nation. President Obama is also expected to think of investing in the war against cancer, missile defense, as well as have a sound mind in the improvement of environmental conservation.  He should also be allowed to take unrestrained roles towards the war to global economic development and make key decisions towards global warming and climatic change as a whole.

Obamas is faced with the role of ensuring that he sets a proper national security budget amidst the severe global financial crisis yet he needs to fund the war in Afghanistan  and Iraq.  He must be able to counter the healthcare needs for his military body and the increasing costs of livelihood within the United States.  He is expected to manage appropriate strategic risk management programs within their regular investment and lay appropriate warfare trends.  The president will need to come out strongly in the super power developmental management plans not forgetting that he is also to work hard in the counter terrorism to avoid putting the nation at risk of being attacked any how.  More of his authority is needed in the control of generation of mass destruction weapons and the management of traditional warfare with the restructuring of non-military war management associations within the region to build world peace.

However, with his recent remarks in the senate that the time for talk is over, it seems that the president has now decided to be a role model and a team leader to his reluctant group of congress members that he will assume inherent presidential powers to force his way forward towards achieving the goals that he has set before his people.  This shows that unless America has an authoritative president there will be a lot of time wasted in the policy implementation and this may lead to a non performing president as well as increased insecurity to the States and the subsequent loss of the superpower nature of the U.S.
In conclusion, the office of the president has grown to be very powerful of late, with the strong foundation laid down by the former president George W. Bush whose legacy has a role to play in Obamas rule.  It is true that the president has to inherently take strong roles in decision making in matters of war and economic crisis management.  Yes, the office of the president is and has got to be an imperial one due to the nature and character of people the president is working with.  Majority of them are racists, and reluctant to support the bills and policies needed for reforms to take place as the president had promised before he his office assumption.