Imperial Presidency

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Imperial Presidency
The Imperial Presidency is the type of presidency practiced when the president exercises powers that are beyond those stated in the Constitution of the US government. This concept came into existence during the 1960s when historian Author M. Schlesinger Jr. who wrote on imperial presidency, where he stated what he had observed during the time of administration of Nixon Coolidge and Roosevelt. In his book, Author says how these presidents abused their powers, particularly when the armed forces were involved. In his book, Author tries to explain Imperial presidency by trying to show the connection between their control over military power and the internal control that they have in their countries (Moretta 59-411).
Franklin D Roosevelt, the 32nd president of the US came to power in 1933 with the main aims of improving the country’s economy after being voted into office with a majority of the poor people who felt that they had to vote in one who could relate to their low living standards. His primary mission when he got into office was to establish his main reform platform which he named “New Deal.” The platform was to promote economic development and to significantly improve the lives of low-class citizens through various initiatives that he planned to implement and some of these implementations only seemed to prove that his top priority was to gain complete power over Americans.
His reign should not just be termed as one characterized by an imperial presidency, but his achievements should be noted as he stepped into office with the aim of improving the economy of the US.

His administration was characterized by a general decrease in the rate of unemployment in the country. During the Great Depression, he passed various bills through Congress that would grant him relief to the people who were unemployed. It was his “First 100 Days” program where he tried to restore the hope of the citizens after the Great Depression.
At this time, he issued out funds to help the unemployed, and he considered it the government’s role to help out any citizen who was unemployed because of circumstances that they had no control over. He also led the country to World War II after the attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor. He also liaised with Churchill and Stalin, and they formulated a strategy that was meant to bring down the Axis power. Perhaps his main achievement in the US was the establishment of the various bodies such as the Social Security and the federal deposit insurance deposit. Further, he established the Securities and Exchange Commission which are still up and running to date and was used to help the unemployed. One of his significant global contributions was the thought he had the planning of a United Nations, which he hoped would bring nations together despite their differences (Moretta 370-372). By doing this, he wished to maintain good relations with Russia since he believed that the future of US would depend on good relations with Russia.
His positive contribution to the Americans was his ability to change their perception of isolationism which they had embraced and vowed never to take part in any foreign wars. Roosevelt intended to change their mindset so that they would embrace internationalism, especially since the world was drawing closer to war. Throughout the 1930s, he tried to sensitize the people on the importance of taking part in the war by telling them the implications of what Nazi (German soldiers) would take from them if they chose to isolate themselves from the war. He was able to convince the American citizens to make the required sacrifices for them to take part in the war by referring to moral values and as a result, he was able to prevent America from being destroyed during the war.
Upon getting into office, Roosevelt decided to immediately implement policies that would help the country to arise from the Great Depression that had put the people in a crisis (Moretta 75). He made all the important decisions concerning the New Deal himself, without consulting the Congress. In his bid to make reforms, Roosevelt decided to create new specialized task forces and agencies that would be involved in the changes instead of using the departments that had initially been set aside to effect strategies and policies. Taking power into his hands instead of following in the country’s traditions was a way of showing that he was intent on getting more power than what was stipulated in the constitution.
In a bid to show his determination for the work that he had purposed to do, Roosevelt only demonstrated how his hunger for immense power drove him to make the decisions he made. His move of proposing Court reforms to the Congress is seen as a strategy he put in place to acquire power through limiting the power of the Court System. Roosevelt wanted the Congress to allow him to appoint a new justice and to replace every Justice who was aged 70 years and six months. This move only showed that he wanted to have dictatorial powers and according to The Dallas Morning News Roosevelt felt that this move was made out of integrity and that this would help the country move forward. His motive was to enlarge the Supreme Court so as to remove any obstruction to his reform plans. The Congress, however, rejected the proposal as it was not ready to subject the country to a dictatorial regime.
Roosevelt also decided to appoint liberal justices whom he sent to the South to disorient the racial order. The racial order had been established during the Reconstruction era, despite receiving widespread opposition. His hatred for non-whites was what prompted him to make this move as he felt that anyone who was not white was weak. The countries where they had initially dominated reflect this attributes to a larger extent.
His New Deal program did not augur well with most people in business and bankers as the initiative had resulted in Roosevelt allowing deficits in the budget. He also made them concede to labor, something which they highly disregarded. Roosevelt finally resorted to further reforms in which he ordered that the rich be levied high taxes. He changed the controls over banks and any public utilities and ensured there was social security by issuing out funds to the unemployed Americans. He also formed the Civil Works Administration that tasked with the duty of creating jobs for the unemployed. It was meant to ensure that the government legally regulates the economy. The wealthy and powerful people opposed his New Deal program, and FDR felt that they felt stripped of their dictatorial powers. By helping out the poor, Roosevelt aimed to ensure that the economy was at a balance and this would work out in his pursuit of power as the wealthy would now be unable to get to the government and control it on their terms.
His dedication to his country’s economic success prompted him to sign an Anglo-Japanese alliance, something which he did without consulting the Congress or the Americans. He convinced himself that forming an alliance with Japan after Japan’s victory over Russia would help to establish the initial balance of power that had existed in the Far East before 1905. Roosevelt knew that the agreement provided a direct multipower violation treaty which would grant Korea its freedom since it guaranteed independence since in, later on, Japan violated the agreement. Americans did not find out about this occurrence until later when a historian researcher, Tyler Dennett, learned of the “Taft-Katsura Agreement” and the secret arrangements that had been made by Roosevelt. By making decisions on his own without consulting the Congress, Roosevelt wanted to show that he had power over the country and this could not be limited by the Constitution or the Congress.
Despite failing to get a tremendous support that he so desired so as to overthrow the boundaries of the constitution, and to obtain his unconstitutional powers, historians have observed that he won the larger war as he was able to pass the one reform that he so desired. It facilitated the appointment of other people to fill in the vacancies created by the Supreme Court. He, however, lost the urge to reform the welfare of the state through his New Deal campaign more so after the death of his right-hand man, Senator Robinson.

Works cited
Moretta, John. Imperial Presidents. 1st ed. Wheaton, Ill.: Abigail Press, 2013. Print.