Big to Bigger: The Expansion of the Executive Branch Over Time

credits: The Harvard Gazette

Despite being a relatively new country, The United States has still undergone several transformations in terms of politics. The Constitution functions as a prime example of these transformations. Amendments, like the 13th which abolished slavery, have flipped our nation on its head for the better, and the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the Constitution, like in Plessy v Ferguson, Brown v Board of Education, Roe v Wade, and Dobbs v Jackson, has changed the foundation of our country a multitude of times across American History. 

One change in the nation has seemingly remained outside of mainstream media attention; the expansion of the executive branch. Following the American Revolution, when America was crafting it government

credits: History.com

system, the Founding Fathers feared an executive branch with excess strength. An overpowered, single, executive was too similar to the overbearing monarch they had just escaped, and America’s creators chose to control its powers through a strong legislative branch. However, after 238 years with our Constitution, does the same power structure ring true today, and has it remained true throughout history? The short answer is, no, it has not. 

Article II of the Constitution outlines the executive branch, vesting the power of that branch into a single executive, the president, whose core function is to ensure the laws of the United States be executed faithfully. However, the power of the president has significantly grown from the initial intent of the founding fathers in the second article due to national crises, the American global role, nationalism, and urgency.

National Crises

This executive growth stems from Congress beginning to pass broad legislation during times of war and national crises. The First War Powers Act functions as a great example of legislation made during war-time that blurs the lines between executive and congressional power, as article II gives the president the power to control the military forces with Congress playing a large role in declaring war and other military operations. Made in 1941 after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the First Wars Power Act granted President Roosevelt the power to reorganize government systems and agencies to expedite the war effort. This act effectively gave FDR greater flexibility than Congress when it came to defense mobilization and managing the large effort of World War II.

In addition to war-time, great economic crises like the Great Depression also have

credits: Britannica

worked to expand the nation’s executive branch. The most prominent example of this is FDR’s New Deal, which was a series of programs and relief reforms that functioned together to attempt to heal the nation from its state of economic defeat. The New Deal established agencies like the SEC, FDIC, AAA, NRA, and TVC, thus increasing federal employment within the bureaucracy and executive branch. Furthermore, it granted the executive branch significant power to begin regulating the economy, shifting this power from the states and private entities to the federal government. 

Congress during the Great Depression lacked the time and expertise to handle the exorbitant number of proposed legislation of the New Deal, and often delegated broad rule-making authority to the new agencies, yet again obscuring the line between legislative and executive functions. In totality, these shifts in power between branches of government led to the modern day increased involvement of the president in domestic affairs.

American Global Rule

The growth of the executive branch is not exclusively a dilemma created within the borders of the United States. The World Wars that plagued the early to mid 1900s established the United States as the global hegemon, or the leading nation that holds dominant political, economic, and cultural influence over the world. 

Part of the executive growth came from presidents after the wars establishing themselves in foreign policy. Woodrow Wilson, president at the end of World War I, was a member of the Big 4, composed of Wilson, France’s Clemenceau, Britain’s George Lloyd, and Italy's Orlando. Together they worked to formulate and run the Treaty of Versailles. There, Wilson pushed his idealistic 14 points and the League of Nations in the negotiations for hope of peace. After World War II, President FDR worked alongside the rest of the Big Three, or

The Big Three; Credits: Daily Mail

Winston Churchill and Josef Stalin, to lay the foundation for the United Nations, which is still a large part of global international relations. In both cases, as the United States was emerging as the global hegemon, presidents were establishing themselves as key members of foreign policy. Previously, the United States had been mostly following Washington’s idea of isolationism and had goals to “stay clear of permanent allies” as outlined in his Farewell Address. However, as America departed from an isolationist ideology and emerged as a global superpower, the presidents stepped forward. While this wasn’t expanding the powers traditionally allocated to the executive branch, it was a growth in the powers they were actively exercising.

While presidents have used the power of executive agreements, or the ability for the

president to make international agreements without ratification in the Senate, since the

Credits: Pew Research Center

1700s, it wasn’t until after World War II where they became integral to the executive’s power. As the United States grew into its hegemon status, there was a need for faster diplomatic tools. Earning a two thirds vote in the senate became too cumbersome and slow for the scale and speed of postwar diplomacy; the treaty process was just impractical for many international commitments. Thus, executive agreements became more utilized and a regular occurrence in United States international relations. When this is compared to the original executives in America’s government, who primarily used the full treaty process, the power utilized by the president has greatly increased.

Executive Orders

Executive orders work as a way for the President to implement policy without the legislative process, but they do not create law. It is important to note that once a new executive sits in the Oval Office, they can recall any executive order no longer desired without having to go through a legislative process. This means that executive orders lack the permanence of legislation, but it also lacks the lengthy legislative processes. 

Prior to the Civil War, executive orders were a rare occurrence, but Abraham Lincoln

Credits: Government Book Talk

changed the narrative by issuing 48 executive orders during his time in office. As U.S. history progressed, they grew more and more common, with Theodore Roosevelt passing around 1,000 and FDR passing approximately 3,700 executive orders during their terms. 

When the federal government expanded and political polarization grew, reliance on executive orders increased because presidents found them to be quicker and a more certain way to push their ideas. That can be seen in the trend of new presidents signing a multitude of executive orders within the first few months of their term, particularly to direct bureaucratic agencies.

Originally, the executive branch was meant to be checked by the legislative branch, with executive orders serving as a way for presidents to carry out and enforce laws, especially during emergencies or when Congress is slow to act. However, as the use of executive orders has grown, so has the power of the presidency, allowing modern presidents to advance their agendas without waiting for lengthy congressional approval.

Modern Executive

The modern executive holds and utilizes much more power than his 1700s counterpart. This can be seen in the last two presidents; Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

Joe Biden signed approximately 160 executive orders in his first term, with 22 in his first week alone. Those first 22 were largely centered on reversing the executive orders issued by

Credits: PBS

Donald Trump in his first term. Within the realm of international relations, Joe Biden utilized executive actions to rejoin the Paris Agreement, an international climate change agreement, on his first day in office, successfully bypassing the Senate. Additionally, he sent millions worth of emergency weapons to Israel without congressional approval due to emergency powers that came alongside the war in Gaza. On the domestic front, he utilized the Department of Education rule-making actions to pursue the SAVE (Saving on A Valuable Education) plan, for forgiveness of student loan debt, after the Supreme Court rejected some of his broader ideas of student debt relief programs.

On the other side, Donald Trump signed 220 executive orders in his first term, and 225 thus far in his second term. In foreign relations, he justified trade relations with China and

Credits: NPR

Japan by using executive agreements rather than official treaties with Senate approval, and imposed reciprocal tariffs on worldwide imports by claiming that deficits in trade constituted a national emergency, therefore attempting to exercise powers that normally fall under Congress. In terms of borders and migration, he declared national emergencies to suspend entry for certain nationalities and create a faster plan for deportations. 

In all of these examples, Joe Biden and Donald Trump worked beyond what the original presidents would have, utilizing powers that have grown across history.

Final Thoughts

Nothing in United States politics is ever stagnant, it is just a factor that we, as Americans, must become accustomed to. However, being able to understand how the ever present change in the government systems impacts your goals and aspirations for life in the United States is integral to building strategies allowing you to push for your desired rights and protections.