The U.S. President's Job

"American Presidents Standing Side by Side!"
by Maggie Pagel, National Liberty Museum

This is a summary of the job of the President of the United States according to the powers granted in the Constitution. The next time you hear a presidential candidate making grandiose promises about what he will do when elected, remember this is what he actually can do, which is pretty limited. Power granted by the people to the Congress, President, and courts were limited for a good reason.

1. Faithfully execute all the laws passed by Congress.
2. Preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.
3. Commander in Chief of the armed forces
4. Create treaties with other countries. Treaties aren't valid until approved by two thirds of the Senate. For example, the Paris Agreement on climate change signed by President Obama was not a valid treaty since it wasn't approved by the Senate and doesn't have the force of law. It's simply a non-binding gesture.
5. Appoint ambassadors to foreign countries, heads of agency departments, and judges to federal courts and the Supreme Court, with the "advice and consent" of the Senate. If the Senate is in recess, he can fill those vacancies without the consent of the Senate but they automatically expire at the end of the next Senate session.
6. Report the state of the union to Congress and make recommendations that he considers necessary and expedient for the country.
7. Commission officers of the United States. In practice this has meant the commanding officers of the military who all report directly to him.

The framework of U.S. Constitutional government rests on the founding premise that government derives its right to govern from the consent of the people and its primary purpose is to secure innate natural rights that every human being is born with. This radically liberal idea was exactly contrary to the thought of leaders around the world who believed that people were the subjects of governing elites and the rights of citizens were granted by the government. As Nigel Farage points out, among the leaders of most democratic governments today that ancient and corrupt idea is still very popular.

See also:

• Constitution of the United States of America, Article II
• Article Two of the United States Constitution (Wikipedia)
• The Powers Delegated to the Federal Government Are Few and Defined (Roots of Liberty)