What are the powers of the president and how have they evolved over time?
Generations of American schoolchildren have learned that Congress makes the laws and the president enforces them. This helps, but only a little. The U.S. Constitution is the source of the president’s authority, but it is a concise document, more of an outline than a blueprint (the proposed European Union constitution is more than 35 times longer). It leaves room for each president — subject always to “checks and balances” of the legislative and judicial branches — to interpret the breadth of his powers in accordance with his personal philosophy of governance and the demands of the times.
