How powerful is the US president?
MOST of us consider the US president as the most powerful man on earth. Many foreign heads of states and governments often lobby to meet him at least once in the Oval Office. Some remain content with only short photo sessions with him at luncheons or dinners attended by him. But how powerful is he in reality?
The US constitution defines the powers of the president in only three short paragraphs. The president is the commander in chief of the armed forces. He can appoint ambassadors, ministers and consuls, judges of the supreme court and all other officers of the United States but only with the 'advice and consent' of the Senate . The Congress may vest the appointment of some junior officers in the president. The president has the power to fill up vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate. He can sign or veto legislation although the Congress may override a veto with a two-thirds vote of both Houses. The president is responsible for implementing and enforcing the laws passed by the Congress.
The president can, however, order the dropping of an atom bomb without consulting the Congress. Only President Harry Truman exercised this power in August 1945 by dropping two atom bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the World War II. Consequently, Japan surrendered to the allied powers on September 2, 1945.
What happens when a president exceeds his limits? The Supreme Court recently issued a unanimous rebuke to President Barack Obama saying he had overreached in issuing recess appointments during brief breaks in the Senate's work. Obama violated the constitution in 2012, the justices said, by appointing officials to the National Labor Relations Board during a break in the Senate's work when the chamber was convening every three days in short sessions. Those breaks were too short according to Justice Stephen G. Breyer who said such appointments generally remained permissible during breaks of 10 or more days. President Obama made an error of judgment only but was not spared by the Supreme Court
In 1974, President Richard Nixon had to resign when his involvement in the Watergate scandal came to light. There was no prosecution against him only because he had been pardoned by his successor, President Gerald Ford. These examples show that even the most powerful man on earth is not above the law.
Unable to exercise any power without the approval of the Senate, President Lyndon Johnson once lamented: “What can I do? The only power I have is that of the (atom) bomb, but alas I can't use it!”
The writer is a former chief engineer of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission.
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