“Times have changed. But the basic premise of the Constitution hasn't changed. It’s still the blueprint for our freedom.” -Ronald Regan The Constitution is the pulse of our nation, pumping freedom from sea to shining sea. The Constitution is alive, and it acts as a guide to our leaders throughout the country, granting each citizen their individual rights. President Ronald Regan used the Constitution as framework for countless decisions in his eight years as president, from urging Mr. Gorbachev to “Tear down that wall!”, to maximizing the War on Drugs. President Regan utilized various limbs of the Constitution to serve the people in a multitude of ways, especially through Article II. Though the Article is compact, it has been understood and exercised in many different ways by our presidents. Our …show more content…
As stated in the quote above, our way of living changes through the years. Regan proved that point when he nominated O’Connor to become a Supreme Court Justice, sparking a social movement and causing O’Connor to become one of the most influential women in 1980’s America, spreading a ripple effect across the nation. Following being sworn in September, Justice O’Connor used the Constitution just as Regan did for structure when making important decisions that impact the way we live today, including writing the court’s decision on Planned parenthood v. Casey in 1992. Furthermore, Ronald Regan totaled 381 executive orders throughout his presidency, a stark contrast from Roosevelt’s 3,552 and Lincoln’s 48. Regan integrated countless ideas represented in the Constitution while President. O’Connor’s appointment was momentous due to a combination of multiple concepts noted in the Constitution; her nomination unified all three branches of government and also reiterated several key components listed that had seemed to fade in recent years.
After the American Revolution, America had earned it’s freedom from Britain. In order to govern this new country the Articles of Confederation was created. This document was flawed by the colonists fear of putting too much power into a central government. Knowing the document needed to be fixed a constitutional convention was called. The document created at this convention has been our constitution ever since. But even the Constitution was meet with criticism. One major concern when writing the constitution was how to protect the citizens rights. The Constitution did this through the preamble, the legislative process, the limit of presidential terms, the judicial branch, and the bill of rights.
You may think that the Constitution is your security - it is nothing but a piece of paper. You may think that the statutes are your security - they are nothing but words in a book. You may think that elaborate mechanism of government is your security - it is nothing at all, unless you have sound and uncorrupted public opinion to give life to your Constitution, to give vitality to your statutes, to make efficient your government machinery. (Brown)
One of the most important aspects of Reagan’s time in office was his domestic policy. He knew to have a successful presidency and create a strong, the people of the United States needed to be cared for. His first goal was to turn the economy around from the stagflation it encounter in the Carter era. Stagflation is very similar to inflation. The main difference is that inflation is the result of a quick economic growth while causes the value of money to decrease with now economic growth. To accomplish the turn around, Reagan introduce his economic policy which became known as Reaganomics. Reaganomics was based in supply side economics. This economic theory says that lowering taxes through tax cuts increases revenue by allowing more money
Story, J. (1987). Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States. Durham, N.C.: Carolina Academic Press.
Through the years many changes have taken place, and technologies have been discovered, yet our Constitution remains. Some say that the Constitution was written for people hundreds of years ago, and in turn is out of step with the times. Yet its principals and guidelines have held thus far. The framers would be pleases that their great planning and thought have been implemented up until this point. However this does not compensate for the fact, that the we the people have empowered the government more so than our fore fathers had intended. Citizens were entrusted with the duty to oversee the government, yet so many times they are disinterested and only seem to have an opinion when the government’s implications affect them. As time has changed so has the American people, we often interpret our freedoms in a self serving manner, disregarding the good of the whole and also the good for the future. Thus there are no true flaws in the Constitution, it appears that the conflict emerges in the individual and their self, and poses question when we must decide when to compromise the morals that our Constitution was founded on, or when to stick to what we know is right and honest.
The United States' Constitution is one the most heralded documents in our nation's history. It is also the most copied Constitution in the world. Many nations have taken the ideals and values from our Constitution and instilled them in their own. It is amazing to think that after 200 years, it still holds relevance to our nation's politics and procedures. However, regardless of how important this document is to our government, the operation remains time consuming and ineffective. The U.S. Constitution established an inefficient system that encourages careful deliberation between government factions representing different and sometimes competing interests.
Contextual analysis is made up of three basic components; intended audience, setting and most importantly purpose. Authors often times consider and work each contextual piece into the construction of their given argument. An argument is not powerful if audience preference is not a main concern, if the setting isn’t taken into consideration, or if the purpose is not relevant to the current situation. On January 28th, 1986 the shuttle challenger exploded 73 seconds into its take off. President Ronald Reagan wrote a critical speech to address the tragedy that had struck our nation that day. It is highly evident in his address that kept audience, setting, and purpose in mind. He comforts a worried public using calm tone and simple yet effective diction to convince the American nation that it’s necessary to go on and continue the space program and ultimately the scientific revolution.
Spaeth, Harold J. and Edward Conrad Smith. The Constitution of the United States, 13th ed. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1991 (paper). ISBN 0064671054.
In conclusion, our constitution developed a framework that articulated the necessary amount of government that “secured the blessings of liberty” while recognizing the dynamic institutions it created and the requirement for interpretation. National security will remain the principal task of our government; and the Constitution’s ambiguity, separation of powers, and lawful supremacy will ensure our nation’s policies and actions are grounded in situational context and always open to public scrutiny and debate.
... document and not the will of those in powers is tremendous. Except for the 17 of the 27 amendments that make part of the United States of America constitution, the constitution has remained largely the same. What has changed, and continues to change, is the interpretation of some parts that have expanded to include contexts that were not envisioned by our founding fathers. It is truly remarkable that the Constitution has sustained many powerful historical events over time and today remains pretty much intact.
Welch, Gruhl, Rigdon and Thomas (2011) assert that, according to Article II of the U.S. Constitution, the executive power is granted solely to the President of the U.S. This clause of the constitution has continued to draw significant constitutional debate since the ratification of the Constitution. For example, James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, in 1793 questioned whether the clause affords residual power to the President outside the enumerated powers stipulated in the Constitution. This debate is still significant in the contemporary times because it has a direct impact on the power of the President, and also, as an essential insinuation, it impacts on the freedoms and liberties of U.S. citizenry at home and in foreign countries. In this context, Pika and Maltese (2004) argue that, it is essential to mention a number of prominent Supreme Court cases that involve the outline of executive powers that have transpired, informed by in the perspective of foreign affairs, as well war. Therefore, it is not unforeseen that today, in the War on Terror, the...
After reading the exchange between Thomas Jefferson and James Madison on the question of central importance to American constitutionalism—whether any Constitution, including the United States Constitution, needs to be positively reauthorized or not by every succeeding generation for it to remain legitimate, I believe that what Jefferson demands in his letter as in all too much else, is ignorance, even rage against the past. His principle on expiring the constitution and laws every 19 years would only result in weak government that offers no social continuity and stability.
Brennan supported the Progressive belief that civilization must seek to advance society as a whole not on an individual basis. Brennan’s philosophy on the nature of government mirrored that of Progressives like Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt. Wilson highlighted the evolutionary necessity of the government to adapt in his New Freedom Speech, “The old political formulas do not fit the present problems; they read now like documents taken out of a forgotten age” The government established by the Constitution provided a basic framework for government; however, as the nation continued to evolve, so must our interpretation of that historic document. For Brennan “The genius of the Constitution rests not in any static meaning it might have had in a world that is dead and gone, but in the adaptability of its great principles to cope with current problems and current needs.” Brennan believed that the ultimate purpose of the Constitution was to protect the human dignity of all citizens.
“When contemporary Americans cite “The Constitution,” they invoke a concept that is vastly different from what the framers barely began to construct two centuries ago” (Marshall 611). This quote from Thurgood Marshall conveys his message in “Reflections on the Bicentennial of the United States Constitution.” Thurgood Marshall is the first Black Supreme Court justice, and he wrote these reflections in 1987. He does not believe that the Founding Fathers’ idea of The Constitution should be highly celebrated, as it no longer exists in that state. His essay is filled with historical context and substance. Using a clever delivery, his message is conveyed emotionally and with logic. The method of organization allows the reader to better absorb
The speech was 28 minutes long and 4628 words. Reagan’s speech was somewhat easygoing. He addressed the observers as equivalent to him and inserts some humor to corroborate his focus. He was more concerned with relating to and gaining the audience’s trust instead of sounding intelligent in order to impress the audience. “But again we do some arithmetic, and we find that we're going to spend each year just on room and board for each young person we help 4,700 dollars a year. We can send them to Harvard for 2,700! Course, don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting Harvard is the answer to juvenile delinquency.” This was Reagan’s strategy to imbed humor to relate with the group of onlookers and get some interest. He was not dry or so monotone that the general population was compelled to listen to him. He knew how to read his audience and promote his views and opinions.