The Five Types Of Presidency

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In the history of presidency, there have been five different types of presidents. They consist of the strict constructionist presidency, the stewardship presidency, the public presidency, the prerogative presidency, and the modern presidency. All presidents treat the office differently and they often set precedents for the presidents who follow them. The beliefs of these presidents, in their rights and limitations to power, shaped the way they made their decisions when they were in office. The presidential beliefs range from not acting outside of what the Constitution allows to using the Constitution more as a guideline for more modern times and situations. A strict constructionist president is one who believes that all of his actions need …show more content…

This type of president sees himself as a line of defense for the Constitution of the United States. He makes his decisions based on the Constitution singularly. It does not matter how he feels on the subject or what laws may exist on the subject. If it does not line up, he will make changes to the laws until they do. A president’s oath is to protect and defend the Constitution with his life and a president-elect should not plan to take that oath and then betray it (Pfiffner & Davidson, 48). An example of this type of president would be Abraham Lincoln. In Abraham Lincoln’s letter to A.G. Hodges, he writes that he “never understood that the presidency conferred upon me an unrestricted right to act officially upon this judgement and feeling” (Pfiffner & Davidson, 48). The judgment and feeling Lincoln is referring to is in relation to whether slavery is right or wrong. Lincoln was a president who believed that slavery was wrong in his own moral opinion . He also knew that it did not matter whether he believed slavery to be right or wrong, it only mattered what the Constitution said on the matter. President Lincoln would not have freed the slaves if the Constitution has forbade the freeing of slaves or allowed the keeping of …show more content…

This type of president bases his decisions more on the present time and happenings of past leaders than the specificities of what the Constitution and other laws say. This type of president tends to believe that our nation has advanced beyond the spectrum of the Constitution in some aspects, so he will base decisions on precedents set by previous leaders or set the precedents himself. The Supreme Court plays a big deal in helping to set said precedents. Their decisions on controversial matters set up how other cases and laws are created from that point on. Cases like these are often referenced if the president makes a controversial or unpopular decision based on an example set by a former president or major governmental leader. An example of this type of president is Barack Obama. For example, Obama shows himself to be a modern president through his actions with gay marriage. The Constitution does not necessarily speak on marriage in any aspect. Yet, President Obama and other leaders have used parts of the Constitution to put the gay marriage issue into the Supreme Court and have it ruled on. This shows how the Constitution is being used for modern purposes that were not necessarily issues in the time it was

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