“Weak at home, Strong abroad.” Discuss
The Government of the United States of America is composed of three separate branches that include the Executive, Judicial and Legislative branch, whose powers are vested in the US Constitution in The President, Supreme Court and all federal courts and Congress. The President is the Head of State and The Head of Government in the American federal government and many presidents are often claimed to be bifurcated; strong internationally and weak domestically or strong domestically and weak internationally. It is rare to come across a President that is strong both nationally and internationally, it is most likely a case in which a President attempts to assert his/her power domestically but cannot do so due to many checks and balances and therefore tries to show their dominance on an International scale.
A president can be seen to be weak at home, domestically due to a number of checks and balances that they must encounter. An example of a check on the Presidents power would be the power of…
Although only Congress has the right to authorise the use of the armed forces, if the president acts there is little Congress can do to restrain him.This is a power given to the President domestically, executing the power on an international scale gives the President a powerful image that asserts his/her dominance. An example would be Franklin Roosevelt. Roosevelts four terms as president were marked by two of the largest threats to America; the Great Depression and World War II. The role President Roosevelt played during World War II showed complete dominance at an international scale, he can be seen to be one of the most influential Presidents that America has ever had. Franklin D Roosevelt was given the power to be Commander-In-Chief, as all Presidents do and had became an international figure because of…
