President america

Imperial Presidency

Main article: Imperial Presidency

President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivers a radio address, 1933
The ascendancy of Franklin D. Roosevelt in the election of 1932 led further toward what historians now describe as the Imperial Presidency.^[42] Backed by enormous Democratic majorities in Congress and public support for major change, Roosevelt's New Deal dramatically increased the size and scope of the federal government, including more executive agencies.^{[43]: 211–12} The traditionally small presidential staff was greatly expanded, with the Executive Office of the President being created in 1939, none of whom require Senate confirmation.^{[43]: 229–231} Roosevelt's unprecedented re-election to a third and fourth term, the victory of the United States in World War II, and the nation's growing economy all helped established the office as a position of global leadership.^[43]: 269 His successors, Harry Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower, were each re-elected as the Cold War led the presidency to be viewed as the "leader of the free world,"^[44] while John F. Kennedy was a youthful and popular leader who benefitted from the rise of television in the 1960s.^[45][46]
After Lyndon B. Johnson lost popular support due to the Vietnam War and Richard Nixon's presidency collapsed in the Watergate scandal, Congress enacted a series of reforms intended to reassert itself.^[47][48] These included the War Powers Resolution, enacted over Nixon's veto in 1973,^[49][50] and the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 that sought to strengthen congressional fiscal powers.^[51] By 1976, Gerald Ford conceded that "the historic pendulum" had swung toward Congress, raising the possibility of a "disruptive" erosion of his ability to govern.^[52] Both Ford and his successor, Jimmy Carter, failed to win re-election. Ronald Reagan, who had been an actor before beginning his political career, used his talent as a communicator to help re-shape the American agenda away from New Deal policies toward more conservative ideology.^[53][54] His vice president, George H. W. Bush, would become the first vice president since 1836 to be directly elected to the presidency.^[55]
With the Cold War ending and the United States becoming the world's undisputed leading power,^[56] Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama each served two terms as president. Meanwhile, Congress and the nation gradually became more politically polarized, especially following the 1994 mid-term elections that saw Republicans control the House for the first time in 40 years, and the rise of routine filibusters in the Senate in recent decades.^[57] Recent presidents have thus increasingly focused on executive orders, agency regulations, and judicial appointments to implement major policies, at the expense of legislation and congressional power.^[58] Presidential elections in the 21st century have reflected this continuing polarization, with no candidate except Obama in 2008 winning by more than five percent of the popular vote and two — George W. Bush and Donald Trump — winning in the Electoral College while losing the popular vote.^[E] Both Clinton and Trump were impeached by a House controlled by the opposition party, but the impeachments did not appear to have long-term effects on their political standing.^[59][60]