Columbus state community college. Introduction to American Government course.
This essay is worth 10% of total grade.
Covers the topics of factors that influence a presidents power as well as factors that influence elections and decisions.
Zielinski
1
Addie
Zielinski
POLS
1100
Professor
Jones
7
November
2022
Prompt
2
The
four
factors
that
influence
presidential
success
include
circumstances
that
require
bold
actions,
the
stage
of
the
president's
term,
the
nature
of
an
issue,
and
the
makeup
of
Congress
(Patterson
370).
First,
when
the
United
States
faces
dire
circumstances,
the
power
of
the
presidency
is
almost
unparalleled
(Patterson
371).
During
the
Great
Depression,
the
United
States
was
facing
extreme
circumstances
and
Franklin
D.
Roosevelt
was
able
to
pass
drastic
changes
in
domestic
policy
(Patterson
371).
Next,
at
the
beginning
of
a
president’ s
term,
presidents
have
a
honeymoon
period
where
their
bills
are
twice
as
likely
to
get
through
Congress
(Patterson
372).
President
Johnson
was
a
very
successful
president,
even
though
he
had
a
weak
record
in
his
final
years
(Patterson
372)
Also,
Congress
is
more
likely
to
enact
a
foreign
policy
than
a
domestic
one,
and
Congress
gives
presidents
more
decision-making
power
in
foreign
policy
areas
(Patterson
372).
While
Trump
was
in
office,
he
used
these
authorizations
to
start
a
trade
war
with
China.
Last,
if
Congress
is
mostly
composed
of
a
president’ s
party
then
presidential-supported
bills
are
more
likely
to
be
passed
(Patterson
373).
When
Trump
was
in
office
both
the
House
and
Senate
were
controlled
by
Republicans,
and
95
percent
of
bills
that
Trump
supported
were
passed
(Patterson
373).
“The
Illusion
of
Presidential
Government,”
describes
how
the
president’ s
putting
themselves
into
the
spotlight
eventually
causes
them
to
get
too
much
credit
when
policies
go
well
and
too
much
blame
when
it
goes
wrong
(Patterson
375).
Presidential
power
resides
on
a Zielinski
2
popular
base,
and
after
the
honeymoon
period,
presidents
start
to
lose
some
of
this
popular
base
(Patterson
375).
This
makes
it
harder
for
them
to
pass
bills
they
support.
This
illusion
also
makes
it
seem
that
presidents
have
more
power
than
they
do
(Patterson
375).
The
position
of
the
U.S
president
can
not
be
the
most
powerful
position
in
the
government
if
they
do
not
have
the
support
of
Congress,
the
people,
as
well
as
circumstance
on
their
side.
If
the
president
doesn’ t
have
Congress
controlled
by
their
party
then
it
can
be
hard
for
their
bills
to
gain
support
because
of
checks
and
balances
(Patterson
42).
Congress
has
the
power
to
override
a
presidential
veto,
approve
treaties,
and
enact
the
budget
and
laws
within
presidential
action,
so
without
Congress’ s
support,
it
can
be
hard
for
a
president
to
have
much
influence
on
bills
(Patterson
42).
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