This is the ninth and final article in our “issues” series being written in conjunction with Dave Schuler’s series at The Glittering Eye. The first article in the series, on Foreign Affairs, can be found here. The second article, on Fiscal Policy, can be found here. The third article, on Economic Policy, can be found here. The fourth article, on Health Care Policy, can be found here. The fifth article, on Energy Policy, can be found here. The sixth article, on civil liberties issues, can be found here. The seventh article, on values issues, can be found here. The eighth article, on space policy, can be found here.

It is sometimes fashionable to proclaim that who we elect to the office of President of the United States doesn’t matter.  ”It’s just a dimes worth of difference!” a lot of people say.  ”Congress matters more!” say others. Sometimes it simply boils down to, “I hate both of them.” There’s plenty of cynicism to go around, and being naturally inclined to cynicism myself, I’m not entirely unsympathetic–in the 2004 election, I wrote “None of the Above” in as my choice. But in the years since, it has become increasingly clear to me that, for better or for worse, the choice of President is significantly important. Important beyond the dreams of our Founding Fathers, I might add (except for maybe Alexander Hamilton). The reason for this is threefold: the President’s control over foreign policy, the President’s control over the federal bureaucracy, and the President’s veto power.

The President’s Control of Foreign Policy

By virtue of Article II, the President of the United States is Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, and has the power to make treaties and appoint Ambassadors. When the United States was a country of four million people and had no standing army, this didn’t mean much. But now, as the country world’s largest economy and military force, this is a substantial, mind-boggling amount of power. The State Department, which is under the President’s purview, commands thousands of diplomats working in every country. This country spends more on defense then every other country in the world. Combined. And the buck for all of these things stops with the President.

Now, this is theoretically checked by Congress. The Senate has to approve ambassadors. The Senate has to approve treaties. Congress alone has the power to declare war. But in reality, only one of these powers is truly exercised–the Senate is more than happy to not ratify treaties. However, when it comes to Ambassadors, it’s pretty much a rubber-stamp. When it comes to war, well, it’s pretty much a rubber stamp, isn’t it? The War Powers Act was pretty much an abdication of Congress’s authority to declare war. Sure, they have votes over AUMF resolutions, but I can’t recall one failing. Ever. And I certainly can’t think of a time when Congress reluctantly pushed the President into war in the whole of the past century.

Clearly, the President is the major figure in foreign policy. Given the increasing globalization of the world, that matters.

The President’s Control Over the Federal Bureaucracy

It is sometimes difficult to appreciate just how large the Federal bureaucracy is. It comprises hundreds of departments, thousands of offices, and millions of workers. All of whom work for the President. Every. Single. One. Sure, most of them have never met him. But the millions of pages of federal regulations, the tens of millions of decisions being made by the Federal Bureaucracy, they all emanate from the White House.

In creating the Administrative system (something that’s a virtual fourth branch of government), Congress delegated some of its legislative authority to the Executive Branch. The heads of these departments are appointed by the President. The President’s men make hiring decisions, set policy, and do their best to support the President’s agenda. This is power that, I submit, is far greater than that of Congress or of the Courts. But it’s rarely remarked upon or studied–in part because it is simply so large. It’s hard to wrap your brain around how big and complicated the machinery of government is.

But it’s there. And the President is at the head of it. Who he is matters.

The President’s Veto Power

Every piece of legislation that passes through Congress has to be signed by the President. Any piece of legislation vetoed by the President can only pass if it gets a 2/3s vote of the Congress after the veto. This is another staggering amount of power that the President possesses. The veto power is so tough to get over that even a President with a 25% approval rating can use it as leverage during legislative negotiations. It’s a hammer. And if Congress can come up with a way to make a line-item veto Constitutional, which I’ve no doubt will happen sometime in the next decade, the President’s power will become even stronger. This control over legislation, coupled with the President’s control over the federal bureaucracy and his stature as head of his own party, gives the President enormous influence and control over the legislative branch. Who wields that veto pen matters.

Conclusion

If I were to design an ideal government, there is no way that I would grant it as much power as it has. There is also no way that I would ever give one person as much power as the President of the United States has. But we don’t live in my ideal world. (Which is too bad–the movies rock there.) We live in the world as it exists, which makes the role of the President staggeringly powerful and important. Too powerful, in fact, to merely wave ones arms and say “a pox on both their houses!” You may not like either candidate, which is fine. Who likes politicians, anyway? But to paraphrase Robert Heinlein, the choice between “bad” and “worse” is frequently far, far more important than the choice between “good” and “bad.” And we gotta make the choice–the Presidency is simply too powerful a position to ignore.