Has any US president ever been given more power than Bush? Not counting Georege Washington. I understand he?

Question

turned down the offer of kingship.

Answer 1

FDR came close but all of his powers were granted by congress on a temporary basis and only a few remained after WWII. The difference is that the powers now being given to Bush are being written into law and will take another act of congress to reverse. Also FDR did not have the technology to monitor every phone call all of the time. Welcome to "1984".

Answer 2

Technically, all U.S. presidents have had the same level of power as delineated by the Constitution. It's been more of the ability of wielding power than actually having power.

I think that in terms of wielding power, we would have to limit our analysis to post-World War II presidents, as they have had the ability to authorise the use of nuclear weapons without having to go through Congress or the judiciary. I suppose that the next criterion would be the ability of having the other branches of government to go along with the president's agenda. There it gets difficult to parse out as one might be successful on the foreign front but not the domestic front (thinking of Bush Sr.), or the reverse (probably LBJ, but Vietnam was a question mark). In that respect, Bush Jr. has been very successful, given the Republican majorities in Congress and a more conservative judiciary.

However, I think that a better criterion would be the ability of the president to win over the citizenry. For this, I would give the nod to Ronald Reagan. True, he had many opponents in the public, but many Democrats were convinced to support his agenda (hence the term Reagan Democrat). George W. Bush simply doesn't have the same charisma that Reagan had, and that is manifested in their respective presidental elections.

Answer 3

Lincoln was granted enormous powers during the Civil War when Congress authorized him to use emergency war powers. Some would say he abused these powers by suspending the writ of habeus corpus in some states. What makes you think that Bush the Younger has been granted more power than other presidents?

Answer 4

FDR had more power in his dead legs than George Bush does in his whole body. Also, one might argue that President Reagan and Bush's own father had much more power than George W. Bush.

Please don't mistake George W. Bush's use of his power with the power and influence that other presidents had, yet may not have used. Kennedy had extreme power, Nixon also had much power. Hell, even Thomas Jefferson weilded a mean presidential stick. Speaking of sticks, don't forget about TR's "Big Stick Diplomacy." (walk softly but carry a big stick.)

have a nice day.

Answer 5

Who is Georege? Turning something down did not give him power. He also maybe the only military leader in history to lead a successfull revolution and then voluntarily step down from power. Washington and the whole federal government during his presidency actually had very little power.

Answer 6

Franklin Roosevelt was given sweeping powers during part of the depression and WW II. The New Deal would not have passed had Roosevelt not been given some powers. He was allowed to conduct WW II as he saw fit with very little input from Congress.

Answer 7

Abraham Lincoln.

(be advised that I am not comparing President Lincoln to President Bush).

Answer 8

Read about the war President FDR.

Answer 9

Lincoln, Grant, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, LBJ, Why don't you read a book or two?

Answer 10

which Bush george bush senior or junior.