but a political institution comprising the roles the president plays，the powers he exercises, and the large bureaucracy he commands.

Constitutional Roles and Powers of the President

In the American political system, the president leads the executive branch of the federal government and also has important power in legislative and judicial matters. The Constitution defines his roles and powers in the following manner.

Chief of State

The president represents the nation as the head of state, symboliziig national unity and speaking on behalf of the American people to the world. He also grants reprieves and pardons to anyone convicted of breaking a federal law except in impeachment.

Chief Administrator

Artidc II of the Constitution vests the executive power in the president. His responsibility is to “take care that the laws be £Eiithfiilly executed”. To help the president enforce laws passed by Congress, the Consdtudon mandates him to supervise the operations of the executive branch of government, issue executive orders, and prepare the government’s annual budget for submission to Congress. Additionally, the Constitution authorizes him to appoint, with the advice and consent of the Senate, ambassadors, members of the Cabinet, federal judges, including justices of the Supreme Court, and other federal officers. The president may also remove executive officials at his discretion.

Chief Legislator

TTic president has the principal responsibility for the initiation of national policy. The Constitution requires the president to periodically inform the Congress of “the State of the Union”，which often outlines the president's legislative proposals for the coming year, and to “recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient”. The Constitution also authorizes the president to convene either or both houses of Congress on “extraordinary occasions”. In keeping with the system of checks and balances, the Consdrudon gives the president the authority to veto legislation passed by Congress.

Chief Diplomat

The president’s constitutional powers in foreign affairs are relatively modest. As the nation’s chief diplomat, the president represents the United States in its relationships with governments of other countries. He has the power to make treaties with foreign nations. The president may also negpdate "executive agreements" with other nations. For instance, the United States, througi the president, has frequently signed executive agreements to supply economic aid to foreign countries. Moreover’ the Constitution empowers the president to appoint diplomatic positions, including the US Secretary of State and ambassadors, and to receive foreign ambassadors to recognize foreign governments.

Commander in-Chief

Article II states that the president is 44Commandcr-in-Chicf of the Army and Navy of the Untied States' As Commandcr-in-Chicf of the armed forces, the president has a powerful voice in national and international affairs. While the power to declare war is consdtudonally vested in Congress, the president commands and directs the military and is responsible for appointing military officers and planning military strategy.

The Development of Presidential Power

Over the centuries, rather than invariably originating from the humble Artidc II of the Consdtudon, the role and power for the president has greatly evolved and accumulated in government. Popular expectations of presidential leadership far exceed the formal consdtudonal powers of the president. For example, in times of crisis, the American people look to their president to take action, to provide assurance, and to protect the nation and its people. The American people hold the president responsible for maintaining a healthy economy. He is also responsible for proposing legislation to Congress and mobilizing political support for the administration's programs in Congress. Moreover, the president is the leader of his party, confronting the opposition party, representing his party’s interests, and enjoying support in Congress from members of their own party. Many presidents have argued that their power is derived not only from specific provisions in the Constitution but also firom inferences that can be drawn from the Constitution.

The development of presidential power has depended much on the personal force of those who have held the office. Each president brings to the position some expectations about how to use presidential authority. How a president wields his powers is affected by the times in which the president serves, his advisers’ the president’s personality and leadership abilities.

The Presidential Establishment

As the responsibilities of and expectations about the president have grown, so has the presidential establishment. The Cabinet has grown, and the Executive Office of the President (EOP) has been established to help the president govern. Some members of EOP, and the white House stafT serve as the most important policy advisers to the president. And there are various executive agencies, commissions, and departments that arc responsible for carrying out the laws and policies passed by Congress, and dealing with specific areas of national and international affairs. All these establishments with about three million employees constitute a large federal bureaucracy under the president’s command. Althougi the bureaucratic system is not mentioned in the Constitution and thereby has no formal powers, by custom and tradition it has come to possess so much power in the governmental process.

The Cabinet

The Cabinet is the core of the administration. This advisory group, selected by the president and mostly approved by the Senate, includes the secretaries of executive departments, the vice president, and other agency heads or officials the president may designate, including the ambassador to die United Nations and the director of the Central Intelligent Agency (CIA). Today, the president relies on 15 executive departments such as the Departments of State, Defense, Interior, Labor and Energy. The Cabinet rarely functions as a decision-making body. More frequently, presidents hold cabinet meetings only to help promote their views. As a body, the Cabinet’s major function is to advise and support the president and help execute the laws.

The Executii fftce of the President

The Executive Office of the President (EOP) was established by Franklin Roosevelt to oversee his New Deal programs. It was created to provide the president with a staff to help him direct the activities of the executive branch. Over time, the EOP has become more responsive to individual presidents rather than to the executive branch as an insdtudon. The members of the EOP are now the prime policy makers as they play key roles in advancing the president’s policies. Among its most important members are the National Security Council (NSC), the Council of Economic Advisors, the Office of Management and Budget, the Office of the Vice President, and the U.S. Trade Representative. The NSC is really an 44inner cabinet” created to advise the president on American military a£Burs and foreign policy. The president is chair, and the vice president, secretary of state, and secretary of defense are the members. Others, such as the director of the CIA, the president's chief of staff, and the White House counsel, may also participate.

The White House Stqff

Today, presidents exercise thcir powers chiefly througi the White House staff. This staff includes the president’s closest aides and advisers, many with impressive titles, such as assistant to the president, special assistant to the president, and counsel to the president. Senior White House staff members arc often longterm intimate friends and personal aides. Appointed without Senate confirmation, they are loyal to the president alone. Their major casks include providing the president with advice, monitoring the operations of the executive branch, evaluating the performance of key executive officials, setting the president’s schedule, and above all, steering away from scandal and political blunders.

The Presidency In a New Century

The history of the U.S. presidency has been a history of expansion. The institution has grown in terms of the number of people it employs, in terms of the range of problems for which presidents are held responsible, and in terms of the international responsibilities of its incumbent. Meanwhile, Americans feel that they have a closer connection with the president than with any other politician. The rise of the electronic media, first radio and then television and the Internet, has enabled presidents to establish a direct, almost personal relationship with voters. The president can easily influence public opinion regarding issues and legislation that he considers important.

Yet all the prominence and responsibilities with a modem president must still be handled within the framework established by the Constitution that created not a presidential system of gpvemment in which presidents are free to make and implement policy but a system of separated institutions sharing the powers of government. Therefore, presidents can achieve their goals only by winning the support of other political participants. However, the nature of American politics makes the challenge all the greater. For example, the U.S. political parties are not well disciplined; the president’s unofficial role as leader of his party does not automatically result in legislators from his own party supporting the president’s bill in Congress, particularly if their constituents1 interests or opinions conflict with it. The president, whose international prominence is so great, must always remember that at home，success depends on the ability to persuade other people to cooperate. The power of the president is the power to persuade.

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