152 Presidential politics
American governmental structure should by now be apparent to the reader,
but there are two further dimensions which will be looked at in more detail in
later chapters – the loosely integrated character of the American administra-
tive machine, and the powers of the courts to affect the outcome of political
situations. The president must, by an extreme act of will, attempt to get
acceptance of a set of policies by this vast and complex body of people. In
the last analysis the standing of a president depends upon the success with
which this function is performed. To evolve and initiate policies is of little use
if the acquiescence of Congress, and of state and local governments, is not
obtained; and the passage of legislation, or the exercise of presidential au-
thority, will be of little real value if the president’s intentions are frustrated
by members of the administration. The president is by no means lacking in
weapons with which to tackle the problem of coordination, in its widest sense,
and most of the reforms that have been made in the presidency in the past
thirty years have been directed at improving the president’s performance in
this area. However, in performing this function the president faces two most
formidable obstacles.
In the first place there are the benefits, and also the considerable dis-
advantages, of the loosely organised party system, with its consequent lack
of party discipline. The advantage is that the president can hope to attract
support for some policies from the members of both parties in Congress, but
by the same token the president’s own party cannot be depended upon to give
unequivocal support for the administration’s legislative proposals. Further-
more, the effects of this lack of party cohesion go beyond the sphere of the
relations of the president with Congress. They reach into the administration
itself. The president is not able to assume that party allegiance will assure
ready compliance among the senior members of the administration, even
when they are members of the same party, which is not always the case. The
president may meet almost as much opposition, of a rather different kind, it
is true, from within the administration as from outside it. Second, the presi-
dent faces an array of constitutional obstacles to the attempt to coordinate
the action of government. Much of the politics of the presidency consists of
the efforts of the president to overcome these barriers to the smooth exercise
of power. Let us look then at the constitutional position of the president.
The powers of the president
As in other respects, the Constitution’s grant of power to the president is in
very general terms, the main provision being: ‘The Executive Power shall
be vested in a President of the United States of America.’ The content and
meaning of this bald statement has been filled in since 1789 by the accumula-
tion of practice, and by the decisions of the Supreme Court. The Constitution
did, however, expand a little on the role of the chief executive. The president
was also to be commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States,
and of the militia of the several states when called into the service of the