# The Cult of the Presidency **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 5, 2008, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cult-of-the-presidency/451848 "2008-06-05T07:13:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cult-of-the-presidency/451848/1 "2008-06-05T07:13:31Z")
> **[The Cult of the Presidency](https://reason.com/2008/05/12/the-cult-of-the-presidency/)** > > Who can we blame for the radical expansion of executive power? Look no further than you and me. Have we put too much stock in the office of the Presidency? ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cult-of-the-presidency/451848/2 "2008-06-05T07:16:43Z")
Burn incense to [del]Caesar[/del] POTUS! Burn incense to POTUS or die! Hey, you said cult! But yeah, it’s ridiculous. A recent issue of _Time_ had some cover story about how the next Pres could supposedly fix–the economy or something–& I thought, wow, what a simplistic attitude towards our far more complex governing system, & how horrible to encourage that. ---
**Author:** ![GomiBoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b2d939/32.png) [@GomiBoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GomiBoy)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cult-of-the-presidency/451848/3 "2008-06-05T08:21:47Z")
[QUOTE=foolsguinea] But yeah, it’s ridiculous. A recent issue of _Time_ had some cover story about how the next Pres could supposedly fix–the economy or something–& I thought, wow, what a simplistic attitude towards our far more complex governing system, & how horrible to encourage that. [/QUOTE] It’s a lot easier than researching and actually writing the news, though. Time is the USA Today of glossy news mags - mostly feel-good proto-news designed to be easily consumable before your first cup of coffee and anywhere in the US without offending anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cult-of-the-presidency/451848/4 "2008-06-05T13:41:56Z")
Except Time didn’t say the new President could fix the economy. The article ([The New President’s Economy Problem](http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1790971,00.html)) expressly recognized the limited power the President has: > [@](#): > > The bigger issue for voters to wrestle with, though, is not what the economy can do to the presidential race but what the next President can do to the economy. **Usually it’s not so much.** But every once in a while, like when Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected in 1932 and Reagan in 1980, the effect can be dramatic. Reagan’s policies, together with some luck and the inflation-killing zeal of Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, helped the U.S. economy break out of its 1970s malaise into a new era of flexibility, innovation and growth. And this era didn’t end when Reagan left office in 1989. Subsequent Presidents, even Democrat Bill Clinton, followed more or less in Reagan’s footsteps. The point of the article was to identify economic challenges which a new administration is going to face. Presidents do have economic policies in response to economic issues. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cult-of-the-presidency/451848/5 "2008-06-05T16:01:38Z")
Although as much as I like FDR, even he had very few successes with the economy, and most of the New Deal was probably of no real value. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2008, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cult-of-the-presidency/451848/6 "2008-06-05T19:17:16Z")
Not a bad article, **mswas** ; thanks. Yes, we pay more attention to the President, and expect him to do more for (or to) the country than is probably healthy in a modern democracy - certainly more than the Framers ever expected us to. But in a media age, when nuclear weapons can destroy cities in seconds, it’s not too surprising. No single individual can authoritatively speak for Congress or the Supreme Court, as such, while the President is guaranteed to have a camera focused on him just about whenever he wants. I think it was Rossiter who said that the President is the high priest of our civic religion. Most Presidents aren’t Washington, Lincoln or FDR. Nowadays, most use rhetoric that reality can’t match, and make promises or commitments that they can’t entirely keep, even if they want to. In office, most have to make policy choices from a list of varyingly unappealing options. Most leave office without accomplishing all that much. But every four years we have the chance to pick another one, and part of the genius of American democracy is that every four years we have the chance to begin anew, with someone in the Oval Office who might truly achieve greatness. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cult-of-the-presidency/451848/7 "2008-06-06T06:05:34Z")
Generally I don’t blame economic problems on a President or credit him with a sound economy. But there’s just too much money going into the Middle East when there are hard times for too many here. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cult-of-the-presidency/451848/8 "2008-06-06T06:09:06Z")
> [@](#): > > **smilingbandit** : Although as much as I like FDR, even he had very few successes with the economy, and most of the New Deal was probably of no real value. Would you elaborate? ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cult-of-the-presidency/451848/9 "2008-06-06T18:57:22Z")
[QUOTE=mswas] Have we put too much stock in the office of the Presidency? [/QUOTE] Yes, yes (\*1000)! I think it bespeaks an inate human desire for deities. We glorify and magnify our presidents, their good and bad traits, past any reason based expectations. We invest way too much power in our presidents. With our current environment of 24 news cycles and the blogosphere the president is always present in our daily lives. I, for one, don’t like it one bit! To me, the president, and the government as a whole, has a job to do that shouldn’t involve me for the most part. Kinda like the phone company. As long as the phone works and I pay my bill, we stay out of each others way. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cult-of-the-presidency/451848/10 "2008-06-06T21:23:53Z")
[QUOTE=Icarus] To me, the president, and the government as a whole, has a job to do that shouldn’t involve me for the most part. Kinda like the phone company. As long as the phone works and I pay my bill, we stay out of each others way. [/QUOTE] To me, this is a dangerous attitude. I don’t think we should stay out of the government’s way and just let them do their “job.” If we don’t make some noise and get involved, we’re doomed to live with other peoples’ decisions. Not holding our elected government officials accountable can be a stupid and dangerous thing. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2008, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-cult-of-the-presidency/451848/11 "2008-06-06T23:53:01Z")
[QUOTE=Icarus] . . . I think it bespeaks an inate human desire for deities. . . [/QUOTE] Also an inate desire to have someone be in control. We’re not too fond of the chaos and complexity.