When presidents are treated like kings

   

With the end of the American Revolution on September 3, 1783, with the signing of the Treaty of Paris, not only was the independence of thirteen former British colonies recognized, but it signaled, in effect, the end of monarchical rule in those colonies as well. The people of the new United States of America wanted to have a president rather than a king because they believed that the king hadn’t represented their interests and had imposed taxes without their consent. They believed that they (at least the propertied White, male Protestants) should have a say in how they were to be governed.

 

But just wishing away a monarch as head of state, or even enshrining it in our founding documents, hasn’t entirely eliminated the human desire to rule, or the human weakness that causes some people to look to a strong ruler when they feel threatened. Contrary to the popular rumor, our first president, George Washington, was never offered the role of king of the country. There was a rumor that some of his army officers wanted to make him a monarch in 1782 because they were frustrated and dissatisfied with the weak and ineffective Congress, but Washington dissuaded them. Whether that second rumor is true or not I don’t know, but I do know that we’ve had presidents over the two-plus centuries of our existence who have acted like kings, or have been accuse of acting like kings.

 

During the 1830s, when Andrew Jackson was president, there was concern that he was grabbing too much power and centering it in the office of the President. Abraham Lincoln, using his executive power to hold the Union together, was criticized for acting ‘too much like a king.’

 

In the early 20^th century, Theodore Roosevelt greatly expanded the power of his office by exploiting his ‘bully pulpit’ to take up the ‘white man’s burden,’ and expand the ‘American Empire.’ Later, Teddie’s cousin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, had a powerful sense of dynastic identity, even marrying a cousin to ‘keep it in the family.’ The only president to serve more than two terms (elected a total of four times), he died in office, effectively making him America’s only ‘president for life.’

 

Even Barrack Obama, America’s first African American president, was accused of ‘behaving like a king or emperor,’ for his use of executive orders to get around an obstructionist Congress that was determined to see his presidency fail.

 

What gets missed in all this is that when the Founding Fathers wrote the Constitution and were deciding what powers to give the newly created office of president, they gave the position the same powers that they had (erroneously) believed that King George III had possessed and misused – to appoint and dismiss cabinet officers, to make war and peace, and to veto bills sent to the president from the legislature; in other words, the president had been given monarchical authority, making the president, in effect, an elected monarch.

 

Despite the way things look, or the accusations, most of our presidents have at least tried to act as if they didn’t have monarchical authority. Then, along came Donald J. Trump.

 

Here was a president who openly claimed such authority on more than one occasion, and not enough people were apparently paying attention.

 

In 2019, for example, when speaking to a group of young conservatives, he said, “Then I have an Article 2, where I have the right to do whatever I want as president.’ There are those who argue that this is an incorrect interpretation of Article 2 of the Constitution, but just as many who argue that as the president is ‘alone the Executive branch and as such he is the sole repository of all Executive powers conferred by the Constitution.’ The Supreme Court has not issued a decision on this, but Trump’s subsequent actions while in office and afterwards (such as his claim that he has the authority to declassify documents simply by thinking of it, or that he’s not bound to support the Constitution) illustrate that he firmly believes that he has the powers and authority of a king, and the resistance on the right to holding him accountable for his crimes would appear that there are those who view him as an emperor with the mandate of heaven. One noted White Nationalist, Nick Fuentes, even called Trump the ‘rightful king of America.’

 

Now, all this might seem like interesting but otherwise meaningless fodder for the tabloid press, but I think that such a point of view ignores the clear and present danger this man and his supporters pose to the democracy that is so fragile that Benjamin Franklin once said, when asked by a lady if we had a republic or a monarchy, “you have a republic if you can keep it.” Before you turn the page and go back to watching the football game, check out what Trump and his supporters plan should he win he 2024 election. Among other things, mass deportations, a new Muslim ban, and tariffs on all imported goods. Oh, and he’s made it clear that he’s going after his political enemies and anyone else who hasn’t ‘supported’ him. These are just a few things that have been openly discussed and if they don’t make you nervous, stop taking your Zantac and pay attention.

 

The king is not dead—long live the republic.