Presidents Day: What's to Celebrate? | Cato Institute

Presidents Day: What's to Celebrate? | Cato Institute: "The demands Americans place on the presidency are virtually boundless: They “invest in the president their highest aspirations not just for the federal government, but for the general polity, for their communities and families, and for their own private lives.” Responding to the incentives that confront them, presidents naturally seek power to meet the insatiable public demands for presidential salvation.

Thus, Howell writes, “from nearly the moment he assumes office, the most self-effacing presidential candidate will quickly be transformed into a great apologist for presidential power.”"



“presidents can ill afford to repudiate any power that might enable them to address the onslaught of expectations put before them.”



"The private interests of individual congressmen lead them to cede power to the executive branch and focus on reelection. Congress rarely guards its institutional turf — yet every president ends up leaving the presidency stronger than he found it."