Explanation:
In the 20th century the powers and responsibilities of the presidency were transformed. President Theodore Roosevelt (1901–09) regarded the presidency as a “bully pulpit” from which to preach morality and rally his fellow citizens against “malefactors of great wealth,” and he wheedled from Congress a generous fund for railroad travel to put his pulpit on wheels. Other presidents followed Roosevelt’s example, with varying results. Woodrow Wilson (1913–21) led the United States into World War I to make the world “safe for democracy,” though he failed to win congressional approval for American membership in the League of Nations. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first president to use the medium of radio effectively, and he raised the country’s morale dramatically during the Great Depression. Ronald Reagan (1981–89), known as the “Great Communicator,” employed televised addresses and other appearances to restore the nation’s self-confidence and commit it to struggling against the Soviet Union, which he referred to as an “evil empire.”
Theodore Roosevelt also introduced the practice of issuing substantive executive orders. Although the Supreme Court ruled that such orders had the force of law only if they were justified by the Constitution or authorized by Congress, in practice they covered a wide range of regulatory activity. By the early 21st century some 50,000 executive orders had been issued. Roosevelt also used executive agreements—direct personal pacts with other chief executives—as an alternative to treaties. The Supreme Court’s ruling in U.S. v. Belmont (1937) that such agreements had the constitutional force of a treaty greatly enhanced the president’s power in the conduct of foreign relations.
