US politics
fromThe New Yorker
3 months agoWe'd Never Had a King Until This Week
The enduring idea of America is rooted in the rejection of kingship and the commitment to democratic self-rule.
"Framers never intended the presidency to be a public office. It was meant to be more of a clerk role in charge of the executive office," says Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston. "There is no one moment where a switch flipped where the presidency became a public office. It happened gradually." This highlights the initial aim of the presidency as a limited role rather than the powerful position it has become.