By Rashad Mulla<\/p>\n
Because of the increased responsibilities of recent presidents, the United States\u2019 first leaders would not recognize today\u2019s presidency, political scholar Joseph Pika said.<\/p>\n
Pika, co-author of \u201cPolitics of the Presidency,\u201d spoke live via video conference to students from Denver University, Pace University in Manhattan and George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. on Oct. 9. Pika said the president had little executive power when the position was first conceived in 1788. His remarks are part of the distance learning collaboration between C-SPAN, the Cable Center at the University of Denver, and the three universities.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe expectations of the presidency have surpassed the realistic possibilities of the (job),\u201d said Pika, a political science professor at the University of Delaware. \u201cThe president was really tailor-made for this media age.\u201d<\/p>\n
George Mason student Taft Nesbitt agreed with Pika and said his assertion was grounded in fact.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe presidency has definitely evolved and become more powerful,\u201d Nesbitt said. \u201cThe position has become much more encompassing than the Founding Fathers ever envisioned it being.\u201d
\nPika said the ascent of the president\u2019s political power has been a gradual process, including President George W. Bush\u2019s current term.<\/p>\n
\u201cA slow accretion of power keeps going in the president\u2019s direction,\u201d he said. \u201cNow, the presidency requires a miracle worker to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pika said the presidency has gotten so powerful that presidents now can frequently over-promise and under-deliver, concepts Mason guest instructor Steve Farnsworth explained to his students on Oct. 2.<\/p>\n
One example was President Bush\u2019s handling of the Iraq War, Pika said. In his book, Pika wrote that Bush projected himself as an effective \u201cwartime president\u201d at the beginning of the war, then lost public support for the war. Now, Pika says wartime presidency has lost its luster.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe appeal is still there,\u201d Pika said. \u201cBut a lot of the shine has worn off.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain both frequently over-promise in their campaigns, Farnsworth said on Oct. 2. This development is fully attributable to the added power of the presidency, added Nesbitt. The Founding Fathers did not have the power to make such promises, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201c(The presidency) wasn\u2019t supposed to be the all-encompassing, pseudo-monarchy that it is today,\u201d Nesbitt said.<\/p>\n
According to Pika, when one of the candidates is elected president in three weeks, he will have one of the toughest jobs in U.S. history.<\/p>\n