President's Day

February has a National Holiday honoring our first President, George Washington, although it is called President's Day by most people.

The holiday is most closely associated with Washington and Lincoln, although to some degree we celebrate all the Presidents.

To most Americans, the past presidents are not very memorable with a few exceptions.  Many of them are hardly remembered.  At the time of his election William Henry Harrison was a war hero but he only served 31 days before dying of pneumonia and is best remembered for that.

Each of the Presidents rose to the highest office in the land based on accomplishments, but those actions are generally forgotten with a few exceptions.

What did happen, over the years, is that the President was given more ability to act by the Congress because of the potential need for quick response in emergencies.

This accretion of powers has to some extent changed the balance of power in America from what was originally intended.  While different in form, most of the founding fathers probably had something like Parliament in men.  In England the executive power is almost totally subjugated to the Parliament.

We have evolved differently here, and not necessarily in a good way.  The current President is clearly abusing some powers granted to his office and while it is offensive to see the powers abused, it may result in a needed correction to the proper balance.

The power of the people is inherent in the Congress where many more diverse viewpoints exist.