Dictator Pro-Tem

Under intense pressure from President Barack Obama, BP Plc agreed on Wednesday to set up a $20 billion fund for damage claims from its huge Gulf of Mexico oil spill and suspended dividend payments to its shareholders.

The Bush administration began planning to use U.S. troops to invade Iraq within days after the former Texas governor entered the White House three years ago, former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill told CBS News' 60 Minutes.

President Barack Obama imposed a moratorium on deepwater drilling after a deadly explosion on a BP-leased rig in April caused a devastating spill of crude into the gulf that has imperiled fragile coastlines and wildlife.

President Bush secretly authorized the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on Americans and others inside the United States to search for evidence of terrorist activity without the court-approved warrants ordinarily required for domestic spying, according to government officials.

President Barack Obama announced plans on Tuesday for a national fuel-economy and greenhouse-gas standard that would significantly increase mileage requirements for cars and trucks by 2016.

Then-Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson did indeed force banks to take money from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, according to documents obtained by Judicial Watch.

The Obama administration has taken the extraordinary step of authorizing the targeted killing of an American citizen, the radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, who is believed to have shifted from encouraging attacks on the United States to directly participating in them, intelligence and counterterrorism officials said Tuesday.

General Motors Chairman and CEO G. Richard Wagoner Jr. has been asked by President Barack Obama's Administration to step down in advance of GM's getting any further funds from the federal government.


These passages were taken from various news articles published over the past few years. Although they cover different issues and different administrations, they all have one thing in common. None of them describe actions properly within the scope of the President of the United States. In truth, they more closely resemble the kind of arbitrary and pernicious power normally associated with dictators of both the tin-pot and banana republic varieties.

A quick scan of The Federalist Papers shows that the Federal government was never intended to wield this kind of power – much less a single branch or individual within the Federal government. Nevertheless, the Executive branch has so overstepped its bounds that the Office of the President would not even be recognizable as such to the Founders.

So maybe we should start thinking about a name change to reflect how the presidency has evolved over the past two hundred years. The term “President” seems too grandiose for the modern US Chief Executive. It’s too laden with gooey romantic notions of limited government, consent of the governed, a government of laws not of men, etc., etc. Now that one person can do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, to whomever he wants, the quaint trappings of the republican form seem downright anachronistic.

“Dictator Pro-Tem” is a much better title, I think. It has the advantages of being more descriptive and more precise, and it strips away the veneer of respectability that comes with - but certainly no longer applies to - the President of our formerly fair Republic. The new title might even serve as a brake on further expansions of the office - no small feat, to be sure.

Today, the calls to place more and more power in the President's hands come from every corner of society, and from all points along the political spectrum. Yet for some reason, very few people would support giving more power to the likes of, say, Hugo Chávez or Kim Jong-Il. Why not? Because Chávez and Kim are rightly considered dictators, and most people are wary of giving them more power than they already have. Yet Hugo Chávez and Kim Jong-Il wield far less power than any US President. And shouldn’t the degree of power held be the determining factor? Shouldn’t we be more focused on the dangers posed by the office, rather than allow ourselves to be distracted by the mythos of the office?

If we were to consider the President in light of the dictatorial power he actually holds and routinely exercises, maybe we would be less cavalier about handing over more power to him. Eschewing the antiquated title of “President” for the more modern and accurate title of “Dictator Pro-Tem” might go a long way toward that end.