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1861-1865| President Abraham Lincoln and the U.S. Civil War

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1861-1865| President Abraham Lincoln and the U.S. Civil War

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During the U.S. Civil War, Lincoln expanded the size of the army without the consent of Congress, Calling for 75,000 military volunteers after Confederates fired on Fort Sumter. In addition, he suspended abeas corpus (the right to an appearance in court) and authorized military trials of civillians.

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1903| President Theodore Roosevelt and the Panama Canal Zone 

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1903| President Theodore Roosevelt and the Panama Canal Zone 

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The completion of the Panama Canal signified the growing global power of the United States as well as an expansion of eecutive power. Rather than asking for Congress's consideration, Roosecelt went ahead with construction. He believed in the "stewardship" theory of the presidency, which held that "executive power was limited only by specific restrictions and prohibitions appearing in the Constitution or imposed by the Congress under its constitutional powers."

The Panama Canal would not have been started if I had not taken hold of it... I took the Isthmus, started the canal and then left Congress not to debate the canal, but to debate me.

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1940s | President Franklin D. Roosevelt and WWII

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1940s | President Franklin D. Roosevelt and WWII

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Throughout his 13 years in office, Franklin D. Roosevelt significantly expanded executive power. His fireside chats during the Great Depression established a new role for the executive branch and the federal government. It signified the influence a president had over the people. During WWII, U.S. citizens favored neutrality, which meant that FDR could provide limited aid to Allied forces. However, FDR gradually led the U.S. from neutrality to involvement by expanding his reach and control. For example, the War Powers Act of 1941 increased federal power and allowed the President to utilize executive agencies in the war effort.

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1961-1962 | President John F. Kennedy, the Bay of Pigs Invasion, and the Cuban Missile Crisis

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1961-1962 | President John F. Kennedy, the Bay of Pigs Invasion, and the Cuban Missile Crisis

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Though John F. Kennedy's handle over foreign affairs has shown both successes and failures, Kennedy's anti-Communist measures and expansion of U.S. global power contributed to presidential power over foreign policy and as commander-in-chief. Despite the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 ending in disaster, polls showed that his popularity had shot up. Following this, in 1962, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev deployed Soviet forces and long-range nuclear missiles to Cuba. After much deliberation, Kennedy decided on a "quarantine" of Cuba, without any Congressional input. Fortunately, the two sides reached a deal and Khrushchev withdrew the missiles, ending the Cuban missile as a diplomatic victory.

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1980s | President Ronald Reagan, the Reagan Doctrine, and the Iran-Contra Affair

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1980s | President Ronald Reagan, the Reagan Doctrine, and the Iran-Contra Affair

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Like Kennedy, Reagan's administration had both successes and failures regarding foreign policy. Under the Reagan Doctrine, the U.S. provided both overt and covert aid to anti-Communist movements and ending the Cold War. This Doctrine was applied heavily in Nicaragua, resulting in the Iran-Contra Affair, a scandal that plagued Reagan's second presidential term. Despite the Iran-Contra Affair being Reagan's biggest failure in foreign policy, approval ratings for Reagan shot up after he delivered a speech on March 4, 1987, stating that he took "full responsibility for my own actions and for those of my administration." Reagan's administration demonstrated that presidential power over foreign policy was recovering following the Watergate scandal and American citizens seemed to be regaining their faith in the president leading foreign policy.

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2010s | President Barack Obama and His Foreign Policy

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2010s | President Barack Obama and His Foreign Policy

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During his presidency, Obama greatly expanded presidential war powers and demonstrated how the executive branch continues to remain dominant in foreign policy. He has authorized six times as many covert drone strikes in Yemen, Pakistan and Somalia than former President George W. Bush. Obama has also overseen the creation of a massive surveillance program and deployed the military to fight new wars without congressional authorization.