The Constitution’s framers drafted the presidency in the shadow of a revolution against tyranny, aiming to create a chief executive who could act decisively while remaining constrained by other branches. They intended a balancing act between energetic leadership and legal limits. They did not anticipate political parties that would become loyal to a president, which would reduce the practical force of checks. The main expected constraint was impeachment and removal by Congress, but that mechanism proved so unlikely in practice that it has never occurred in the Republic’s history. Some readers abroad questioned why Americans treat an old governing document as authoritative.
"In response, I heard from people abroad who were mystified that Americans venerate and think they ought to be governed by a document more than two centuries old."
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