Changes

3. Herring, P. (2006) <i>Presidential leadership: the political relations of Congress and the chief executive</i>. Library of liberal thought. New Brunswick, N.J, Transaction Publishers.

Historians have debated what the nature of the presidency was intended by the founders of the United States. Alexander Hamilton explained the presidency as a need "energy" that helped to propel the legislative branch to action. In effect, the presidency was to be the engine of government rather than government or just another branch. Since Hamilton's time, the presidency has often varied between more centralized or even weak power. Perhaps what was not envisioned in the early United States is the degree to which partisan politics would sculpt policy.