Executive Orders

Along with being president, comes great power and authority. Some say that certain presidents abuse this power while others believe that everything the president does is for the good of the country. I recently watched the film “Lincoln” and thought it was very educational; but the question still comes to some historians who wonder if Lincoln went against the constitution and abused his executive powers to try and pass the thirteenth amendment and abolish slavery in the States.  

At the time, Lincoln had issued more executive orders than all the presidents that had served before him. Does that mean he was abusing his powers as president? Some believe it is so, others don’t feel that way. Even though Lincoln passed more executive orders than any of the previous presidents before him, the decisions were more helpful than harmful making them good decisions. I feel that Lincoln did not abuse his executive powers, because all of his actions were an attempt to abolish slavery and try to end the war as soon as he could. With the entire country in the state of rebellion, Lincoln believed that he had the right to certain war powers, which is a concept not in the Constitution.

If you were to compare our current president Barack Obama to Lincoln, I feel that Lincoln did more for the people than Obama. President Obama is passing numerous executive orders  for the government to take over things such as ways of transportation. He is also trying to take control of things like communication media and health, education, and welfare functions. While Obama is creating many executive orders to control everything about our country, Lincoln was passing numerous executive orders to keep our country together.

I believe that Lincoln is one of the country’s greatest presidents and he should be remembered that way. I think the film “Lincoln” is a great way to honor what he did for this great nation in which we all live in.