Answer:
Over the years, the United States has gained global military, economic, cultural, scientific, and political dominance, which has allowed the country to have a significant influence on other nations. For instance, American influence and power have extended across different countries such as Iraq, spreading democracy and liberty through military invasion and the War on Terror. In addition, the United States’ political influence has been strengthened by its financial support to foreign countries through the U.S. foreign aid. For instance, Buchan argues that the U.S. has played a significant role in enhancing the relationships of the free nations of southern and Pacific Asia and spreading democracy in Western Europe (206). Besides, the country has played a critical role in influencing development processes in the third world through either trade liberalization or aid (Buchan 206). As a result, America’s global influence and power have raised a debate about the extent to which the American presidency has gained imperial power. This is because the U.S. has become less democratic, more authoritarian, and has reduced its ability to solve broad and complex issues (Johns 97). This paper argues that American imperialism, circumstances emanating from national crises, Constitution that allow the sitting president to obstruct justice, and congressional ineffectiveness and desuetude have significantly influenced the American presidency to become imperial.
Imperial power in American imperialism
Right from the outset, the American presidency has been exercising imperial power, with the past presidents portraying the United States as the global power. This has resulted in the development of the term “American imperialism” in the late 1800s. American imperialism refers to the military, cultural, political, and economic influence of the U.S. on other nations (Chau 31). The term became popular in the late nineteenth century as the U.S. gained imperial power by focusing on spheres of influence through covert foreign policies or direct interference. For instance, empire theorists like Minister Josiah Strong, Alfred Thayer Mahan, and Brooks Adams advocated for expanding Christian doctrine, republican institutions, civilization, and fulfilling social Darwinism (Chau 32). The imperial agenda gained attention to U.S. presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt, William McKinley, Woodrow Wilson, and William Howard Taft (Chau 32).
In the 1890s, the United States had started to adopt the imperialism ideology and stepped out into the world to gain significant political influence and power. The country gained major political power to the extent that Richard Olney, the Secretary of State boasting, “the United States is practically sovereign on this continent, and its fiat is law upon the subjects to which it confines its interposition” (Chau 32). This was an idea that American was exceptional from other nations, and it engaged in a mission to spread democracy and liberty. For instance, towards the end of the nineteenth to World War I, America was in the “Age of Imperialism” as the country exerted social, economic, and political power over countries like the Philippines, Guam, Puerto Rico, Japan, Korea, Germany, and Cuba (Chau 32).
At the beginning of the First World War, America extended its power and influence more aggressively by intervening in the Russian Civil War, China’s Boxer Rebellion, Latin American affairs, and the Mexican Revolution (Chau 33). Through the leadership of President Wilson, the U.S. climbed to the top of the world-power ladder. Through the “liberal capitalist internationalism,” President Wilson used the U.S. greatest and global capitalist power to extend the country’s influence in Europe during World War I. The U.S. maintained much political and economic strength during World War II. At the end of the war, the U.S. emerged stronger than before as the greatest world power (Chau 33).
As a result, American history indicates that although the U.S. did not focus much on conquests and colonies, it paid more attention to the sphere of influence to enhance American imperialism. Despite gaining territories such as Puerto Rico, the U.S. stepped out to gain global influence over other nations. Chau asserts that the United States gained global power and commanding heights of wealth and power, which helped the country to achieve exceptional global influence despite being attacked and criticized (36). From the end of the nineteenth century throughout the twentieth century, America has gained substantial global influence and power. However, new challenges in the twenty-first century, such as Russia’s resurgence and the emergence of new global powers such as India and China, have significantly affected the American imperial power. Nevertheless, the American presidency seems to have gained more imperial power than ever before.