Presidential Powers

This resource is an Inquiry Pack to accompany the Presidential Powers Timeline on LegalTimelines.org, which explores the shifting powers of the chief executive throughout American history.

Built around primary sources from the Library of Congress and other collections, this Inquiry Pack facilitates a deep dive into an important aspect of the history of suffrage and voting rights in the United States.

Each Inquiry Pack includes a background reading, several primary sources (documents, articles, images), discussion questions about the sources, an inquiry question, and an inquiry extension question.

This pack includes the following components:

• Introduction: Powers of the President
• Expressed Powers
• Inherent Powers
• Executive Powers
• Emergency Powers
• Informal Powers
• Inquiry Question: Under what circumstances should presidents be able to expand their powers from those granted to them in the Constitution?
• Inquiry Extension Question: Are there powers the president currently has that Congress or the courts should curb? Why or why not?
• Inquiry Question Graphic Organizer