2 Presidential Addresses 



shaping the policy of the nation, the Prime Minister 

 occupying a position more nearly analogous to that 

 of our President. The Prime Minister, however, 

 can at any time be thrown out of office by an ad 

 verse vote, while the President can only be removed 

 before his term is out for some extraordinary crime 

 or misdemeanor against the nation. 



Of course, in the case of each there is the enor 

 mous personal factor of the incumbent himself to 

 be considered, entirely apart from the power of the 

 office itself. The power wielded by Andrew Jack 

 son was out of all proportion to that wielded by 

 Buchanan, although in theory each was alike. So 

 a strong President may exert infinitely more in 

 fluence than 'a weak Prime Minister, or vice versa. 

 But this is merely another way of stating that in 

 any office the personal equation is always of vital 

 consequence. 



It is customary to speak of the framers of our 

 Constitution as having separated the judicial, the 

 legislative and the executive functions of the gov 

 ernment. The separation, however, is not in all 

 respects sharply defined. The President has cer 

 tainly most important legislative functions, and the 

 upper branch of the national legislature shares with 

 the President one of the most important of his ex 

 ecutive functions; that is, the President can either 

 sign or veto the bills passed by Congress, while, on 

 the other hand, the Senate confirms or rejects his 

 nominations. Of course the President can not ini 

 tiate legislation, although he can recommend it. 



