VOA慢速英语2021--美国总统的独特发明

The Unique Invention of the American President

VOA Learning English presents America's Presidents.

Today we are not going to talk about any one president. We will instead talk about the presidency¹ itself -- what some people call "the office of the presidency."

That does not mean the room where the leader of the United States works. Here, it means the position and powers of the U.S. president.

Sidney Milkis is part of the Miller² Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. He and others at the Miller Center are specialists on U.S. political history.

Milkis says that, when it was created in the late 1700s, the U.S. presidency was unlike any other position in world history.

"For thousands of years before the American Constitution people thought a strong executive power and a democracy – what Jefferson called self-government – were incompatible³. Because how could a sovereign people delegate tremendous responsibility to one individual and still consider themself a democracy, even a representative democracy?"

In other words, the idea of giving a lot of power to one person made sense – if the country were a monarchy⁴ and ruled by a king or queen.

And giving a lot of power to an elected group in a legislature made sense – if the country were a democracy, and voters elected representatives.

But giving a lot of power to one person in a democracy did not seem to make sense.

The writers of the Constitution understood this situation. They were concerned about giving one person too much power. Remember, the country's founders⁵ had just fought a war for independence against the British. The American colonists⁶ had not liked being under the control of a British king.

They also worried that a strong executive could become a tyrant⁷ or corrupt⁸, adds curator Harry⁹ Rubenstein. He is a curator at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.

But the Constitution's writers had also seen the problems of a weak executive branch. Asking state legislatures to make national decisions took too long, and sometimes the problems were never resolved at all.

Historian Sidney Milkis says that, as a result of these ideas -- some of them conflicting -- the writers of the Constitution argued about what the office of the president should be.

"There were people like James Madison and [Thomas] Jefferson, who thought the president's power should be limited, and the term ‘president' meant ‘preside.' And Congress and the states should be the leading venues¹¹ of American democracy."

Other people who helped write the U.S. Constitution, such as Alexander Hamilton, thought the president should be what Milkis calls "the anchor of American democracy." Hamilton thought the president should have enough power to direct large projects for the public good.

So what happened?

Well, in 1787, delegates to the Constitutional Convention found a unique solution. First, they agreed to make the president a one-person job. One person, they reasoned, could both make decisions more effectively than a group, and be more easily held responsible for them.

But they decided¹² not to give the president too much power. The person would be elected for one four-year term at a time. And the president would share power with a national legislature and a supreme¹³ court.

The delegates also decided some of the details about how the president would be elected, and how to remove the person from office. And they said the president would have a number of duties. They include being the commander in chief of the military, nominating public officials, and giving Congress a report on the state of the Union. This list is comes from Article II of the U.S. Constitution.

But a lot of the job description was left open. It said the president "shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed."

Since it was written in 1787, that expression has informed discussions about what powers the U.S. president should really have.

Historian Sidney Milkis says Americans are still debating how much power the president should have. For most of the 19th century, he says, the powers of the president were more limited. But since the 20th century, the position has become more powerful. The president has moved closer to the center of American democracy.

But in time, Milkis says, Americans may decide to limit the president's authority again, and give more power to Congress and state governments.

Milkis adds one more thing about the unusual invention of the U.S. president. It was unclear that the public would trust a national executive. But as our America's Presidents series shows, for the most part, Americans respect the office of the president. Instead of fearing our great leaders, says Milkis, we honor them.

Words in This Story

incompatible - adj. not able to exist together without trouble or conflict : not going together well

sovereign - adj. having independent authority and the right to govern itself

preside - v. to be in charge of something

venue¹⁰ - n. the place where an event takes place

anchor - n. a person or thing that provides strength and support

unique - n. belonging to or connected with only one particular thing, place, or person

1 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

2 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

3 incompatible   

adj.不相容的，不协调的，不相配的

参考例句：

• His plan is incompatible with my intent.他的计划与我的意图不相符。
• Speed and safety are not necessarily incompatible.速度和安全未必不相容。

4 monarchy   

n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国

参考例句：

• The monarchy in England plays an important role in British culture.英格兰的君主政体在英国文化中起重要作用。
• The power of the monarchy in Britain today is more symbolical than real.今日英国君主的权力多为象徵性的，无甚实际意义。

5 founders   

n.创始人( founder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was one of the founders of the university's medical faculty. 他是该大学医学院的创建人之一。 来自辞典例句
• The founders of our religion made this a cornerstone of morality. 我们宗教的创始人把这看作是道德的基石。 来自辞典例句

6 colonists   

n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Colonists from Europe populated many parts of the Americas. 欧洲的殖民者移居到了美洲的许多地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some of the early colonists were cruel to the native population. 有些早期移居殖民地的人对当地居民很残忍。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 tyrant   

n.暴君，专制的君主，残暴的人

参考例句：

• The country was ruled by a despotic tyrant.该国处在一个专制暴君的统治之下。
• The tyrant was deaf to the entreaties of the slaves.暴君听不到奴隶们的哀鸣。

8 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

9 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

10 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

11 venues   

n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 )；会场；（尤指）体育比赛场所；犯罪地点

参考例句：

• The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
• Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角，有长800米，宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。