The Presidency and the Bully Pulpit

Public Opinion — April 22, 1874 (Photo credit: Cornell University Library)

Bully pulpit, a term first coined by President Theodore Roosevelt, refers to a political office, specifically the White House, as a powerful platform from which to advocate a political agenda. In other words, the President of the United States is in the position to use his office to rally public support or sway public. Currently, Pres. Barack Obama has been using the bully pulpit in an attempt to educate the American people concerning public policy .

The framers of the U.S. Constitution never intended the president to have the power to influence public opinion in the way advancements in communication technology now allows. However, the framers never intended for women to vote or for for the United States to declare itself the worlds policemen. Nevertheless, here we are. Do you believe it is appropriate for the modern president to leapfrog the Congress and talk directly to the American people in order to influence public opinion on public policy?

–TERRANCE MULLINS

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• “Not Even Close”: Obama’s Got A Bigger Mandate Than The GOP, And A Bully Pulpit (bell-book-candle.com)
• President Barack Obama: Calling out bullies from the bully pulpit (thesunnews.typepad.com)

The Awesome Power of the Bully Pulpit

A bully pulpit refers to a public office, specifically the presidency, which provides the holder a terrific platform for rallying support for a specific issue or simply to make one’s view public. Due to the stature of the presidency the bully pulpit can bring issues to the forefront that was not initially in debate. For example, Pres. Obama, with the power of the bully pulpit, was able to shift the debate concerning illegal immigration last week by declaring why his administration will stop deporting young illegal immigrants brought to the United States at no fault of their own. Specifically, the U.S. will no longer deport illegal immigrants who meet the following criteria:

• Came to the U.S. before age 16
• Lived in the U.S. for at least 5 years
• In school, graduated, or a U.S. veteran
• No felonies, not a threat to the U.S.
• Not older than 30

As president, Obama has an unparalleled opportunity to make and set policies while the bully pulpit allows the president to announce those policies and rally support. Meanwhile, candidate Mitt Romney, Pres. Obama’s republican challenger, can only react to the agenda of the incumbent president and merely make untested and immaterial promises to the electorate. As a result, Mitt Romney is now faced with the politically difficult task of either alienating independent voters by holding firm with his previously stated hard-line stance on illegal immigration (e.g. self deportation, zero tolerance) or angering the conservative base by flip-flopping on the issue altogether. One reason why Romney is in this problematic situation is due in part to Obama’s ability to set policy as the sitting president and the awesome power of the bully pulpit afforded him.

–TERRANCE MULLINS

Related articles

• Immigration, Obama, Romney and the Republican Party: Who Fumbled the Ball? (themoderatevoice.com)
• Obama Changes the Subject (politicalwire.com)

Bully Pulpit

Bully pulpit, a term first coined by President Theodore Roosevelt, refers to a political office, specifically the White House, as a powerful platform from which to advocate a political agenda. In other words, the President of the United States is in the position to use his office to rally public support or sway public. Currently, Pres. Barack Obama has been using the bully pulpit in an attempt to educate the American people concerning the perils of a U.S. default.  If the U.S. defaults on its debt obligations, interest rates could skyrocket at the very least while faith in the world’s premier economy could be shatter sending global stock markets plunging at the very most.

William Howell of CNN posted a blog outlining the different roles the Congress and the present play when formulating policy. Nonetheless, the framers of the U.S. Constitution never intended the president to have the power to influence public opinion in the way advancements in communication technology now allows. Do you believe it is appropriate for the modern president to leapfrog the Congress and talk directly to the American people in order to influence public opinion on public policy?

–TERRANCE MULLINS