When a president comes into office, he (and one day maybe she) is faced with a lot of responsibility, but with that comes a lot of power as well. With that power, presidents should make changes to help the growth of their country and benefit the majority of their citizens, but unfortunately the current President, Donald Trump, does not seem to be doing this.
Many of the promises that are made by presidents have everything to do with changing the policies and the manner in which the outgoing presidents operate. Reversing the former president’s initiatives is effected through the signing of executive orders. New presidents do so in order to keep their supporters happy, even though this is not always a good change for the country.
That’s why I believe when altering or removing orders made by previous presidents, there should be limitations on those new executive orders. Some presidents immediately take office and begin making rash decisions that hurt more people than help them. There should be restrictions on what orders can be changed, as well as some sort of voting system on these orders. It is not fair to citizens who are accustomed to their style of living to have to adapt to new executive orders that are harming them.
The most recent examples of presidents who have signed executive orders to reverse various initiatives are the immediate former president Barrack Obama and the current POTUS, Donald Trump. Immediately after Obama took office, he reversed and altered some of Bush’s policies that defined his presidency. Most, if not all of Obama’s changes benefitted the majority of the nation, not just one particular race or economic class. One of the things that Obama did was reverse the policies that were strict on the use of marijuana during President Bush’s administration. In a memorandum in 2009, Obama’s policies sought out those drug distributors who only violated state and Federal laws who were not distributing for medical purposes. He also relaxed the rules that were strictly against homosexuals by working with Congress to pass and sign into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which extends the coverage of Federal hate crimes law to include attacks based on the victim’s actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity. Another change Obama made that benefitted the majority of American citizens was altering health care by giving more power back to the patients. Most citizens did not take a loss during the changes of these executive orders that were reversed under Obama, but instead they gained moral and equal rights.
In contrast, Donald Trump has signed several executive orders disregarding the wishes of the majority of American citizens. Because of this alone, that is why I think there should be restrictions on a president’s ability to reverse his or her predecessor’s initiatives. Trump’s most recent change is the executive order aimed at rolling back the Cuba policies adopted during Obama’s administration. Obama had opened more business channels between the U.S. and the Cuban people, which President Trump just ended in his latest executive order. One of the first regulations that Trump opposed was Obama’s executive order on gun control. Obama made it mandatory that information be released on those who are mentally ill and included in background checks, making it impossible for those with certain diagnoses to buy guns. With all the senseless killing, including those of infants and children done by those who are mentally ill, a more strict gun policy would be effective, but Trump nullified Obama’s rule. Even though not all people with mental illnesses are violent and harmful, Obama was taking an extra step of precaution to decrease gun violence in America.
Several issues result from efforts by sitting presidents to do away with the initiatives of the former one. It allows the president to govern the country in a way that they feel would allow them to deliver their promises to their supporters better, but it does not acknowledge the needs of the country as a whole. Limitations to this power is necessary because millions of people’s lives are being altered for the worse just to please one person and their supporters. American citizens do not deserve to have their basic human rights taken away from them because one group of people feel it would benefit them better. Every time a new president comes into office, they should not be able to disrupt the lives of millions without there being some sort of guidelines or limitations. As a president, I think your main concern should be making sure the majority of citizens are content with their government and trying to make changes to benefit and help them, not harm them.
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