The presidency is not powerless

And The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza is wrong to claim it is

Matt K. Lewis

The latest defense of President Obama's impotent leadership: Presidents don't really have much power, after all. At least, that's my reading of Ryan Lizza's new article in The New Yorker, titled "The Powerless Presidency."

The boring fact of our system is that congressional math is the best predictor of a president's success. This idea is not nearly as sexy as the notion that great presidents are great because they twist arms in back rooms and inspire the American people to rise up and force Congress to bend to their will. But even the presidents who are remembered for their relentless congressional lobbying and socializing were more often than not successful for more mundane reasons — like arithmetic. [New Yorker]

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Matt K. Lewis

Matt K. Lewis is a contributing editor at TheWeek.com and a senior contributor for The Daily Caller. He has written for outlets including GQ Politics, The Guardian, and Politico, and has been cited or quoted by outlets including New York Magazine, the Washington Post, and The New York Times. Matt co-hosts The DMZ on Bloggingheads.TV, and also hosts his own podcast. In 2011, Business Insider listed him as one of the 50 "Pundits You Need To Pay Attention To Between Now And The Election." And in 2012, the American Conservative Union honored Matt as their CPAC "Blogger of the Year." He currently lives in Alexandria, Va.