Click any step to jump to it - the lit step is the one showing below. Power expands with the New Deal and modern executive action, but is repeatedly checked. Green = expanded or strengthened · Amber = mixed or contested · Red = restricted or weakened.
Timeline tucked away while you test yourself. Close the quiz to bring it back.
What happened. Andrew Johnson was impeached for breaching the Tenure of Office Act and acquitted by one vote in the Senate.
What it shows. Congress asserting impeachment as a check on the presidency. Johnson impeached
What happened. FDR's New Deal made the federal government responsible for recovery, social security and banking regulation.
What it shows. A historic wave of federal and presidential power. New Deal expands power
What happened. In Youngstown Sheet and Tube the Court blocked Truman from seizing the steel mills during the Korean War.
What it shows. The classic judicial limit on presidential power. Youngstown checks Truman
What happened. The War Powers Resolution required the President to notify Congress within 48 hours of deploying troops and withdraw within 60 days.
What it shows. Congress trying to curb unilateral war-making. War Powers Resolution
What happened. After US v Nixon ordered release of the tapes and the House approved impeachment articles, Nixon resigned on 9 August 1974.
What it shows. The imperial presidency checked by courts and Congress. Nixon resigns
What happened. Bill Clinton was impeached by the House over the Lewinsky affair and acquitted by the Senate in 1999.
What it shows. Impeachment as a partisan, political process. Clinton acquitted
What happened. Obama created DACA by executive order, protecting around 700,000 people; later attempts to end it were blocked by courts.
What it shows. Presidents can act where Congress fails, but courts constrain them. DACA by executive order
What happened. After the Capitol was stormed, Trump was impeached a second time and acquitted 57-43, short of two-thirds.
What it shows. The limits of impeachment as a check. Second impeachment
What happened. In Trump v United States the Court ruled 6-3 that presidents have broad immunity for official acts.
What it shows. The Court expanding presidential reach. Immunity ruling
What happened. In his second term Trump signed over 100 executive orders in weeks on immigration, DEI and climate, though courts blocked several.
What it shows. The breadth of unilateral action, and its limits. Executive-order blitz
Roll up and down: use the arrows, scroll or swipe inside the box, the up and down keys, or click any step in the arc above.
The long trend is growth. The New Deal turned the President into the manager of the economy; modern presidents govern through executive orders, the EOP and war powers. The 2024 immunity ruling and Trump's 2025 order blitz are the latest expansions.
But the checks keep biting. Youngstown, the War Powers Resolution and Watergate all curbed the office, and impeachment (Johnson, Clinton, Trump twice) shows Congress reaching for the ultimate check - even if it rarely removes a President.
The same events split by side. Build each paragraph around one point from each column, then judge.
A top answer separates the everyday imperial presidency (orders, war powers) from the formal limits that bite in a crisis (courts, resignation), then judges which dominates.
For "is the US presidency too powerful?", run one paragraph on growth (New Deal, executive orders, immunity) and one on checks (Youngstown, War Powers, Watergate, courts blocking orders), then judge.
Use impeachment carefully: it shows Congress trying to check the office, but the run of acquittals shows how weak that check is in practice.