Checks and Balances

Although the president is considered our leader, this does not mean that he is part of the most important branch of government. Our Founding Fathers realized that giving one man too much power would be no different than having a Monarchy. So, they decided to split up the government into three branches: Executive, Legislative and Judicial. All three of these branches have an equal amount of government power, a system called checks and balances. The executive branch may be where our leader resides, but the two other branches have just as much authority over our nation.
It's true that the president has many powers, but without the consent of the other branches, his authority is limited. For example, as the nation's Commander in Chief, the president can send troops overseas. However, the only way the president can officially declare war on a country is by receiving the consent of Congress, or in other words, the Legislative branch. In addition, the president cannot make treaties with other nations, nominate ambassadors, or appoint federal judges without the agreement of the majority of the Senate. Other than the Legislative branch, the Judicial branch also plays a role on the limits of the executive branch. A perfect example of this is the process in which a bill is passed. If Congress proposes a bill to the president and he/she in turn approves it, the Supreme Court can declare the bill or law unconstitutional and require that it meet certain standards in accordance to the Constitution.
This may show that the executive branch is not the most important. But some past presidents have shown why most people assume the executive branch is simply the most vital. One president with many great accomplishments is Jimmy Carter. First of all, President Carter, according to http://americanhistory.about.com/od/jimmycarter/p/pcarter.htm, pardoned the American citizens who avoided the Vietnam War draft. In addition, he enforced stronger regulations on nuclear energy through the Department of Energy after the Three Mile Island crisis, officially started relations with China in 1979 and used economic strategies to get Iran to release American hostages being held captive. Even with certain restraints on the executive branch, Carter managed to accomplish many good things. "A simple and a proper function of government is just to make it easy for us to do good and difficult for us to do wrong."-Jimmy Carter.
Another president with many great accomplishments is Theodore Roosevelt. According to http://www.nps.gov/history/logcabin/html/tr3.html, Roosevelt represented the average worker of America and brought it upon himself to regulate big business more effectively. Also, President Roosevelt strengthend America's ability to deal with domestic affairs and world politics when in 1903, Congress approved the construction of the Panama Canal. Other than that, he used his skill to deal with foreign policy matters by resolving matters between Venezuela, Morocco and the Dominican Republic. In addition, by getting the Drago Doctrine adopted, Roosevelt prevented countries from using force to collect debt from other nations. Although the president has no supreme authority and is in no way above the law, presidents can still accomplish great things for our country. "No man is above the law, and no man is below it."-Theodore Roosevelt, according to(http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/t/theodore_roosevelt.html).