How has the nature of presidential power changed since the ratification of u. s. constitution?
a. presidental power has been greatly limited through consititutional admend.
b. pres. have taken on many of the powers once granted to the supreme court
c. presidents have gained more power to act independently of congress
d. pres. have become less powerful as the federal bureaucracy has expanded

At firs the Constitution used to limit greatly the powers of a President of the Nation. That changed over the years. George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson already made it so the presidency was way more influential than what it was meant to be at first. until the 1930s, though, Congress was still the dominant branch of the national government. That is, until  the 21th came in, when Presidents became way more powerful. Maybe as powerful as Congress.

The answer is:

c. presidents have gained more power to act independently of congress

in the united states, the president is controlled by the

constitution, and in all respects subordinate to it. insofar

as it deals with presidential power, however, the american

constitution has proved to be a highly malleable document.

with very few exceptions,' the constitutional provisions relating to the president have not been changed at all since

they were ratified in 1787. but in the late twentieth century, those provisions do not mean what they meant in

1787. the constitution is a legal document, and it is enforced judicially; but its meaning was hardly fixed when it

was ratified. in particular, the contemporary president has

far broader powers than the original constitution contemplated. it is remarkable but true that large-scale changes in

the authority of the president have been brought about

without changes in the constitutional text, but nevertheless

without significant illegality.

this is a paradox. is it not clear that constitutional

changes, if not textual, are illegal? the paradox has considerable relevance to our current thinking about the presidency in particular and about constitutionalism in general.

perhaps the framers of the american constitution feared

legislative power most of all; 2 but from well-known events

in the twentieth century, it is possible to conclude that it is

presidential power that holds out the greatest risks to both

liberty and democracy. the president is by far the most visible leader in the nation; he is often the only person in government with a national constituency. moreover, he is