SUMMARY: 
The Framers’ ambivalence toward executive power has created a “gray area” in which the strength of the presidency is primarily determined by the individual skills of presidents and the support of the public. By using the powers of their office to the max, presidents attempt to shape public policy. In foreign policy, in particular, Presidents have succeeded at obtaining near dominance. But in many areas Congress and the Courts continue to constrain the President, sometimes pushing back successfully against efforts by Presidents to change the policy status quo. Harry S. Truman (President from 1945 to 1953) reflected that “Being President is like riding a tiger. A man has to keep on riding or be swallowed.” And Theodore Roosevelt once told his relative Franklin (fists clenched) “Sometimes I wish I could be President and Congress too.” With enormous powers come even more enormous expectations. Presidents often struggle to fulfil those expectations in the face of a separation of powers system that limits presidential options, and their popularity often suffers as a result.