Although some on the right have compared Barack Obama to an English monarch, and then in the eight years before that anti-war Democrats decried executive action by George W. Bush, when comparing the tallies of Executive Orders to presidents of America’s past — it’s not even close.
Bill Clinton? Think again. The past three presidents have all used between 118 to 200 Executive Orders per term, and Clinton takes the cake. Obama issued such directives under the power of the pen as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), which allowed children from illegal immigrants to remain in the U.S. under certain terms.
President Obama, of course, doesn’t come close to those who wielded executive the power most — as documented by the Federal Register Act of 1936:
5. Herbert Hoover
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Hoover, who was orphaned as a small boy but went on to live the Dream and become a self-made millionaire, is most widely remembered for his humanitarian efforts and attempting to steer the country through the onset of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl emergencies.
What you might not have known, is President Hoover issued a whopping 968 Executive Orders. Their contents range from the exact directives of how E.O.’s must be detailed, to the establishment of the Veteran’s Administration.
4. Theodore Roosevelt
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A man of the people, T.R. Roosevelt promised a “Square Deal” to his constituents in his eight years of office beginning in 1901. In order to do so, he had to circumvent Congress on many an occasion. To preserve 150 national forests for future generations to enjoy, for example, he deferred to executive action to set in motion the underpinnings of our National Parks Service.
All 25 presidents who came before Roosevelt issued barely more than he did combined. Indeed, it was the “The Old Lion” himself who first issued a thousand orders, 1,081 of them to be exact.
That forever changed the perception of executive orders. “I think [the presidency] should be a very powerful office,” he said, “and I think the President should be a very strong man who uses without hesitation every power the position yields… I believe in a strong executive. I believe in power.”
3. Calvin Coolidge
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Who all remembers President Coolidge from their history lessons? It can be difficult, for a man who purposely did little to stand out very much. The 30th U.S. president, who oversaw the Roaring Twenties, was nicknamed “Silent Cal” for his laissez-faire style and supposed frugality.
It may come as no surprise then that the no-nonsense Coolidge circumvented big speeches and pleas to Congress with the issuance of 1,203 E.O.’s, including one that helped aid Prohibition officers in their searches for illegal liquor quantities.
2. Woodrow Wilson
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Wilson, a former university professor and proponent of world peace, was eventually forced to lead the nation through the gorges of World War II at a time of great crisis and uncertainty. For his valiance, he is often ranked as one of the greatest presidents in American history by political scientists and world historians.
It’s also worth noting that Wilson issued a staggering 1,803 Executive Orders by the time he left office in 1921. The contents of his executive actions varied from the Navajo Reservation, to establishing new rules of conduct for American warfare.
1. Franklin D. Roosevelt
FDR’s legacy one of courage and heroics, to be sure, and he was widely beloved by Americans who invited him to their living rooms through the modicum of radio. He established hope in a country that was desperate and desolate, and ushered in the resurgence of American power throughout World War II and across four terms as president.
His executive actions are unparalleled, issuing a dramatic 3,721 executive orders that did everything from establish Japanese internment camps, to implementing the New Deal — the most powerful E.O. since the issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln.
Roosevelt redefined the Oval Office like perhaps no one since. Through executive actions, he established new federal programs and Washington bureaucracies designed to relieve the nation of social ills and implement a moral directive for the role of government in Washington — something Democrats and Republicans have debated ever since his untimely death in 1945.