10. Power was to be divided between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government. Congress would set policy, make laws, raise revenue and establish budgets, while the President would build and manage a team using budgeted resources to execute the policies and laws set out by Congress – with the Supreme Court attending to matters of justice. Put another way, the framers set up a system where Congress and the Office of the President needed each other – and could act as a check on each other. And, as history would shortly show, the Supreme Court quickly evolved to adjudicate on alleged constitutional infractions by either branch.
Image: Martin Van Buren by Levin C. Handy.
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The Presidency 8
