Before certain reforms in the early 1900's, the Speakers of the House wielded a lot more power than they do today. Could it be possible for a cunning Speaker - say, Reed - to slowly strip the President of his powers and have the Speaker of the House as de facto head of government, in a sort of parliamentary system? The President would be nothing more than a figurehead, much like the British queen is today. Is this feasible? If so, how to go about doing it?
Speaker as head of government and president as head of state? Thoughts?
- Thread starter Doctor Imperialism
- Start date
But probable before TR became POTUS. Future speculation predicted this until he got there.
Indeed - Reed was enormously powerful on the American political scene, probably more so than anyone else in the government. However, his lack of charisma might impede this.