President or ruler? (The Last Word).(George W. Bush)

"God supports President Bush," proclaimed a sign displayed at a February 23rd pro war rally at the Alamo. By saying that God is on President Bush's side, as opposed to the reverse, the sign placed The Almighty in the curious position of cheerleader.

Of course, the president is not responsible for unwise claims made on his behalf by some of his supporters. But Mr. Bush himself has said similarly troubling things about his view of presidential powers.

In an interview with the Washington Post's Robert Woodward, President Bush offered a very telling answer when asked if he ever felt compelled to explain his policies and decisions. "Of course not," replied the president. "I'm the commander -- see, I don't need to explain why I say things. That's the interesting thing about being the president. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why they say something, but I don't feel like I owe anybody an explanation."

When the president claims not to answer to anyone in exercising the powers of office, does he include God among those to whom that claim applies? Or does he refer only to Congress and the American people? In fact, he cannot mean the latter without implying the former. If Mr. Bush honestly believes that he doesn't "owe anybody an explanation" for his decisions, he perjured himself at his inauguration when he took a solemn oath, before God, to "preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." By this act President Bush attested that he would subordinate himself to the Constitution, and that he answers to the American people for the exercise of his limited powers.

The president's subordinate role extends to his role as the military's commander in chief. Contrary to what Mr. Bush and entirely too many of his supporters believe, the president is not "commander in chief" over the American people. The president is commander in chief of the armed forces. But in carrying out that function, the president must answer to Congress, uniquely authorized to "declare war" and to "raise and support armies." Most American citizens unaffiliated with the armed forces do not have a "commander" of any sort -- an important point to remember when commentators breezily refer to the president as "our commander in chief."

As Mr. Bush said, his is an "interesting" view of the powers of the presidency, one that's ironically similar to that of the contemporary leader who claimed: "Law consists of two lines above my signature." The author of that memorable line -- Saddam Hussein -- is, unlike President Bush, a vile, murderous dictator. Obviously, the president and Saddam are vastly different kinds of rulers. But just as obviously, a vast gulf separates President Bush's ruling ...