Introduction
This chapter provides a background on the nature and limits of executive power under the US Constitution. It closely examines the constitutional text bearing on presidential power together with its historical context to discern its meaning and internal logic. It also cites the phenomenon of Donald Trump that made thinking seriously about the institution of the presidency more difficult than ever before as there has never been so polarizing a figure at the apex of politics. The chapter attempts to reconstruct the framers' design for the presidency based on the text they wrote, their experience of royal authority in colonial times, and the interpretative battles in the early years of the republic. It identifies the framers that wanted an effective president who would not be a king and points out how a republican executive was meant to function.