In “False Front,” historian Kenneth Lowande exposes one of Washington’s most deeply embedded legends: that today’s president serves as an “imperial” ruler, exercising their authority through orders and actions that require no authorization from Congress. Lowande opens a window, however, onto something far more ominous and far more barren. Today, presidential authority can be merely a prop—a gesture laden with pomp and ceremony, stripped bare and devoid of meaning.

The executive order, a symbol of limited yet absolute power, has become an embarrassing picture. These orders have been created not to affect policy realignment but to create an appearance. They placate the base and generate headlines. They offer the illusion of policy change within a body that is irretrievably powerless to deliver it. In a polarised era in which Congress is gridlocked, the presidency thrives in appearance.

The significance of this act is so fatal simply because it is so trivial. It fails not loudly. It succeeds as it was intended to: in reputation. The failure is not due to a lack of policy. It is in the education of the public to confuse symbols of strength for strength itself.

Take, for example, the well-publicized executive order to close Guantanamo Bay in Cuba signed by President Barack Obama just a few days after he took office. This is a moment of moral break, of reclaiming legality and human rights. The cameras were rolling, of course. Applause rang out. The world let out........

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