TODAY, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES IS ROUTINELY described as the most powerful person in the free world. It was not always thus. For one thing, the United States did not initially occupy a large space on the world stage. For another, the significance of the President's position within American government has changed enormously over time.

In 1789, fewer than one thousand people worked for the federal government. The State Department had only nine employees; the War Department began with just two. The government’s primary day-to-day concerns were collecting taxes and delivering the mail. Without a proper staff, the first President, George Washington, relied on just four men to advise him: the members of his Cabinet. Although that group was notably able, considerable duties often fell on Washington alone. Today, by contrast, the President has a staff of more than 1,800 people and oversees a bureaucracy with roughly 2.7 million employees.