Average number of executive orders issued per year in office | |
---|---|
Franklin D. Roosevelt | 307 |
Herbert Hoover | 242 |
Woodrow Wilson | 225 |
Warren G. Harding | 217 |
Calvin Coolidge | 215 |
William Howard Taft | 181 |
Harry S. Truman | 117 |
Jimmy Carter | 80 |
John F. Kennedy | 75 |
Gerald R. Ford | 69 |
Sources:
presidency.ucsb.edu
Executive orders - presidential policy directives that implement or interpret a federal statute, constitutional provision, or treaty - have been around since the dawn of the Republic. Often implemented by the President to sidestep the Congress and avoid public debate and opposition, the executive orders have been used by each president in American history (with the exception of William Henry Harrison). These are the Presidents that flexed their authority most frequently.