I was somewhat surprised by these results. I’d kind of assumed that with the growing concentration of political power in Washington, and the expansion of the authority of executive departments into all sectors of American life, that executive orders would grow apace, but this is not actually the case. Measured by executive orders per year, America’s Great Dictator was none other than Teddy Roosevelt, who cranked out an average of 356 every year he spent in the White House. Presidents Coolidge and Hoover: often stereotyped as laissez-faire hands-off executives, averaged 225 and 242 executive orders per year, not far behind FDR’s 274. Eisenhower issued only 60 per year, and no president since has issued as many as 80 per year.

who knew. dubya is not the most authoritative president

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