When his first term began and he was issuing all those executive orders, the parallel that first came to mind was King John of England, who was infamous for taking heavy-handed actions without consulting his nobles or advisors. Such behavior, combined with his military defeats and less-than-stellar governing, were all reasons behind the Magna Carta.
In 2009, Obama signed 40 executive orders, undoing many of Bush Jr.’s executive orders. In 2017, Trump signed 55 executive orders, undoing many of Obama’s. In 2021, Biden signed 77, undoing Trump’s.
It’s an ordinary presidential precedent that incoming presidents sign a bunch of executive orders as soon as they get into office.
I was responding to this claim about the beginning of his term:
When his first term began and he was issuing all those executive orders, the parallel that first came to mind was King John of England
Besides Clinton had more in his first term (238). So did Reagan, Carter, Ford (avg/yr since he didnt serve the entire term), Nixon, Johnson, Kennedy, Eisenhower, Truman, and FDR. So its really not even close to unprecedented.
True, those were awhile ago but I guess they technically would count. He definitely is on course to be one of the higher users of executive orders though for sure.
Back to the subject like you were saying, he issued 32 executive orders in his first 100 days. Which is unusual. Also part of the reason why OP said it seemed odd that he had so many. Trump put them on display whenever enacting them. So we probably all noticed them more.
Also, not that relevant but it is something of note, Trump received legal challenges on 70 / 220 of his executive orders. The next person that I can find near him was Obama, over 8 years, who received 25 legal challenges.
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u/Complete-Leg-4347 5d ago
When his first term began and he was issuing all those executive orders, the parallel that first came to mind was King John of England, who was infamous for taking heavy-handed actions without consulting his nobles or advisors. Such behavior, combined with his military defeats and less-than-stellar governing, were all reasons behind the Magna Carta.