ples of this from modern elections. The first example is from the presidentialelection of 1964, in which the incumbent was Lydon B. Johnson. In his campaignJohnson promised American voters that American boys would not fight Asian boys inVietnam. (Hargrove 116) However, once elected Johnson escalated the war withVietnam even though public sentiment was against such action (Hargrove 123). The second example of unfulfilled campaign promises occurred in a more recentpresidential campaign, the 1992 presidential campaign of Bill Clinton. One of Clintonsprimary issues in this election was economic relief for the struggling middle class. Clinton proposed this relief come from a cut on the income tax rates on the middle class(Woodward 17). Another important issue during Clintons campaign was increasinginvestments, like education and infrastructure. Once elected this issue became an afterthought for the Clinton administration (Reich 65). It is clear that such action underminesthe control of the citizens and thus the very premise of democracy.Since the definition of democracy states that supreme power is vested in thepeople, then it is a violation of democracy when the president knowingly goes against thewishes of the American public. The president can not be expected to seek approval forevery small thing he does while in office, but he can however respect public opinionwhen it quite obvious. An example of this is when Franklin D. Roosevelt started to aidBritain in its fight against Germany in the early 1940s. The general public had made itclear that after the heavy loses of World War I, they wished to remain isolated fromEuropean affairs. Roosevelt believed however that it was in the countrys best interestto aid in some way American allies abroad. Without the knowledge of the publicRoosevelt used the American navy to protect British ships in the Atlantic and tooccasional thwart German activities (Hargrove 102). It has also been ...
