How many czars did obama appoint

A friend of mine sent me a link claiming that Obama has more czars than any other president ever and he is trying to turn the USA into a dictatorship. Please give me confirmation so I can give it to her that she has no reason to fear.

Does hiring czars allow a president to bypass Congress for approval? And does President Obama have more than any other president? After all, what makes for a better headline — "weapons czar" or "undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics"? Bob Bennett of Utah issued a press release saying that czars "undermine the constitution. Kay Bailey Hutchison wrote an opinion column in the Washington Post complaining about the czar menace, including the factually inaccurate claim that only "a few of them have formal titles.

The habit of using "czar" to refer to an administration official dates back at least to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, but the real heyday of the czar came during President George W.

The latter, written during the presidential campaign, points out that czars are "really nothing new. In fact, of the 32 czars Beck lists:. Bush and first filled by William Bennett, now a conservative radio host. By some counts, George W. Bush had the same number czars as Obama — or even more — though not so early in his presidency.

Read a 2-Min. A spokesman replied that Obama is simply continuing a presidential practice in place for decades. John Koskinen, the Clinton Administration adviser responsible for overseeing Y2K preparation, was cited by the National Journal for his successful use of the role.

At one meeting, agency heads who had been dragging their feet on preparing their computer systems were called to the carpet by Vice President Gore and asked to get with the program. Last week, when the President addressed the Joint Session of Congress in a speech on health reform, he referred to some of the untruths — okay, lies — that have been spread about the plan and sent a clear message to those who seek to undermine his agenda and his presidency with these tactics: "We will call you out.

Over the past several weeks, we've seen with increasing frequency and volume issues raised around the use of "czars" by this Administration. Although some Members have asked serious questions around the makeup of the White House staff, the bulk of the noise you hear began first with partisan commentators, suggesting that this is somehow a new and sinister development that threatens our democracy. This is, of course, ridiculous. Many of the officials cited by conservative commentators have been confirmed by the Senate.

Many hold policy jobs that have existed in previous Administrations. Many of these members who now decry the practice have called on Presidents in the past to appoint "czars" to coordinate activities within the government to address immediate challenges.

Just some folks willing to act in good faith. Take a look at the facts below — the truth about "czars": Rhetoric: Critics have claimed the Obama Administration is filled with new and unchecked czars.