How many executive orders has President Obama issued vs other presidents?

Answer 1

The answer depends on the criteria used in counting the total number of Executive Orders, which going back to 1836 and the Specie Circular, number more than 10,000 (ten thousand).

As of 15 October 2012, President Barack H. Obama II has signed 140 Executive Orders, beginning with Executive Order 13489, "Presidential Records", signed on his second day in office, 21 January 2009, and with the latest being Executive Order 13628, "Executive Order from the President regarding Authorizing the Implementation of Certain Sanctions Set Forth in the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 and Additional Sanctions with respect to Iran", signed on 9 October 2012.

President Obama's executive orders represent neither an excessively high nor an excessively low amount compared to some of his predecessors; his immediate predecessor, President George W. Bush, signed 291 such orders during his eight years in office; President Bush's predecessor, President William J. Clinton, issued 364 such orders during his eight years in office.

Since the Constitution of the United States specifically designates that only Congress may make laws (Article I, Section 8, Clause 18 - the "Necessary and Proper Clause", also known as the "Elastic Clause", and by various other terms): "...To make all Laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into Execution the foregoing Powers, and all other Powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the United States, or in any Department or Officer thereof.", many observers consider that Executive Orders are an unconstitutional, and therefore illegal, assertion of Presidential power over Congressional purview; nevertheless, depending on the criteria used in counting them, some 10,000 Executive Orders have been issued by the 44 American Presidents.

A comprehensive listing of President Obama's Executive Orders may be found at the WhiteHouse link below. See Related links.

A comprehensive listing of all Executive Orders going back to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's four administrations (note that the very latest E.O.'s may not be reflected in the list for several weeks or even months after their signing) may be found at the Federal Register link in Related links below.

Answer 2

Far fewer than his predecessors, President George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. In the year 2012, Mr. Obama issued only 37 of them, in fact. Mr. Bush issued nearly 300 during his two terms in office, and Bill Clinton issued more than 360 of them during his two terms. So far, after one term, President Obama as issued 140 of them total. Also, it should be noted that while the term "executive order" sounds very serious, many of these orders are quite minor and few are shocking. I enclose a link to the 2012 executive orders the president signed, so you can see for yourself.