The framers of the Constitution were vague about some parts of their plan for a new government. They knew that the system of government they were trying to create would likely outlive them--perhaps lasting for many centuries, and they knew that they could not foresee every eventuality that the government would face. Many historians have suggested that the authors of the Constitution simply did not feel they could predict every possible challenge to American democracy, so they left plenty of room for the federal government to change.

Regardless of the Founding Father's reasons, many colonial citizens simply did not trust their motives. After all, these men were all wealthy and important, and they had discarded the Articles of Confederation after a secret debate on the matter. Colonists also objected to how much was left out of the Constitution--especially related to individual citizens' rights. 

While ordinary citizens were suspicious of the Constitution and the process that created it, the real reason for its vagueness may be simpler than they realized: There was so much disagreement among the states after the Articles of Confederation were put into effect that those who drafted the Constitution were wary of inserting details that might cause states to reject it. In other words, they were trying to create a document that everyone would sign.

President Ronald Reagan with Caspar Weinberger, George Shultz, Ed Meese, and Don Regan discussing the president's remarks on the Iran-Contra affair in 1986.

Sometimes the executive branch uses the vagueness of the Constitution to carry out actions that are opposed by other branches of government. During the Reagan administration, executive department officials provided aid to the brutal Nicaraguan Contras who were fighting against the elected left-wing Sandinista government. Congress had just passed legislation banning the U.S. government from assisting the Contras, but the administration ignored the ban.

In the end, President Reagan's popularity with the American public was diminished for having defied Congress--and done so secretly. In such situations, a president may be easily convinced by advisors that a matter relates to national security and therefore requires the president to act in defense of the nation. This is perhaps one of the dangers of the different branches of government operating independently.