EXECUTIVE AGREEMENT

an agreement between the United States and a foreign government that is less formal than a treaty and is not subject to the constitutional requirement for ratification by two-thirds of the Senate. The Constitution does not specifically give a president power to conclude executive agreements; he may be authorized to do so by Congress, or he may do so on his sole authority, derived from his power to conduct foreign relations. The majority of executive agreements have been made pursuant to a treaty or act of Congress. At times, however, presidents have used this device to achieve purposes that would not command the support of two-thirds of the Senate, as when Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt, after the outbreak of World War II but before U.S. entry into the conflict, gave Great Britain 50 overage destroyers in exchange for the right to use certain bases. Since executive agreements are made on the authority of the incumbent president, they do not necessarily bind his successors.