Executive orders can be swift but fleeting

President Joe Biden arrived at the White House ready to wield his pen to dismantle Donald Trump’s legacy and begin pushing his own priorities.

Presidents Trump and Barack Obama both relied on executive orders and other presidential directives to get some of their most controversial policies around a deadlocked Congress. But no president has come out of the gate as eager to use the authority as Biden.

A primer on how the presidential power works and its often fleeting impact:

An executive order is a signed, written and published directive...