‘Dictator’ Obama actually issued the fewest executive orders in 100 years

Some conservatives have accused President Barack Obama of running a "dictatorship" with his recent pledge to bypass Congress using executive orders.

Sen. Rand Paul likened him to a "king or monarch," while Sen. John McCain even threatened to sue over what he called an abuse of power.

Historic data, however, shows Obama isn't exactly issuing executive orders willy-nilly.

In fact, he's issued the fewest in more than 100 years, according to this graphic by Christopher Ingraham of executive orders per president dating back to George Washington:

The information came from executive order tallies from the American Presidency Project combined with the number of days served. Obama has so far issued 167 executive orders, according to the National Archives, and has served 1,837 days in office.

As you can see, Franklin D. Roosevelt issued the most executive orders per day during his two terms in office, sending them out at a rate of nearly one every day.

In comparison, Obama is issuing orders at the slowest rate since Grover Cleveland in the 19th century at a rate of just 0.09 per day.

George W. Bush's rate is slightly higher, as are those of other conservative heroes like Ronald Reagan and Calvin Coolidge.

And according to the graphic, Republican presidents have issued more executive orders than their Democratic counterparts at a rate of 0.23 for the GOP compared to 0.18 for Democrats per day in office.

So what does this all mean?

Well, it doesn't prove that Obama isn't abusing his power or acting like a monarch or dictator. But his rate of executive orders isn't necessarily something conservatives should be trying to whip the public into a frenzy over either.