I remember being taught in hs that the 3 branches checked and balanced each other while at the same time learning about raging feuds btwn this and that potus and Surpeme Court Chief, which always ended with the court doing as it pleased.

Or in the case of the Trail of Tears, President Andrew Jackson did what he wanted and ignored the Supreme Court ruling in Worcester v. Georgia (1832), held that Georgia could not extend its law over the sovereign lands of the Cherokee nation, and had no authority to displace the indigenous people.