Chapter 6
The Presidency
Section 1
•The President
Roles of the president
The presidency is 1 of the most complex jobs in the world.
The presidency fills the following Official roles:
chief executive
chief administrator
commander in chief
foreign policy leader
chief agenda setter
Official roles of the president
• Chief executive- The presidents responsibility is to see that all
government programs are carried out and all laws are executed as
intended by congress
• Chief administrator- manager of the government
• Commander in chief- head of the nation’s military
Official roles of the president
• Foreign policy- the president formulates the nations plans and
procedures for dealing with foreign countries
• Chief agenda setter- He also helps congress with the budget and
other annual meetings
unOfficial roles of the president
• Other roles that the president fills that are not officially listed are as follows:
• Chief of state – figurehead of the USA. The face of the country to foreign
nations.
• Party leader – He is the leader of whatever political party he is a part of
(republican, democrat)
• Chief citizen – President and Vice president are the only 2 nationally elected
positions in the government. It is their duty to represent top citizenship at all times
as an example for the American people.
Formal qualifications of the presidency
• The constitution lists the qualifications of the presidency:
• Must be at least 35 years old
• Must have lived in the country for 14 years prior to the election
• Must be a natural born citizen of the u.s.a.
Presidential characteristics
• Presidential terms- a term is 4 years long and a President may not serve
more than 2 terms as president
• Election- Voters do not directly elect a president they vote for a president
and then the electoral college members of their state votes based off of the
popular vote for the president. The electoral college vote is how the election
is determined.
• Electoral college- each state is given the number of electoral votes that
matches the number of senators and members of the house.
Presidential characteristics
• Succession- If the president is unable to fulfill his duties then he is succeeded
by the vice-president and next would be speaker of the house and so on.
• The constitution gives congress the power to determine the order of
succession to the presidency.
• In 1947 congress passed the presidential succession act
Presidential characteristics
• The president makes $400,000 a year
• The vice president makes $208,100 a year
• The president gets most of the benefits the congressmen get plus they have
full access to many vehicles, and air force 1 which is the presidents private jet
Unwritten qualifications for the presidency
• Presidential background- most have been well educated white men from
middle to upper class
• Geraldine ferraro was the first woman to ever run fro vice president in 1984
• 2008 barack Obama was the 1st African American president of the united
states
• Jfk was the only roman catholic president in history
• ¾ of the presidents have had military background
Unwritten qualifications for the presidency
• Personal qualities- Presidents must have appealing backgrounds that will
allow people to want to vote for him or her
• Due to the internet and tv the appearance of a president is very important
now
• These are characteristics that presidents must display throughout their
presidency
Section 2
•The powers of the presidency
Executive powers
• the President has 3 main powers:
• Appointment and Removal Powers – He has the power to appoint people to top positions
in the executive branch . About a 1/3 of the jobs the president fills are to “consent and
advice” for the senate. The president may remove these people from power at anytime with
the exception of federal judges whose terms are for life.(only congress can impeach them
• Executive orders- a formal rule or regulation instructing executive branch officials on how
to carry out their jobs. This is the power the president has to interpret laws passed by
congress.
• Executive privilege- this allows the president to refuse to release information to congress or
a court. They do this for national security purposes. Richard Nixon and the watergate case
is an example of executive privilege that eventually went to the supreme court
Diplomacy powers
• The president represents the united states in all matters dealing with foreign countries.\
• The president has treaty power but in order for it to be accepted it must be 2/3 approved by
congress
• He can make executive agreements as well (agreements between the president and heads of
foreign states) these do not have to have congressional approval.
• The president has diplomatic recognition or the ability to recognize a foreign government as
legitimate or not
• An example of that was president Truman recognizing the legitimacy of Israel as a nation in
1948
Military powers
• It is the presidents responsibility to ensure the defense and security of the nation
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and it’s interests around the world
Presidents have called out the armed forces more than 200 times in American
history
Congress has only declared war 5 times (war of 1812, Mexican-American war,
Spanish-American war, world war I, world war ii)
Korea and Vietnam were both fought without a formal declaration of war
Following the Vietnam war congress passed the war powers resolution act of 1973
restricting the presidents power to commit troops.
Legislative powers
• As chief agenda setter the president has great influence of congress
• The president can suggest legislation to congress at anytime
• The presidents main power is veto power which congress can override with a
2/3 vote
Judicial powers
• Presidents have 2 main judicial powers
• They can nominate federal judges and justices
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Federal judges is a big deal because their terms are lifetime terms
• They may alter the sentences of people convicted of crimes with a pardon
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They may issue a reprieve which is a delay in sentencing or the length of a sentence
A pardon releases a convicted criminal of all crimes they committed
Amnesty is where a president offers a pardon to a group of people
A commute can also be issued which is a reduction in a persons sentence
Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon of all his crimes
Bill Clinton pardoned 140 people of all potential crimes on his last day in office
Informal powers
• The 2 main issues of a presidents informal powers are access to the media
and their position as the party leader
• A president will use the media as a tool to get a message across to the public
in order to influence them on his agendas
• As the party leader he influences members of his party to follow his
direction on different policies
Checks on the presidents powers
• Formal checks on the presidents power are as follows:
• Judicial review by the supreme court
• Congress can block a presidents choice for top positions and they can override a
presidential veto with a 2/3 vote
• Informal checks on presidents powers are as follows:
• The media is the primary source of informal checks because they will report what the
president is doing or not doing to the public shaping public opinion about the president
• Public approval is another check
Changes in presidential power
• The power of the president has changed as the country has grown
• The 1st 100 years of the country the president gave way to congress and did
not challenge them on many issues
• The civil war brought more power to the president as Lincoln felt he needed
to be more active to protect the constitution
• Theodore Roosevelt used the presidency as a “bully pulpit” and pushed
many public policies
Changes in presidential power
• President Franklin D Roosevelt used the presidency to guide the country
through the depression and world war ii
• In the 1960-70’s people felt the presidency grew to much power and
• With the growth of the country and the economic presence of the united
states in the world the president is now 1 of the most powerful people in the
world
Presidential power and the media
• In today’s society the president uses the media to project their power to the
world
• If a president utilizes the media correctly he can be a very powerful figure in
the united states as well as world wide
Section 3
• The presidents administration
Executive Office of the President
• The administration of a president is made up of all people who work for the
president from the local mail carrier on up
• Most of the top officials work for the (EOP) executive office of the
president which consists of a number of separate offices that help the
president formulate policy.
• The eop was started in 1939 under franklin d Roosevelt's administration
• Members are nominated by the president and confirmed by the senate
The white house staff
• The white house staff is the inner circle of the president that helps the president
with key decisions
• Each president determines the size of their staff
• The chief of staff heads the white house staff
• The chief of staff has a varying role depending on the president but is a very
influential person in the government
• The white house press secretary handles all relations with reporters and is a part of
the communications staff
National security council
• This council brings together the heads of the military, foreign affairs, and
intelligence and coordinates the nations national security policies with them.
• The nsc was created in 1947 during the cold war
Council of economic advisers
• The (cea) council of economic affairs was created in 1946 which it provides
the president with expert analysis of the economy
• They also assist the president in making economic policies
• They help the president prepare the annual Economic Report which is an
analysis of the nations current economic status
Office of management and budget
• The officeof management and budget (omb) helps develop the national
budget and oversees the execution by the agencies in the executive branch
• The omb is the largest organization in the eop
• It is headed by a president appointed and senate confirmed person
Vice president
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The vice president has 3 major duties according to the constitution:
Presiding over the senate
Opening and counting the electoral votes in presidential elections
Serving as president if the president cannot do the job
Vice president
• Early vice presidential candidates did not have a big role in government they
only carried out the listed duties and nothing more
• Vice presidents later became people who could help the presidents gain votes
in an election on top of those duties
• Modern vice presidents have many more responsibilities that are put on them
by the presidents
• They have their own staffs and have an office near the oval office in order ot
make it easier to work directly with the president
The cabinet
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The cabinet is an organization made up of the heads of executive departments
Each department head is titled a secretary
They can act as an advisory body to the president when assembled
Cabinet members are nominated by the president but must be approved by the
senate
• Cabinets have historically provided great assistance to the president
• There are 16 official cabinet positions including vice president