AP Government
“Presidential Leadership”
(1) Presidential Personality Traits
• The public assesses which
presidential candidate has
the best judgment and
character for the office
• Personality traits that are
desired include
trustworthiness, morality,
strong self-esteem,
emotional intelligence,
leadership, integrity, and
competence
(2) Presidential Greatness Polls
• Ranking presidents is a subjective task
• Factors that influence the results of
such rankings
– Who is being polled? (historians or
general public)
– Recent presidents tend to get higher
rankings
– Political party identification skews
rankings
• Presidents who tend to get high ranks
since Mt. Rushmore include
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Franklin Roosevelt
Ronald Reagan
John F. Kennedy
Dwight Eisenhower
Harry Truman
(3) Presidential Political Skills
Getting the “Johnson
Treatment” at the LBJ Library in Texas
• Political skills determine a
presidents ability to gain, lose
or maintain their influence
• These skills include ability to
bargain, to deal with
adversaries, to choose
priorities (determining when
to accept compromises and
when to stand on principle),
and to use resources available
(media, staff, etc.)
• Presidents who take on
ambitious plans risk a lot, but
can gain a lot (need
considerable political skill to
make these gambles pay off)
(4) Presidents and
Public Opinion
• If a president has a high
approval rating it will help him
to be more aggressive in
recommending legislation to
Congress
• Presidents then use their
popularity to help them in the
bargaining process to support
their legislation
• Presidents use ads, them media
and public appearances to try to
sway public opinion (appeal to
the public goes over the head of
Congress to gain support for
legislation)
“I wonder how far Moses
would have gone if he’d
taken a poll in Egypt”
(Harry Truman)
(5) Presidential
Approval Ratings
• Several factors explain
fluctuation of presidential
approval ratings
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Honeymoon period
Economic conditions
Inflation
Unemployment rates
Major events that occur
during their term
– War (sometimes up when
war starts, sometimes down
when casualties mount)
(6) Political Context
• Personality traits, political skills
and public opinion are important,
but also important is the political
environment that a president
operates in
• Divided government – when one
party controls the White House
while the other controls Congress
• Gridlock – situation when gov’t is
incapable of acting on important
issues
• Electoral mandate – when a
president is elected they claim to
have this mandate from the
people to carry out their policy
proposals (candidates who win by
wide margins are more likely to
push for major policy changes)
(7) Vagueness on
Stances on Issues
Richard Nixon said in his campaign in 1968
that he was committed to ending the war in
Vietnam without giving any details on how that
would be accomplished. Nixon then announced
prior to the election of 1972 that “peace was at
hand,” again without any details. The U.S.
finally withdrew from the war in early 1973.
• Issue stances can both
attract voters, but they can
also drive some voters away
• Candidates are often vague
to maintain a middle ground
between the two
• A candidate that is to vague
can be accused of being
wishy-washy
• Candidates do need to
appear strongly in favor of
something in order to be
taken serious
(8) Environments
for Success
• Presidents who come
to power after critical
elections have the most
favorable environment
for exerting strong
presidential leadership
• Presidents who are the
weakest are
constrained by their
affiliation with a party
that is perceived to
stand for worn-out
ideas
Two viewpoints that vied in the critical election
of 1932 during the midst of the Great Depression
(9) Reagan Shapes
Republican Agenda
• The dominant New Deal
coalition survived from the
critical election of 1932 and
the election of FDR during
the Great Depression until
the critical election of 1968
• With the election of Ronald
Reagan in 1980, Republicans
had a new hero with a new
message
• Reagan’s anti-New Deal
message declared
“government is not the
solution, it is the problem”
• Reagan reduced taxes,
reduced spending (mostly
on social programs, but not
on the military) and
reduced government
regulations
(10) When the Campaign is Over
• Each president enters office with
a general vison of how
government should approach
policy issues
• Presidents spend much of their
time trying to get Congress to
pass legislation reflecting this
vision
• Thus campaigns are about
visions and presidential
leadership mode is handling the
issues of the day while pushing
through related legislation
• Political realities often force a
president to priorities what
actions to pursue
(11) Legislative Liaison Staff
• Legislative liaison staff –
people who compose the
communications link
between the White House
and Congress, advising the
president or cabinet
secretaries on the status of
pending legislation
• They determine if portions of
the bill need to be amended
• They determine whether a
bill is likely to pass or not
• They also try to convince
members of Congress to
support legislation favored
by the President
(12) Presidents v. Prime Ministers
• U.S. Presidents have no formal role as
leader of their political party, but they
unequivocally fill that role in informal ways
• Prime ministers are the formal leaders of
their party within the national legislature
of their nation, as well as the head of state
for their government
• Prime ministers owe their direct allegiance
to the party leaders within their
British Prime Minister David Cameron
legislature, and not to voters (as they are
of the Conservative Party and
not directly elected by them)
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen
• When divided government exists,
Harper of their Conservative Party
presidents need to compromise greatly
with the other party in order to
accomplish things like budget deals (which
can upset members of their own party)
• Prime ministers have the support of the
majority in the legislature at all times and
have less need to compromise
Presidents and
Foreign Relations
• Presidents also have an important
role in improving the U.S.’s relations
with allies, adversaries and
developing nations
• In the years from the end of WWII
to 1980, the Cold War dominated
U.S. foreign policy
• With the collapse of communism in
the Soviet Union and in Easter
Europe a new era of international
relations has emerged
• The U.S. has emerged as the only
true military superpower
• Still the major objectives of U.S.
foreign policy remains
(13) Presidents and Foreign Relations
• Presidents are concerned with
three fundamental objectives:
– National security (direct
protection of the U.S. and its
citizens)
– Fostering a peaceful
international environment
(seek to end regional conflicts
throughout the world)
– Protection of U.S. economic
interests
• The War in Iraq is a case study in
balancing all of these objectives
at once
Presidential Personality Models
• Hamiltonian:
– Active president; policy initiative; should use
implied powers to promote his agenda of nat’l
interest
• Madisonian:
– Based on checks & balances; traditional model;
– Prudent government…utilize concurrent majorities
• Jeffersonian
– Utilize strong national party system; party puts
forth and implements program; utilize majority
rule
Raising the Minimum Wage
• http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/s9iccj/incomeinequality-debate
• http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/ro5l52/world-of-classwarfare---warren-buffett-vs--wealthy-conservatives
• http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/tprkvs/waging-bull
• http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/ddm404/wage-againstthe-machine
• http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/v1lzn2/the-amazing-raise
• http://thedailyshow.cc.com/videos/3gmt6f/pay-mas