The Constitutional Basis of Presidential Power
• The delegates to the Constitutional
Convention were wary of unchecked
power.
• The Articles of Confederation had failed,
however, in part because of the lack of a
strong national executive.
The Constitutional Basis of Presidential Power
(Cont’d)
• Delegates had to balance the need to
check the power of the presidency with the
need to make it powerful enough to
provide effective leadership.
• In the end, they created an office that gave
presidents several powers.
Presidential Powers
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Act as administrative head of the nation.
Serve as commander in chief of the military.
Convene Congress.
Veto legislation.
Appoint top officials, though some are subject to
the advice and consent of the Senate.
• Make treaties.
• Grant pardons.
The Expansion of Presidential Power
• The power of the modern presidency
comes not only from the explicit powers
listed in the Constitution but also from the
expansion of authority under claims of
inherent powers.
• Congress has also delegated power to
the executive branch.
The Executive Branch Establishment
• One of the most important of the
president’s resources in office is his White
House staff.
• The Executive Office of the President
consists of the Chief of Staff, the
National Security Adviser, the Council
of Economic Advisers and the Office of
Management and Budget.
The Executive Branch Establishment (Cont’d)
• Vice presidents have traditionally been
“standby equipment.” They are not usually
used in a major advisory capacity.
However, Al Gore was given a more public
role than usual, and Dick Cheney was also
a major force within the George W. Bush
administration.
The Executive Branch Establishment (Cont’d)
• The cabinet is composed of the heads of
the major departments in the executive
branch and a small number of other key
officials such as the director of the Office
of Management and Budget.
• Modern presidents do not rely on the
cabinet to make policy because their
White House staffs, offer most of the
advisory support they need.
Presidential Leadership
• Presidential power is determined in part by
the political skills of the individual
president and how effectively the president
uses the resources of his office.
Presidential Character
• A president’s actions in office reflect
something more than his political views.
They also reflect the inner forces that give
rise to his basic character.
Presidential Character (Cont’d)
• Personality characteristics clearly have an
important effect on presidents’ success or
failure in office. However, character is only
one of a number of factors that go into
making a successful president.
Presidential Character (Cont’d)
• Presidents are in a better position to
persuade when their public popularity is
high.
• The president’s popularity and legislative
success also depend upon the wider
political environment and whether divided
government exists that produces
gridlock.
Legislative Leadership
• Presidential leadership is also shaped by the
president’s relationship to the dominant political
party and its policy agenda.
• According to political science scholars,
presidents will have a greater opportunity to
change policy when he is in the majority and the
opposing political party is perceived to be unable
to solve major national problems.
• Presidents who come to power right after
critical elections have the most favorable
environment for exerting strong
presidential leadership.
The President as National Leader
• Presidents carry into office a broad
political vision that reflects their ideology
and priorities.
• The president’s central role in our political
system guarantees that he can always
command attention for his agenda.
The President as National Leader (Cont’d)
• Thus, the president is the “Chief Lobbyist”
as well as an agenda setter.
• Part of the president’s job is to lead his
party.
The President as World Leader
• For nearly forty years, the president’s priority as
world leader was to contain communism.
• American presidents are now entering a new era
in which there is more emphasis on managing
national security, fostering a peaceful
international environment, protecting U.S.
economic interests and promoting democracy
and humanitarian concerns throughout the
world.
The President as World Leader (Cont’d)
• Periodically, the president faces a grave
situation in which conflict is imminent or a
small conflict threatens to explode into a
larger war.
The President as World Leader (Cont’d)
• Guidelines for determining presidential
actions during these crises include:
• Drawing on a range of advisers and opinions
• Not acting in haste
• Having a well-designed formal review process
with thorough analysis and open debate
• Examining the reasoning underlying all
options to ensure that their assumptions are
valid
The Best and Worst Presidents
Who was the best president and who was the worst? Many surveys of scholars have been taken over the
years to answer this question, and virtually all have ranked Abraham Lincoln the best. A 2000 C-SPAN
survey of fifty-eight historians, for example, came up with these results.
Ten Best Presidents
Ten Worst Presidents
1. Lincoln (best)
1. Buchanan (worst)
2. F. Roosevelt
2. A. Johnson
3. Washington
3. Pierce
4. T. Roosevelt
4. Harding
5. Truman
5. W. Harrison
6. Wilson
6. Tyler
7. Jefferson
7. Fillmore
8. Kennedy
8. Hoover
9. Eisenhower
9. Grant
10. L. Johnson (10th best)
10. Arthur (10th worst)
Presidential Leadership
• Often the difference between great and mediocre
presidents centers on their ability to grasp the
importance of leadership style.
• Seat of power from which decisions could flow to
shape the national destiny
• FDR and the Great Depression
• Lincoln and the Civil War
• Bush and 9/11?