Presidential Powers
• Article 2, Section 1:
– Executive Power in a Prez and
VP for 4 years
• Article 2, Section 2:
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–
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Commander-in-Chief
Pardons
Make treaties
Nominate and appoint and fill
vacancies
Presidential Powers
• Article 2, Section 3:
– Information on State of the
Union
– Convene Special Congressional
Sessions
– Receive Foreign ambassadors
• Article 2, Section 4:
– Removed by Impeachment for
treason, bribery, high crimes and
misdemeanors
Presidential Powers
• 20th Amendment:
– Changed term to begin January
20
• 22nd Amendment:
– 2 terms
• 25th Amendment:
– Presidential succession and
disability
Presidential Expectations
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•
•
•
•
Chief of State
Chief Executive
Commander-in-Chief
Chief Diplomat
Chief Legislator
Party Chief
Voice of the people
Protector of the Peace
Manager of the Prosperity
World leader
ALL AT THE SAME TIME!!
Presidential Limitations
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Congress
Courts
Bureaucracy
Federalism
Capitalism
Public
Time
Outside Forces
Separation of Powers or
Separate Institutions
Sharing Power?
(Figure 18.2, Barbour and Wright, Keeping the Republic, Boston:
Houghton Mifflin, © 2001)
Evolution of the
Presidency
• Traditional “Do Nothing”
Presidency
• “Modern Presidency”
– greater formal and informal
powers for initiative
– increased staff and advisory
capacity
• Brownlow Commission Report
(1937)
• EOP (1939)
– agenda setter
– most visible national actor
Presidential Leadership
• No-Win Presidency?
• Lead by Command or by
Persuasion?
• The President’s Helpers
Policy Triad
• National Security Adviser and
NSC (Staff)
• State
• Defense
Advising the President
The Good, The Bad, and the
Ugly
The Good: Brent
Scowcroft (?)
• NSA to Ford
and “41”
• General, USAF
(ret.)
• PhD Columbia
•
(pic courtesy
www.scowcroft.com)
The Bad: John M.
Poindexter (!)
• NSA to Reagan
’85-86
• Vice Admiral,
USN (ret.)
• convicted in 1990
of conspiracy,
obstruction of
justice, and
destruction of
evidence in
connection with
the Iran-Contra
affair
• Overturned on
appeal
•
(Don Rypka-AFP)
The Ugly: You pick…
The “First”
• McGeorge
Bundy
• JFK and LBJ,
1961-1966
• Harvard’s Dean
of the Faculty
at 34
• 1919-1996
The Current
• Dr. Condoleezza
Rice
• Stanford’s
Provost
• NSC (Staff) in
41’s
administration
(Soviet Union)
• 1954,
Birmingham,
Alabama
• PhD University of
Denver, 1974
It’s MY power!
• National Security Act 1947
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–
–
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NSC
JCS
SecDef (et al.)
CIA
• Increasing reliance on NSC
staff
• Centralization of policymaking
in the White House
Advising the President
• Short Run Advantages for the
President
• Long Run Disadvantages for
the Presidency?
• Principal-Agent Relationships