Chapter 12

Becoming President
• Qualifications:
– 35 yrs. Old
– Natural born (US or territory)
– Last 14 yrs. In US
• Presidents have shared several characteristics:
– Male
– White
– Married
– Protestant
– Political or military experience
– Northern European ancestry
– Political party affiliation

• Term Limits:
– Originally – none
– After FDR (4) – the 22 nd Amendment made it 2 terms or 10 years
• Succession & Disability
– VP succeeds if Prez dies
– 25 th Amendment – 2 parts:
• 1. Prez can nominate new VP – Congress approves
• 2. Disability:
– A. President informs Congress in writing of disability
– B. The VP and majority of the Cabinet inform Congress in writing

• C. Pres can resume duties when he informs Congress he can
– If VP and majority of Cabinet disagree, Congress has 21 days to decide with 2/3 vote
• Impeachment/Removal
– Impeachment – bringing charges against a gov’t official (House of Representatives)
– Removal – trial by Senate – Chief Justice presides
– takes 2/3 vote to remove official

Road to the White House
• Two ways:
– 1) win election
– 2) succeed to office from VP
• Many presidents are former:
– VP’s
– Governors
– Senators
– Cabinet members

• Electoral College System
– Mentioned in Constitution & 12 th Amendment
– Each state’s electors are equal to its number of
House members and Senators
– In November, voters cast their vote for president
– In December, electors meet in each state capital to cast their vote

– In January, the votes are opened before a joint session of Congress and counted
– A candidate must receive at least 270 to win
– If no candidate gets 270
• the House votes by state among the top 3 for president
• The Senate votes by state among the top 3 for VP

The Vice Presidency
• Two duties:
– Preside over the Senate (cast tiebreaking vote)
– Help determine presidential disability and take over if necessary
• Formal qualifications are the same
• VP’s often chosen to “balance the ticket”
• Today, VP’s have a larger role in the gov’t
– Attend cabinet meetings
– Diplomatic missions
– Serve on National Security Council

• Article II outlines the powers
• Executive Powers:
– Enforce laws, treaties, & court decisions
– Issue executive orders to carry out policies
– Appoints and removes officials
– Assumes emergency powers
– Presides over cabinet and branch
• Judicial Powers:
– Appoints members of the federal courts
– Grants reprieves, pardons, & amnesty

• Legislative Powers:
– State of the Union Address:
• Identify problems
• Recommend ideas and policies
• Submit his legislative agenda
– Issues the annual budget & economic reports
– Signs or vetoes bills
– Proposes legislation & uses influence to get it passed
– Calls for special sessions of
Congress

• Diplomatic Powers:
– Appoints ambassadors/diplomats
– Negotiates treaties & executive agreements
– Meets with foreign leaders in international conferences
– Give diplomatic recognition to foreign governments
– Receives foreign dignitaries

• Military Powers:
– Serves as commander-in-chief
– Makes final decisions in matters of national and foreign defense
– Provides for domestic order
• Party Powers:
– Leader of the party
– Chooses VP nominee
– Helps party members get elected (coattails)
– Appoints party members to positions (patronage)
– Influences policies and platform of the party.

• Part of the checks and balances system
• Congressional Checks:
– Override presidential vetoes (2/3 vote – both houses)
– Power of the purse (Congress approves budgets for the agencies
• 1974 – Congressional Budget and
Impoundment Control Act – president cannot refuse to spend money appropriated by
Congress – also gave Congress a larger role in the budget process)
– Power of impeachment
– Approval powers over appointments
(Senate)
– Legislation that limits the president’s powers
(EX: War Powers Act)
– Legislative vetoes (declared unconstitutional in 1983)

• Judicial Checks:
– Power of the Court to declare laws he signed unconstitutional
• Political checks:
– Public opinion
– Media attention
– popularity

• Active-Positive – likes his work, adjusts easy, confident
– FDR, Truman, JFK, Carter
• Active Negative – hard worker but doesn’t like it, insecure, maybe obsessive or antagonistic
– Wilson, LBJ, Nixon

• Passive-Positive – easygoing, doesn’t want dissent, may be too confident
– Taft, Harding, Reagan
• Passive-Negative – doesn’t like politics, withdraws from close relationships
– Coolidge, Eisenhower

• Nothing in the Constitution about the presidents right to keep communication b/w himself and advisors private
• But presidents claim it anyway because:
– 1) separation of powers keeps one branch from inquiring about the other
– 2) need to feel they can be candid without fear of press and public reaction (esp. with national security
• Congress doesn’t like it, but didn’t do anything about it until Watergate

– a federal prosecutor insisted Nixon turn over tape recordings during Watergate
– He claimed executive privilege
– US v. Nixon, the Court said that in this case, executive privilege would block the constitutionally defined function of federal courts to decide criminal cases
• In other words, turn over the tapes

• Nixon v. Fitzgerald – 1982 – presidents can’t be sued for damages related to official decisions made while in office.
• Clinton v. Jones – 1997 – Court ruled against
Clinton’s argument that civil suits against a chief executive distract him from presidential duties
• All these decisions have restricted executive privilege, but have not eliminated it.

• Have the force of law
• They may enforce the Constitution, treaties or may establish or modify rules and practices of executive administrative agencies.

• Line-Item Veto Act – 1996 – allowed the president to veto sections of appropriations bills only.
• When Clinton did this, the law was challenged in Clinton v. City of NY (1997)
– SC ruled it unconstitutional and said that it is an abuse of separation of powers

• 1846 – James K. Polk – ordered army into disputed territory beginning a war with Mexico w/o approval from Congress
• 1861 – Abraham Lincoln – declared domestic emergency during a congressional recess – suspended habeas corpus
• Early 1900’s – Theodore
Roosevelt – pushed the public to demand economic reform, used the press to push his agenda, sent naval fleet on a mission w/o congressional funds or approval

• 1930’s – FDR – created federal economic programs w/o prior Congressional approval
• Late 1960’s – Nixon – blocked congressional programs by “impounding” funds for programs he didn’t support – the SC supported Congress
• Early 1980’s – Reagan – attacked programs by eliminating them from the budget

• His staff is entirely up to him
• Two different types of organizations:
– Pyramid model – assistants report through a hierarchy to a chief of staff or chief aide.
• Mostly efficient
• Frees the president for only the most important issues
• Bad because he may become isolated
• Or top advisors may gain a lot of power

– Circular model – many cabinet secretaries and assistants report directly to the president
• More direct contact with staff
• Allows better access to the president
• Ideas are not filtered through aides
• Critics say it leads to chaos and the president’s time is not well used

• Executive Office of the President (EOP)
– Agencies that report directly to him and perform staff services
– Includes his closest advisors
– Made up of several important groups:
• White House Office – personal and political staff that help with day-to-day activities (chief of staff, counsel to the pres, press secretary)

• National Security Council
(NSC) – advises president on military and foreign matters
– Made up of pres, VP,
Secs of State and
Defense
– Headed by the National
Security Advisor
– Has a large staff
• Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) – largest office
– Prepares the national budget
– Monitors the spending of funds approved by
Congress
– Checks the budgets and records of executive agencies

• National Economic Council
– Consists of 3 leading economists
– Assisted by 60 other economists, attorneys and political scientists
– Advise and help with economic planning
• Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives
– Created by GWB
– Encourages and expands private efforts to deal with social problems.

• Office of National Drug Control Policy
– Advisory and planning agency to fight the nation’s drug problems.
• Office of Policy Development
– Advises the president about domestic policy
• Office of US Trade Representatives
– Advises about foreign trade and helps negotiate foreign trade agreements

• Office of Environmental Quality
– Coordinates federal environmental efforts and analyzes environmental policies and initiatives
• Office of Science and Technology Policy
– Advises the president on the effects of science and technology on domestic and international affairs.
– Works with private sector and state and local gov’t to implement effective policies
• Office of Administration
– Provides administrative services to personnel of the EOC and gives direct support services to the president

• Oldest traditional body of the Executive Branch
• First ones were:
– State (Jefferson)
– Treasury (Hamilton)
– War
– Attorney General (Justice)
• It really doesn’t have much influence over presidential decisions
• The original four are called the “inner cabinet” and have the most power and influence
• The order of their creation is important for protocol

• In meetings, they sit in the order they were created with the newest ones the farthest away.
• They are appointed by the president - confirmed by the
Senate
• President doesn’t have much power over cabinet departments
• The cabinet heads (Secretaries) spend most of their time on department business
– Also defending and promoting their own department
– Compete with other departments for resources and attention
– Function more as the departments representatives to the president than the presidents representatives to the departments

• In order of Creation:
– State
– Treasury
– Defense
– Interior
– Justice
– Agriculture
– Commerce
– Labor
– Health and Human Services
– Housing and Urban Development
– Transportation
– Energy
– Education
– Veterans Affairs
– Homeland Security

• Similar to departments but without cabinet status
• The heads serve by law for fixed terms and can be removed only for “just cause”
• Created by Congress
• Include
– Federal Reserve Board
– Federal Communications Commission
– FDIC
– SEC

• Created by Congress to carry out business-like activities
• Charge for their services
• Include:
– TVA
– AMTRAK
– USPS