THE
EXECUTIVE
BRANCH
THE LARGEST OF THE THREE BRANCHES
THE EXECUTIVE
BRANCH
• ARTICLE II – “The Executive Power shall be vested in
a President of the United States of America.”
• President – head of the Executive Branch
• Qualifications – LEGAL
o 35 years old
o Natural Born Citizen
o 14 years resident of US
• Common Characteristics
o
o
o
o
o
Male
White (until Obama)
Christian
College educated
Past political experience
PRESIDENTIAL TERMS
• President can be elected to TWO (2)
FOUR YEAR TERMS (22nd Amendment)
o Theoretically, can serve 10 years
o President FDR was elected 4 times
• Inaugurated on January 20th at 12noon
• Some people have called for changes
in how long a President can serve
o Single, non-renewable term?
o No limit on being elected?
PRESIDENTIAL MAIN
RESPONSIBILITIES
• CHIEF OF STATE – ceremonial head of government;
reigns and rules
• CHIEF EXECUTIVE – designated to execute the laws
of the US
• CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR – “director” of the Federal
government
• CHIEF DIPLOMAT – Main architect of US foreign
policy
• COMMANDER IN CHIEF – Commander of US armed
forces
• CHIEF LEGISLATOR – Main architect of US public
policy
• CHIEF OF PARTY – Leader of their political party
• CHIEF CITIZEN – Representative of all people in US
PAY & BENEFITS
• Salary - $400K per year
• Free housing
• Fleet of aircrafts
o Air Force One
o Marine One
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Fleet of automobiles
Free medical/vision/dental
Vacation home (Camp David)
$50K year expense allowance
o Acts as part of salary – kept if not spent.
ORDER OF SUCCESSION
Vice
President
Agriculture
Speaker of
the House
President Pro
Tem
Interior
Attorney
General
State
Defense
Treasury
Okay, but what if…
• The President dies or leaves office for any
reason?
• Presidential Disability
o 25th Amendment (1967)
o If the President dies in office, VP Takes over
o If the President is disabled while in office, VP takes over on either
the President notifying Congress, in writing, he is unable to
perform the duties of the office or the VP and a majority of the
Cabinet agree he is unable to perform the duties.
• President can take power back at anytime by notifying
Congress, in writing, no disability exists.
• VP and Cabinet may challenge on this point, giving Congress
21 days to decide.
THE VICE PRESIDENT
• According to the US Constitution, the VP has
only two jobs:
o Serve as President of the Senate
o Decide any question of Presidential disability
• Often chosen for their ability to “balance the
ticket” for the potential President
• If there is a Vice Presidential vacancy, the
President nominates a new one with
confirmation of majority of both chambers of
Congress (GERALD FORD – 1973, NELSON
ROCKEFELLER – 1974)
• President CANNOT fire VP during a term
PRESIDENTIAL
SUCCESSION & THE
VICE PRESIDENCY
PRESIDENTIAL SUCCESSION
• 47 Vice Presidents
• 14 former VP’s have gone onto become President, either by
election or by succession
• PRESIDENTIAL SUCCESSION
o Order by which a vacancy in the Presidency is filled
o Began with just the POWERS of the Presidency transferring, not the
title.
o Did not become the “title” of President transferring until the 25th
Amendment in 1967
• Even with this, it was precedent for the VP to move up fully to the Presidency
upon a vacancy.
• Began with John Tyler assuming the Presidency on the death of W.H. Harrison
in 1841
o Congress fixes the order of succession following the VP
• Based upon PRESIDENTIAL SUCCESSION ACT OF 1947
CURRENT PRESIDENTIAL ORDER OF SUCCESSION
JOSEPH BIDEN
Vice President of the
US
JOHN BOEHNER
Speaker of the House
PAT LEAHY
President Pro Tem of
the Senate
JOHN KERRY
Secretary of State
JACOB LEW
Treasury
CHUCK HAGEL
Defense
ERIC HOLDER
Attorney General
SALLY JEWEL
Interior
TOM VILSACK
Agriculture
PENNY PRITZKER
Commerce
THOMAS PEREZ
Labor
SYLVIA MATTHEWS
BURWELL
Health & Human
Services
JULIAN CASTRO
Housing & Urban
Development
ANTHONY FOXX
Transportation
ERNEST MONIZ
Energy
ARNE DUNCAN
Education
ROBERT MCDONALD
Veterans Affairs
JEH JOHNSON
Homeland Security
PRESIDENTIAL DISABILITY
• 25th Amendment – sections 3 & 4 cover the problems if the
President is unable to perform their duties.
o VP becomes acting President if…
• President informs Congress, in writing, “he is unable to discharge the powers and
duties of his office”
o OR…
• VP and a majority of Cabinet members inform Congress, in writing, the President is
incapable of performing their duties
PRESIDENTIAL DISABILITY
• President may reclaim the office by informing Congress, in
writing, that no disability exists.
• If the VP and a majority of the cabinet disagree, then
Congress must decide within 21 days who is acting President
VICE PRESIDENCY
• VP has only two official duties assigned to the job.
o Decide any question of Presidential disability
o Preside over the Senate
• Person is often chosen to act as a “President in Waiting” and
to “Balance the Ticket” at the nominating convention.
o “Balance the ticket” – strengthen the Presidential party ticket where the President is
weak
VICE PRESIDENTIAL VACANCY
• If there is a vacancy in the Vice Presidency, the President has
the right to nominate a replacement.
o Replacement must be confirmed by a majority vote of both chambers of Congress
• Many people wish to see the Vice President take on a larger
role
POWERS OF THE
PRESIDENT
EXECUTIVE – DIPLOMATIC – MILITARY – LEGISLATIVE –
JUDICIAL
Executive Powers
 Executive – Execute the laws of the United States
 Oath of Office
 Command of the Constitution
 Ordinance – Power to issue executive orders
 Executive Order – regulation, rule, directive issued by the President that has
the effect of law
 Appointment – power to appoint high level government positions with Senate
consent
 Ambassadors & diplomats
 Cabinet members & their top aides
 Heads of independent agencies such as NASA & EPA & FBI
 All federal judges, US Marshals, & attorneys
 All officers in the Armed forces
 USE OF SENATORIAL COURTESY
 Removal - power to remove previously appointed people in high level positions
 Andrew Johnson / Tenure of Office Act / 1867
DIPLOMATIC & MILITARY
POWERS
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•
TREATIES – agreement between two or more sovereign states
o President, through Secretary of State, negotiates these
o Must be approved by the Senate (2/3 vote)
o Same legal standing as a law
EXECUTIVE AGREEMENTS – agreement between two or more heads of state
o Basically the same as a treaty
o Many flow from legislation already in Congress
o DOES NOT require Senate approval
RECOGNITION – acknowledge the legal existence of another state /
government
o DOES NOT mean approval (Soviet Union, Cuba, Taliban. Etc)
o Can be used as a political tool too (Truman & Israel in 1948)
MILITARY POWERS
• Commander In Chief
o Undeclared War
• Remember, CONGRESS declares war
• Still, the President has ample power to use the military anytime.
• Hundreds of armed conflicts without Congressional consent
o Congressional Resolutions
• Congress will often enact “joint resolutions” authorizing the President to
use “necessary force” for international crises
o War Powers Resolution (1973)
• Within 48 hours of committing troops anywhere, the President must detail
the scope and length of the actions to Congress
• Combat commitment must end within 60 days, unless Congress authorizes
for another 30 days
• Congress may recall troops at anytime with a concurrent resolution
• Never been used – must have a President and Congress at odds over troop
use.
LEGISLATIVE POWERS
• RECOMMEND LEGISLATION
o Ask Congress to consider special areas.
o Offer up bills for consideration
• VETO POWER
o Power to veto (cancel) a bill passed by Congress
o Can be overridden with 2/3 vote both chambers
• LINE ITEM VETO
o Allows President to veto only a part of a bill
o Passed in 1996; ruled unconstitutional in 1998
• SPECIAL SESSION
o Can call Congress “back to work” if the need arises. (prorogue)
JUDICIAL POWERS
• POWERS OF CLEMENCY (leniency)
o REPRIEVE – Postponement of the execution of a
sentence
o PARDON – Legal forgiveness of a crime
• Ford – Nixon – Watergate
o COMMUTATION – Reduce the length or amount of a
sentence or fine
o AMNESTY – Blanket pardon given to group violators
• Carter – 1977 – Vietnam draft evaders
THE
PRESIDENTIAL
JOB
DESCRIPTION
WHAT EXACTLY DOES HE DO?
PRESIDENTIAL DUTIES
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CHIEF OF STATE
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR
CHIEF DIPLOMAT
COMMANDER IN CHIEF
CHIEF LEGISLATOR
CHIEF OF PARTY
CHIEF CITIZEN
CHIEF OF STATE
• The President is the ceremonial head of the government
o Embodiment/symbol of all people in the nation
o “Personal embodiment and representative of their dignity and majesty” (W.H. Taft)
• In some countries, the Chief of State is a figurehead (Queen of
England)
o Not the US
o President “reigns” and has political power
CHIEF EXECUTIVE
• President serves as the recipient of the “executive power”
granted by the Constitution
o Article II
• As Chief Executive, President serves as the leader of the most
powerful office in the world
CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR
• Director of the United States “Federal Government”
employees
• Largest governmental machine in the world
• Director of over 3 million governmental employees
• Directs a budget of over $2.5 trillion a year
CHIEF DIPLOMAT
• Main architect of foreign policy
• What the President does/says is followed world wide
• President is the chief spokesperson to the rest of the world
COMMANDER IN CHIEF
• President serves as director of all branches of the United States
Military
• All members of the military are subject to direct order of the
President
• This ties in closely with Chief Diplomat
CHIEF LEGISLATOR
• The President is the main architect of the US domestic public
policy
• President sets much of the overall shape of the Congressional
agenda
o Initiate, request, demand much of the legislation Congress will work on
CHIEF OF PARTY
• Acknowledged leader of the political party
• Able to lead/set the agenda for the political party
CHIEF CITIZEN
• Representative of all people of the country
• Expected to work for and represent the needs of the public
• “The Presidency is not merely an administrative office. That
is the least of it. It is preeminently a place of moral
leadership.”
o FDR
• LBJ – Vietnam
• Nixon - Watergate