Government in America
Edwards and Wattenberg
16th Edition
Chapter 12
The Presidency

Great Expectations
◦ Americans want a president who is powerful
and who can do good like Washington,
Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Kennedy.
◦ Americans also look to the President to provide
them with a good life.
◦ Yet Americans do not like a concentration of
power because they are individualistic and
skeptical of authority.
◦ We have VERY high expectations with little
understanding of how the job really works
The Presidents

Who They Are
◦ Formal Requirements:
 Must be 35 years old
 Must be a natural-born citizen
 Must have resided in U.S. for 14 years
◦ Informal “Requirements”:
 White (except one), Male, Protestant (except one)
◦ All manner of professions, but mostly political
ones (former state governors, for example)
The Presidents
President
Former Position
Eisenhower
Head of Allied forces in WW2
Kennedy
US Senator from Massachusetts
Johnson
Senate Majority Leader
Nixon
Senator from CA, Eisenhower’s (Ike’s) VP
Ford
House Minority Leader
Carter
Gov of Georgia, peanut farmer
Reagan
Gov of CA, actor
Bush (41)
CIA Director, Reagan’s VP
Clinton
Gov of Arkansas
Bush (43)
Gov of Texas
Obama
Senator from IL
What were they before?

How They Got There
◦ Elections: The Typical Road to the White House
 Once elected, the president serves a term of
four years.
 In 1951, the 22nd Amendment limited the
number of terms to two.
◦ Total maximum number of years =10 (only
if they are completing someone else’s term)
The Presidents
 The 25th Amendment (1967) clarifies
what happens if the president dies,
resigns or becomes disabled.
 The Vice President becomes President in
case of death or resignation. To fill the
NOW open VP position, the new president
nominates a VP who can take office with a
majority vote in both houses of Congress
 The Vice President becomes acting
president if the vice president and the
president’s Cabinet determine that the
president is disabled.
Succession to the Presidency
The Presidents

If the president dies, resigns or is
removed, the order of succession is
◦
◦
◦
◦
Vice President
Speaker of the House
President Pro Tempore of the Senate
Cabinet members in the order in which their
departments were created
Order of Succession
Impeachment
 Impeachment: the FIRST STEP in the
process of getting someone out of office.
It is the equivalent of a criminal
indictment.
 What does it mean to be impeached? It
means the House is going to vote on a list
of charges to determine whether or not
the accused gets put on trial! It is NOT
removal from office!!
 Impeachment requires a majority vote in
the House for “Treason, Bribery, or other
high Crimes and Misdemeanors”
 If the President is impeached, they are then
put on trial by the Senate with the Chief
Justice presiding. All 100 senators act as the
jury. (Need 2/3 vote of the Senate to remove
from office)
◦ Only two presidents have been impeached-Andrew Johnson and Clinton—neither was
convicted, so neither was removed.
How to remove the President in 5 easy steps 
Step 1
House brings up charges of wrongdoing
Step 2
House votes on charges (need a majority to go to Step 3)
Step 3
Senate holds a trial
Step 4
Senate votes (need 2/3 to go to Step 5)
Step 5
Official is REMOVED FROM OFFICE
Impeachment

Impeachable offenses
◦ Do NOT have to be a crime (invading a country
to increase his public support)
◦ The offense should be grave
◦ A matter of policy disagreement is NOT
grounds for impeachment
◦ Impeachment is inherently political (Congress
decides what’s impeachable. The Constitution
gives NO specifics)
Impeachment Standards
So Who’s Been Impeached?
Andrew Johnson – disagreed with
Congress over Reconstruction policies
2. Bill Clinton – impeached on charges of
perjury and obstruction of justice
stemming from the Monica Lewinsky
affair
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.1.
The House had planned to impeach Nixon on obstruction of
justice, abuse of power and failure to comply with
Congressional subpoenas in connection with the
Watergate scandal, but he RESIGNED!!

The Expansion of Power
◦ Presidents may develop new roles for and
expand power of the office.

Perspectives on Presidential Power
◦ During the 1950s and 1960s people favored a
powerful president. Why?
◦ By the 1970s, presidential power was checked
and distrusted by the public.
◦ Crash Course: Formal Presidential Powers
◦ Crash Course: Informal Presidential Powers
Presidential Powers

As Chief Executive, the president presides
over the administration of government.
◦ Constitution: “take care that the laws be
faithfully executed”
◦ Today, federal bureaucracy spends $4 trillion a
year and numbers more than 4 million
employees.
◦ Presidents appoint 500 high-level positions and
2,500 lesser jobs.
◦ Presidents also use executive orders to run the
government
◦ Crash Course: How Presidents Govern
Running the Government:
The Chief Executive

The Vice President
◦ Basically just “waits” for things to do
◦ Power has grown over time, as recent
presidents have given their VPs important jobs
in the area of policymaking

The Cabinet
◦ Presidential advisors, not in Constitution
◦ Made up of 14 cabinet secretaries and one
Attorney General, confirmed by the Senate
Running the Government:
The Chief Executive
Running the Government: The
Chief Executive

The Executive Office
◦ Eisenhower Executive Office Building is next to the
White House
◦ Made up of several policymaking and advisory bodies
◦ Three principle groups: NSC, CEA, OMB
Figure 13.1

The Executive Office
◦ National Security Council (NSC)
 Created in 1947 to coordinate the president’s foreign and
military policy advisers
 Members include the President, Vice President, Secretary of
State and Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and managed by
the president’s National Security Adviser
◦ Council of Economic Advisers (CEA)
 A 3-member body appointed by the president to advise on
economic policy (They analyze the current state and future
outlook of the economy, advise the President on
unemployment and inflation)
◦ Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
 Performs both managerial and budgetary functions, including
legislative review and budgetary assessments of proposals
Running the Government:
The Chief Executive

The White House Staff
◦ Currently about 600 people
◦ Chief aides and staff for the president—some are more
for the White House than the president
◦ Chief of Staff, Congressional Liaison Aides, Press
Secretary, National Security Assistant
◦ Presidents rely on their information and effort but
presidents set tone and style of White House

The First Lady
◦ No official government position, but many get involved
politically
◦ Recent ones focus on a single issue: Beautification,
Mental Health, Drug Prevention, Literacy, etc.
Running the Government:
The Chief Executive

Chief Legislator – remember this is not a term
used in the Constitution, it’s just a description
of the President’s importance in the
lawmaking process 

Options when the President gets a bill
on his desk
◦ Sign it into law
◦ Veto it (send it back to Congress with reasons for
rejecting it) – more to come on this topic 
◦ Let it become law after 10 days without doing
anything
◦ Veto: The President can send a bill back to
Congress with his reasons for rejecting it. It
may be overridden with 2/3 support of both
Houses.
◦ Pocket Veto: A president can let a bill die by
not signing it when Congress adjourns within
10 days of submitting a bill.
◦ Line Item Veto: ability to veto parts of a bill-some state governors have it, but not the
President (ADD ON TO VOCAB!)
◦ Vetoes are used to prevent legislation.
Understanding the Veto

Party Leadership
The Bonds of Party
 Being in the president’s party creates a
psychological bond between legislators and
presidents, increasing agreement.
Slippage in Party Support
 Presidents cannot always count on party
support, especially on controversial issues.
Leading the Party
 Presidents can offer party candidates support
and punishment by withholding favors.
 Presidential coattails occur when voters cast
their ballots for congressional candidates of the
president’s party because they support the
president. Races are rarely won in this way.

Public Support
◦ Public Approval
 A source of presidential leadership of Congress
 Public approval gives the president leverage,
not command; it does not guarantee success
◦ Electoral Mandates
 Perception that the voters strongly support the
president’s character and policies
 Mandates are infrequent, but presidents claim
a mandate anyway
Presidential Leadership of Congress:
The Politics of Shared Powers

Legislative Skills
◦ Bargaining: concessions for votes, occurs
infrequently
◦ Being strategic, presidents increase chances
for success by exploiting “honeymoon” at
beginning of term
◦ Presidents may set priorities to influence
Congress’ agenda; president is nation’s key
agenda builder
◦ Skills must compete with other factors that
may affect Congress; they are not at the
core of presidential leadership of Congress

Chief Diplomat
◦ Negotiates treaties with other countries
 Treaties must be ratified by 2/3 vote in the
Senate
◦ Use executive agreements to take care of
routine matters with other countries
◦ May negotiate for peace between other
countries
◦ Lead U.S. allies in defense and economic issues
The President and National Security
Policy
Chief Diplomat

Commander-in-Chief
◦ Writers of the Constitution wanted civilian
control of the military.
◦ Presidents often make important military
decisions.
◦ Presidents command a standing military and
nuclear arsenal - unthinkable 200 years ago
The President and National Security
Policy

War Powers
◦ Shared War Powers in Constitution
 Congress has the power to declare war.
 President, as Commander-in-Chief, can commit
troops and equipment in conflicts
◦ War Powers Resolution (1973)
 Intended to limit the president’s use of the military
 Requires president to consult with Congress within
48 hours of using military force and withdraw forces
after 60 days unless Congress declares war or
grants an extension
 Presidents see the Resolution as unconstitutional
◦ Presidents continue to test the constitutional limits of
using the military in foreign conflicts.
The President and National Security
Policy

Crisis Manager

Working with Congress
◦ President has lead role in foreign affairs
◦ Presidents still have to work with Congress for
support and funding of foreign policies.
◦ Crisis: a sudden, unpredictable, and potentially
dangerous event
◦ The role the president plays can help or hurt the
presidential image.
◦ With current technology, the president can act
much faster than Congress to resolve a crisis.

Going Public
◦ Public support is perhaps the greatest source of
influence a president has.
◦ Presidential appearances are staged to get the
public’s attention.
◦ As head of state, presidents often perform
many ceremonial functions, which usually
result in favorable press coverage.
Power from the People:
The Public Presidency

Presidential Approval
◦ Receives much effort by the White House
◦ Product of many factors: predispositions,
“honeymoon,” rally events
◦ Changes can highlight good or bad decisions.
Figure 13.3


Policy Support
◦ Presidents attempt to gain public support
through televised messages, with little success
 The public may not be receptive to the
president’s message or misperceive it all
together.
Mobilizing the Public
◦ The president may attempt to motivate the
public to contact Congress.
◦ A difficult task, given inattentive and apathetic
public
◦ May backfire: a lack of response speaks loudly
Power from the People:
The Public Presidency




Presidents and media are often adversaries
due to different goals.
◦ Media need stories; presidents want to
convey their messages to the public
Many people in the White House deal with the
media, but the press secretary is the main
contact person.
◦ Press conferences are best-known direct
interaction of president and media
Media do not focus on substance of policies
but on the “body watch.”
News coverage of presidents has become
more negative.
The President and the Press

The Presidency and Democracy
◦ Concerns over the president having too
much power often tied to policy concerns
◦ Others argue there are too many checks
and balances on the president

The Presidency and the Scope of Government
◦ Some presidents have increased the
functions of government.
Understanding the American
Presidency
Americans expect a lot from presidents.
 Presidents work as part of an
organization.
 Presidential leadership of Congress is
central but difficult
 Presidential roles and responsibilities,
even national security, tied to Madisonian
system of checks and balances

Summary