I. What are the Legislative Acts that affect the Office of the President?
1. The Presidential Succession Act of 1947
a. President
d. President Pro-Tempore of the Senate
b. Vice President
e. The Cabinet: Secretary of State
c. Speaker of the House of Representatives f. remainder of the cabinet.
2. 22nd Amendment(1951) – Can serve only 2 consecutive terms.
3. 23rd Amendmet(1961) – The District of Columbia grantor 3 electoral votes.
4. 25th Amendment(1967) - If disabled the powers of the President are transferred
to the Vice President. (ex. In 2002 President Bush, under going sedation for a colonoscopy,
temporarily transferred power over to VP Cheney).
II. Notable Political Debates
1. 1st televised Kennedy v. Nixon (TV helped get Kennedy elected)
2. Bush v. Dukakis (Dukakis had cold demeanor and fumbled over words)
3. 2004 Presidential Debates
a. 6.2 million viewers (same # of viewers as the Oscars)
Why are the Presidential debates so popular?
a. Its live
b. No scripts, No press, No spokesperson
c. Its between the Presidential candidates and the voter (face to face)
d. A lot rides on the answers and their performance.
III. The Electoral Process
1. Nomination (The selection of each parties candidate through primaries and caucuses = National
Convention)
2. Fall Campaign (Selection of running mates and beginning of national travel and TV ads)
3. Election Day (always the 2nd Tues after the 1st Monday in November)
a. Individuals vote for their candidate.
b. Wining candidate earns all electoral votes for that particular state.
4. Electoral College (In December State electors submit their states votes)
a. Candidates are officially elected.
b. Candidates can win with electoral votes over popular vote
c. Tie goes to The House of Representatives to decide.
5. ***Winner Takes All***
***Rubber Stamp Vote***
IV. Unusual Elections
1. Election of 1800 (Tie between Jefferson and Burr which was broken by the House of Represent.)
2. Election of 2000
Democrats Al Gore
50,996,116
266
Republican George Bush
50,456,169
271