The Many Roles of the President
 Chief
of State
Ceremonial head of the
country
Acts as the “face of the U.S.”
Welcomes foreign dignitaries
For example…
The Many Roles of the President
 Chief
Executive
Ensures that the nation’s
laws are enforced and
carried out
Head of the executive branch
The Many Roles of the President

Chief Administrator
 Head of the entire bureaucracy – people
who work for the government to
implement policies
 Appoints everyone in the top levels of
the bureaucracy, with approval of a
majority of the Senate
 May also fire any appointed person
 does
not need Senate approval for firing
The Many Roles of the President

Chief Diplomat
 Develops the nation’s foreign policy
stances
 Top
advisor on foreign policy is the
Secretary of State
 Spokesperson
to the rest of the
world
 Meets and befriends leaders of
foreign countries
The Many Roles of the President
 Commander-in-Chief
Top
commander of all
branches of the armed forces
All are subject to his
immediate control
Can wage undeclared wars
The Many Roles of the President
 Chief
Legislator
 Proposes Laws to Congress
 Chooses whether to sign bills
into law or veto them
 Can also issue executive orders
– changes in executive branch
policy that have the effect of law
The Many Roles of the President

Chief of Party
 He is the undisputed leader and
face of the party that helped elect
him
 Plans future strategy and direction
of the party
 Helps raise money and campaign
for other party members
The Many Roles of the President
 Chief
Citizen
Work to help the public as a
whole, rather than private
interests
Represent what all American
people should be (in terms of
character)
Qualifications
 35
years old
 Natural Born U.S. Citizen
 Could
be born in another country to
an American parent (jus sanguinis)
 Or born on U.S. soil (jus solis)
 Resident
of the U.S. for 14 years
Terms
 Pres.
serves a 4 year term
 Limited to 2 terms by the 22nd
Amendment
 If V.P. takes over less than half of
President’s term, it doesn’t count
against him
 Thus, most possible years = 10
$ Perks $
 Salary of $400,000 per year
for life
 $50,000 in expenses
 Free medical care for life
 Live in the White House
 Use of Air Force One, Marine
One, other transportation
Presidential Succession

Constitution originally only provided that
when Pres. becomes incapable, V.P.
would become “acting president”

Didn’t address:
Is V.P. now president forever?
 Does “acting president” have the same power as
president?
 What if the V.P. leaves office?
 Who decides if the president is “unable”
 How is it determined when the president is “able”
again?


All of this was fixed by the 25th Amendment
(1967)
Presidential Succession
 If
president dies, resigns, is
impeached, or is temporarily
incapable, succession occurs
 Pres.
can be declared temporarily
incapable by himself, or V.P. with a
majority of the Cabinet (25th
Amendment)
Presidential Succession
What if more than just the president
dies, or is removed from office?
 Order of Succession – set by
Presidential Succession Act of 1947

 Vice
President
 Speaker of the House
 President Pro-Tempore
 Secretary of State
 Each Cabinet Dept. Secretary in the
order they were created
Vice-Presidential Succession
 If
V.P. dies or resigns,
president picks a new one
 Majority of both houses of
Congress must approve
What Does the Veep Do?
2
Important Jobs (sarcasm)
Take over if the Pres. dies
Preside over the Senate
These 2 jobs take no time,
and allow Dick Cheney to
spend time shooting old men
in the face
So What do They Really Do?
 They
do
whatever the
president lets
them do
How to Pick a V.P.
 Balance the Ticket – pick a
guy with qualities that will draw
voters you wouldn’t
Example of Balancing the Ticket

President Reagan
 From California
(West Coast)
 Very conservative
 Idea man – not
concerned with
details

Vice-President Bush
 From Connecticut
(East Coast)
 Moderate conservative
 Technocrat – obsessed
with nuance/details
Presidential Selection
says – “president
shall be chosen by a number of
electors”
 These electors are the electoral
college
 Constitution
Original Plan
 Each
elector gets 2 votes
 1st Place becomes president
 2nd Place becomes vicepresident
 Then, a crisis occurs…
The Election of 1800
 Political Parties had just
appeared
and Burr –
Democratic Republicans
 Adams and Pinckney –
Federalists
 Jefferson
 Each
elector casts his 2 ballots
for his party’s 2 candidates
The Election of 1800
 Final
Result:
 Thomas
Jefferson - 73
 Aaron Burr - 73
 John Adams - 65
 Charles Pinckney - 64
 John Jay - 1
The Election of 1800
 Burr
had run intending to
become Jefferson’s Vice, then
realized he had a legitimate
claim to win!
 Took 36 votes in the House of
Reps. to settle the dispute and
pick Jefferson
The 12th Amendment
 Requires
presidential and
V.P. elections to
be separate
The Current Selection Process
 Thankfully
for you, the process
is much more complicated
today
 It all starts with the nominating
process…
The Nominating Process
 Candidates
must win a majority of
delegates at the party convention
 Each state gets delegates at the
convention based on the number
of electoral college votes, plus a
bonus for states loyal to the party
 States have choices on how to
award these delegates
State’s Options – How to Vote
Election – election
among the public to choose a
nominee
 Primary
Primary – all eligible
voters may vote
 Closed Primary – only party
members may vote
 Open
State’s Options – How to Vote
– meeting of party
members to debate and vote
 Caucus
State’s Options – How to Award
Delegates
Winner-Take-All – winner of the
state’s contest gets all of the state’s
delegates
 Proportional Representation – Each
candidate gets delegates equal to the
% of the vote they got

 **Democratic
Party rules require
proportional representation**
The Convention
 Delegates
“vote”
– everyone knows
who will win
 President officially
nominates his
running mate
General Election
Election – one candidate
from each party run against each
other for the presidency
 General
General Election
 Each
state sets requirements for
how a party gets qualified to be
on the ballot
General Election
 Traditionally,
the Republican and
Democratic Candidates will
debate each other at least once
General Election

Winner of the election is determined
by who gets a majority of electoral
college votes (270 out of a possible
538)
General Election
 Electoral
College is winner-takeall – whoever gets a plurality (not
a majority) in the state gets all the
state’s electoral college votes
The Electoral College

Pros
 Preserves
stable
2 party system
 No mass
confusion over
recounts
 Pushes
candidates to
campaign in
smaller states

Cons
–
can win with fewer
votes
 Outdated – we
have technology
for voters to have
full control
 Voters in closely
divided states
matter more
 Undemocratic
Proposed Reforms to the
Electoral College

District Plan
 Electoral
College Votes based on who
wins each congressional district
 Example: California has 53 districts
 Bush wins 20, gets 20 electoral votes
 Kerry wins 33, gets 33 electoral votes
 Kerry wins popular vote in CA, gets 2
bonus votes
Proposed Reforms to the
Electoral College

Proportional Plan
 Electoral
College votes awarded based on
% of popular vote
 Example: State has 20 electoral votes
 Bush gets 60%, Kerry gets 40%
 Bush gets 12 electoral votes, Kerry gets 8
Proposed Reforms to the
Electoral College
 Direct Popular Election
 Whoever
wins the most votes
nationwide becomes the president
Proposed Reforms to the
Electoral College
 National Bonus Plan
 Electoral
College system still in place
 Whoever wins the popular vote
nationwide gets a bonus of 102
electoral college votes
 102 is the number which makes it
mathematically impossible to win
popular vote and lose the election