Presidential Roles
Watergate
 1972 – Several burgulars were caught
breaking into the Watergate hotel.
 DNC Headquarters
 Told to steal documents and wiretap phones.
 Assigned this task by President Nixon
 Nixon attempted to silence the burgulars and stop
FBI investigations
 Use of “hush money”
 Created skepticism of the office of the U.S.
Presidency
The Veto
•
The Veto: power to send a bill back to
Congress with reasons for rejecting it.
•
Pocket Veto: After 10 days, a
President lets a bill die without signing
it
 No where in the Constitution does it
state the President has legislative
powers
 Two-thirds of both Houses of Congress
are needed to override a veto
Riding those coattails
 Presidential Coattails: Occur when
voters cast a ballot for members of
the President’s party.
 During midterm elections, members
of the President’s party tend to lose
seats.
Public Support
 Public support is the most important
resource of the President
 Congressman try to be close or distant from
the White House based on public opinion
 Public opinion does two things:
 Strengthen resolve of opponents
 Narrows the benefit of a doubt for
Presidents.
Press Coverage
 The Press can be a huge ally for the
President
 However, most coverage is negative.
 The President can use the Press to:
 Alter public opinion
 Put pressure on the Congress
 Budget crisis
 It is to the President’s benefit to have a
positive relationship with the press.
 1.) The President has to make instant decisions
regarding war making so that the government was
able to respond to a crisis with, in Alexander
Hamilton’s words, “energy and dispatch.” But they
ensured that this power was subject to control by
Congress in order to prevent the President from
using force too broadly.
 a.) Identify a military power of the legislative
branch and a military power of the executive
branch.
 b.) Describe how the War Powers Resolution
(1973) tried to curtail the President’s power in
foreign affairs.
 c.) Describe one action taken by a President
involving foreign affairs since the passage of the
War Powers Resolution and describe Congress’s
reaction to it.