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The Presidency
The Presidency
Presidential Qualifications
• Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution states that the
president must be:
– a natural-born citizen (or a citizen at the time the
Constitution was adopted)
– at least 35 years old
– a resident of the United States for at least fourteen years
Qualifications for the Vice Presidency
The original Constitution did not specify eligibility for the vice
presidency, as the person who came in second in the vote for
president would be vice president.
• The Twelfth Amendment, ratified in 1804, changed the
process so that candidates are elected for president and vice
president separately.
- The amendment also specifies that vice presidents must
meet the same eligibility requirements as presidents and
that they be from different states.
Presidential Succession
The Constitution also states that when the president is removed
from office, by death, resignation, or inability to perform the duties
of the office, the vice president becomes president.
• In 1792, Congress passed the Presidential Succession Act, which
designated the president pro tempore of the Senate as next in line,
and then the Speaker of the House.
• In 1886, Congress changed the order of succession to include only
cabinet secretaries in order of their creation.
• In 1947, Congress changed presidential succession once again,
putting the order of succession as vice president, Speaker of the
House, president pro tempore, followed by the cabinet secretaries.
Vacancies in the Office
of the Vice President
There was no actual constitutional provision for replacement of
the vice president, and in the course of the nation’s history
the office was occasionally vacant.
• The Twenty-Fifth Amendment, ratified in 1967, required the
president to nominate a replacement vice president, who
must be approved by a majority vote of the House and the
Senate.
– Gerald Ford
Presidential Term Limits
For a century and a half, presidents followed the precedent
established by George Washington when he stepped down
after two terms.
• President Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to four terms.
• The Twenty-Second Amendment (1951), limits the president
to two elected terms.
Background and Experience
The clearest path to the White House is through the office of the
vice president, but most presidents have some combination of
service in the military, in state legislatures or as governor, in
the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, and in prior
presidential administrations.
• The No Religious Test Clause of the United States Constitution
is found in Article VI, paragraph 3.
– No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to
any office or public trust under the United States.
The States Where Presidents
Were Born
The Expansion of the Presidency
The Constitution did not grant the office of president too much
in the way of unchecked powers. However, as the power of
the country grew so too did the power of the presidency.
• The historian and presidential adviser Arthur Schlesinger Jr.
used the term “imperial presidency” to describe the power of
the president to speak for the nation on the world stage and
to set the policy agenda at home.
Presidential Power
The Framers expected that the executive branch would be
smaller and less powerful and did not believe it was necessary
to enumerate the executive powers as they did with the
legislative powers.
• In Article II, they “vested” the president with a general grant
of “executive power” and then, later in the article, stated
certain additional powers and responsibilities of the
executive.
– It is this general grant of executive power that has allowed
the presidency to become the powerful office it is today.
Comparison of Legislative and Executive
Authority under the Constitution
Commander in Chief
The president is the commander in chief of the armed forces
of the United States.
• The president directs all war efforts and military conflict.
• Congress, however, has the power to officially declare war
and to authorize funding for the war effort.
Power to Pardon
The president has the power to grant clemency, or mercy, for
crimes against the United States, except in the case of
impeachment from federal office.
• For example, in his last year in office, President George W.
Bush issued seventy-six pardons and commuted seven
sentences, including one for a former White House staff
member, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby.
• The Power to Pardon is the only “unchecked” power the
President is constitutionally given.
Treaties and Recognition
of Foreign Nations
• The president’s authority in foreign affairs includes the
power to “receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers,”
which allows the president to recognize the legitimacy of
foreign regimes.
• The president or his designated representative has the
power to negotiate and sign treaties with foreign nations.
- For a treaty to be valid, two-thirds of all senators must
approve it.
Appointments and
Judicial Nominations
The president has the power to appoint all federal officers,
including cabinet secretaries, heads of independent agencies,
and ambassadors.
The president also nominates judges in the federal judicial
system
• Must be approved by the Senate.
– Recess appointments may be made when the Senate is not
in session. This has become a tool for Presidents to push
through nominees who had been filibustered in the
Senate.
– The president has the power to fire federal officers, but
not to remove judges, who can be removed only by
impeachment.
Veto and the Veto Override
The President has the power to veto bills passed by Congress
before they become law, by refusing to sign them and sending
them back to the chamber in which they originated, with his
objections.
• If Congress will be going out of session within ten days, he
can simply not sign the bill, a practice known as a pocket veto.
• In cases where the president refuses to sign the bill but
Congress remains in session, the bill is enacted into law.
- To counter the power of the veto, the Framers gave
Congress the veto override, the power to overturn a
presidential veto with a two-thirds vote in each chamber.
Veto and the Veto Override
The President has the power to veto bills passed by Congress
before they become law, by refusing to sign them and sending them
back to the chamber in which they originated, with his objections.
• If Congress will be going out of session within ten days, he can
simply not sign the bill, a practice known as a pocket veto.
• In cases where the president refuses to sign the bill but Congress
remains in session, the bill is enacted into law.
- To counter the power of the veto, the Framers gave Congress the
veto override, the power to overturn a presidential veto with a
two-thirds vote in each chamber.
Presidential Vetoes
Presidential Vetoes Continued
Other Powers
The president works within this framework of formal powers and
constraints to lead the nation, and in doing so, becomes the
chief agenda setter for domestic and foreign policy.
• One tool is the State of the Union address.
– Over the last century, presidents have turned this
obligation into an opportunity to outline a broad policy
agenda for the nation.
Impeachment and Censure
Congress’s ultimate check on the executive and judicial
branches is its power to remove officials and judges from
office by impeachment and censure.
• The president, vice president, and high officials are
subject to impeachment for “Treason, Bribery, or other high
Crimes and Misdemeanors.”
Impeachment and Censure
The process takes place in two steps.
• First, a majority of the House of Representatives votes to
bring formal charges against the president.
• Then the Senate conducts the trial, with the chief justice
presiding.
- Only 2 presidents have been impeached, Andrew Johnson
and William Jefferson Clinton. Neither were censured.
- President Nixon faced impeachment, but resigned before
the proceedings were complete.
The Growth of Executive Influence
Presidents use the executive power to issue presidential
directives that give specific instructions on a federal policy
that do not require congressional approval.
• Executive Orders
• Proclamations
• Military orders
– Repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell
Executive Orders
The most well-known type of directive is the executive order,
which can be used for a wide range of purposes.
• Executive orders instruct federal employees to take a
specific action or implement a policy in a particular way.
– In 1948, President Harry Truman integrated the armed
forces with Executive Order 998.
– President Dwight D. Eisenhower used a combination of
executive orders, proclamations, and military orders to
enforce school integration in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Presidential Directives
on National Security
In foreign and military affairs, presidents can issue presidential
directives on national security, which have a similar purpose
to executive orders.
• These directives can announce specific sanctions against
individuals who are considered enemies of the United States
or make larger statements about U.S. policy toward a foreign
country.
• President George W. Bush used this power frequently.
– In 2001 to create military tribunals that would try
suspected enemy combatants and terrorists, rather than
allowing them to be tried in a regular military court.
Signing Statements
When a president signs a bill into law, he can issue signing
statements, written remarks that reflect his interpretation of
the law.
• Signing statements can be classified as nonconstitutional and
constitutional.
– Non-constitutional statements are symbolic, celebrating
the passage of the law or providing technical instructions.
– Constitutional statements are used to indicate a
disagreement with Congress on specific provisions in the
bill.
• May go so far as to say the President refuses to
implement specific provisions of a bill.
Presidential Signing Statements
Power to Persuade
Presidents understand that communicating well with the public
is essential to building support for their policies.
• Bully Pulpit
– Where presidents could use the attention associated with
the office to make a public argument in favor or against a
policy.
– Press conferences are one important way of sustaining a
relationship with the media and presidents have tried to
use them to their advantage.
Factors Affecting
Presidential Persuasion
Several factors affect a president’s power to persuade.
• Approval Ratings
- Lawmakers are more likely to pass a president’s policy
proposal when his approval rating is high, and they are
less cooperative when the president is unpopular.
Agenda Setting
Presidential Singularity
• In dealing with foreign powers, the president is head of state
and commander in chief.
• As head of state, the president oversees a vast organization of
employees in the State Department and the office of the U.S.
Trade Representative who lay the groundwork for
negotiations with foreign leaders on issues ranging from
nuclear weapons control to trade policy.
• The president is the public face, and authority, behind U.S.
foreign policy decisions.
Agenda Setting continued
In the area of domestic policy, the president uses the following
tools to advance his agenda:
• State of the Union address
• Federal budget
• Executive appointments
• The bully pulpit
• Executive power to implement laws
• Veto power
• Propose laws
Federal Budget
The president issues his federal budget in early February,
shortly after he delivers the State of the Union address.
• It is a blueprint that indicates his spending priorities for all
areas of the federal government.
- Congress is not bound by the President’s budget, but he
can veto the budget they pass so it is a tool of negotiation.
The War Powers Act
The War Powers Act states that the president cannot send troops
into military conflict for more than ninety days without
seeking a formal declaration of war from Congress.
• Designed to limit the power of the President to act militarily
without Congressional Approval.
– A president could send troops into a conflict and simply
not report it to Congress, thereby avoiding a trigger of the
War Powers Act.
– The act did not really give Congress the power to end a
military conflict except by denying all funding for it.
– Iraq and Afghanistan
Power Struggles between the
President and the Judiciary
Power struggles between the president and the judiciary in wartime
generally focus on civil liberties.
• The most recent clashes between the president and the judiciary
over wartime powers arose during President George W. Bush’s
declared “war on terror.”
– Military tribunals and exemption from Geneva Convention
– Hamdi v. the United States
• Rejected Bush administration attempts to deny habeas
corpus to an enemy combatant who was a U.S. citizen.
• Court also extended habeas corpus protections to enemy
combatants who were NOT U.S. citizens.
The EOP continued
The growth of the Executive Office in the past seventy-five years
is stunning.
• President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had only sixty employees;
President George W. Bush had more than 5,000 people
working directly or indirectly for him.
Presidential Greatness
In order for Presidents to be great they need three things:
• Will
• Skill
• Opportunity
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
To combat the effects of the depression, FDR had a clear
policy vision, which he called the New Deal.
He got Congress to pass legislation that radically altered the
size and shape of the federal government.
• Expanded the government’s role in regulating the
economy.
– Securities and Exchange Commission
– National Labor Relations Act
– Social Security
• Used the bully pulpit
• Fireside Chats
Lyndon Baines Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson
President Lyndon Johnson (LBJ) focused his mission on improving
race relations and ending poverty.
• The Great Society
– Civil Rights Act of 1964
– Voting Rights Act of 1965
– Fair Housing Act of 1968
– Medicare and Medicaid
– Food Stamp Program
– School Lunch Program
– Head Start
– Jobs Corps
– Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Tax cuts were the first thing on Reagan’s agenda.
• He reasoned that if taxes went down, the economy would
flourish.
- Supply side economics
• He knew that if tax revenue went down, and spending
increased, federal budget deficits would be created.
- These deficits would give him justification for proposing cuts
in entitlement programs.
• He took a firm stand against the Soviet Union.
• “Great Communicator”
Focus Questions
• In what ways is the president held accountable, both
individually and for the collective economic, military, and
social condition of the federal government?
• How responsive is the presidency as a democratic office? How
can the president address the vital public policy concerns of
the American people?
• What opportunities are there for the average person to
influence the decisions of the president?
• What powers does the president have to ensure equality
across all citizens?
• Is the modern presidency a gate, or a gateway, to democracy?