America and Arizona
Government for Elementary
Teachers
Presentation 8: The Presidency
Presentation Objectives
AEPA Objectives
0011 Understand the structure, organization, and operation of
the federal government.
AZ Social Studies Standard, Strand 3
Concept 2: Structure of Government
Who is the best president?
Best President
Ranking
Worst President
Ranking
Abraham Lincoln
1
James Buchanan
42
George Washington
2
Andrew Johnson
41
Franklin D. Roosevelt
3
Franklin D. Pierce
40
Theodore Roosevelt
4
William Henry Harrison
39
Harry S. Truman
5
Warren G. Harding
38
John F. Kennedy
6
Millard Fillmore
37
Thomas Jefferson
7
George W. Bush
36
Dwight D. Eisenhower
8
John Tyler
35
Woodrow Wilson
9
Herbert Hoover
34
Ronald Reagan
10
Rutherford B. Hayes
33
Source: C-Span 2009 Historians Presidential Leadership Survey
The Job Description
How many roles do you play in a given
day?
The Job Description:
Presidential Roles

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

Head of State
World Leader
Party Leader
National Leader
CEO of the Executive Branch
Head of State
World Leader
Party Leader
National Leader
CEO of Executive Branch
CEO of Executive Branch
President is at the top of a pyramid of power
But at the bottom of a funnel of information
White House
CEO of Executive Branch


White House staff
Growth of White House Staff

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
Franklin D. Roosevelt: 47
Harry Truman: 200
Nixon: 555
Ronald Regan: 600
Bush Jr.: around 500
Obama: 487
Executive Office of the President
Cabinet
The Bureaucracy
The authority to do the job

Formal powers

Implied powers

Informal powers
Formal Powers
Implied Powers
Informal Powers
History of the Presidency


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Modest Beginning
The presidency was seen
as a check on the congress.
Washington as exemplar
President as executor/clerk
of Congress
Nation was small, minor
power
Exceptionally Strong Early Presidents
Thomas Jefferson
Abraham Lincoln
James A. Polk
th
20

Century Transformation
Theodore Roosevelt


Saw the office as a “bully
pulpit”
Broke monopolies and
trusts
th
20
Century Transformation

Woodrow Wilson


Restructured economy
US as world leader
th
20

Century Transformation
Franklin Roosevelt






New Deal programs
Increased size of
government
US global leadership
Personalized the office
with Fireside Chats
1st 100 days
Set the standard for
modern presidents
What makes a president successful?

Relationship with Congress






Congress has given power to president
Congress has limited power of the president
The president needs Congress
Divided government or not
Vetoes as a measure of influence
Control of the Party
Control of Party and Congressional
Gridlock
Presidential Approval
Conclusion
This Presentation
This presentation is
courtesy of Brian Dille,
Professor of Political
Science at Mesa
Community College.