The Presidency
What are the President’s Expressed and
Implied Powers?
• Expressed Powers - Delegated powers of the
National Government that are spelled out,
expressly, in the Constitution; also called
"enumerated powers“ Example: the President is
“Commander-in-Chief” (Comes from Article II)
• Implied powers - Delegated powers of National
Government that are suggested by the expressed
powers set out in the Constitution; Example:
"necessary and proper" to carry out expressed
powers in Article I, Section 8 (only applies to
Congress). Presidential Example: Agenda Setting
– The President is the “Legislator-in-Chief”
Powers of the President – Article II
• National Security Powers – Commander-In-Chief;
“Executive Privilege;” Make Treaties; Nominate
Ambassadors; Recognize foreign governments
Leaked Memo on Citizen Execution Without Trial – YouTube
Executing Citizens Up To NSC Panel - YouTube
DOJ Paper: When It's OK To Kill Americans In Al-Qaida : NPR
February 6, 2013 - Ed Whitacre - The Daily Show With Jon Stewart - Full Episode
Video | Comedy Central
• Legislative Powers – Recommend Legislation (Implied);
State of the Union (Agenda Setting); Call for Special Sessions
of Congress; Adjourn Congress; Veto
• Administrative Powers - “Faithfully execute the laws;”
Nominate Officials (Bureaucracy/Cabinet); Recess
Appointments; Executive Orders
• Judicial Powers – Grant Reprieves/Pardons; Nominate
Federal Judges.
Implied Powers of the President – Not
Explicitly in Article II
Impoundment of Funds- presidential
refusal to spend funds appropriated by
Congress
Budget Reform Act of 1974 - requires, among
other things, that the president spend all
appropriated funds.
Executive Privilege
Executive Orders
Agenda Setting
Agenda Setting
• Article Two, Section Three: “He shall from time to
time give to the Congress Information of the State
of the Union, and recommend to their
Consideration such Measures as he shall judge
necessary and expedient.”
• Presidents initiate foreign policy, economic goals
and plans, and programs that improve the quality
of life of citizens.
• FDR set the precedent with his “100 Days” that the
President, and the federal government in general,
had the responsibility of ensuring Americans’
quality of life.
The President as “Chief Legislator”
• Its been shown that
even the most skilled
legislators and
politicians (LBJ) can
not create change.
• The Persuader-In-Chief
- Using “The Bully Pulpit,” the
President can recognize
favorable configurations of
political forces and effectively
exploit them to embark on
major shifts in public policy.
• Legislator in Chief.doc
Economic Scene - Obama’s Budget Plan
Sweeps Away Reagan Ideas - NYTimes.com
Counter-Point: Op-Ed Columnist - A Moderate
Manifesto - NYTimes.com
Executive Orders
• Congress allows the president to issue executive
orders- implied power; execute the laws.
• Executive Orders are issued to enforce the
Constitution, treaties, legislative statues, or they
may establish or modify rules and practices of
executive administrative agencies.
• The only restriction on executive orders is that they
must be published in the Federal Register, a daily
publication of the US government.
Executive Order 9066
• This order gave the military
authority to exclude citizens
of Japanese ancestry from
areas that were deemed
critical to national defense
and potentially vulnerable to
espionage.
• FDR used his authority as
Commander-in-Chief to
exercise war powers to send
120,000 JapaneseAmericans (60% were born in
the USA) to internment
camps.
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=7768180
Korematsu v. United States, Part 1 of 2, from
Thinkwell's American Government YouTube
Wartime Paranoia
affects the Supreme Court
Korematsu v. US (1944)
1. West Coastdeclared a military
zone of operation to protect against
invasion – martial law
existed – suspension
of Habeus Corpus.
2. Court ruled that the
detentions were
justified – “military
necessity” not racial.
Executive Order 9981
It expanded on
Executive Order
8802 by
establishing
equality of
treatment and
opportunity in the
Armed Services for
people of all races,
religions, or
national origins.
Presidential Approval
• Changes in approval are the
result of war, foreign affairs or
the economy. The President’s
efforts and positions on these
issues determine his public
image more than any other
factor.
• Political Party identification
keeps approval relatively
steady.
• Rally Events – lead to
temporary spikes in approval;
Bush I- the First Gulf War,
Bush II- 9/11. Morale Builder.
• First term Presidents are given a
“honeymoon” period.
• Usually in their second term
ALL Presidents see a decline in
their approval ratings.
Will Obama Lose his Mandate?
Of course he will. . . all Presidents do.
Expectation Gap
The President’s Managerial Style
The organization of the White House Office has been
analyzed according to two models:
The Pyramid Model
The Circular Model
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R67CH-qhXJs
Presidential Character
James Barber – The Presidential Character assessed
presidents by two character based criteria:
1. Active v. Passives Inclinations
2. Positive v. Negative Points of View
“You campaign in poetry and you
govern in prose.”
$410 billion spending bill (2009)
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$2.1 million for the Center for Grape Genetics in New York.
$1.7 million for a honey bee factory in Weslaco, Tex.
$1.7 million for pig odor research in Iowa.
$1 million for Mormon cricket control in Utah.
$819,000 for catfish genetics research in Alabama.
$650,000 for beaver management in North Carolina and
Mississippi.
$951,500 for a “Sustainable Las Vegas.”
$2 million “for the promotion of astronomy” in Hawaii.
$167,000 for the Autry National Center for the American West
in Los Angeles.
$238,000 for the Polynesian Voyaging Society in Hawaii.
$200,000 for a tattoo removal violence outreach program to
help gang members or others shed visible signs of their past.
$209,000 to improve blueberry production and efficiency in
Georgia.
9,000 earmarks worth $7.7 billion
Source: Op-Ed Columnist - Stage of Fools - NYTimes.com