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
The Many Roles of the President
 Chief
Diplomat
 Develops the nation’s foreign
policy stances
 Spokesperson to the rest of the
world
 Meets and befriends leaders of
foreign countries
BFF!
I♥
USA!
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
The Many Roles of the President
 Chief
Legislator
Proposes Laws to Congress
Chooses whether to sign bills
into law or veto them
For example…
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
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
WHAT DOES IT
TAKE TO BE THE
MOST POWERFUL
MAN IN THE
WORLD?!?!
Qualifications
 35
years old
 Natural Born U.S. Citizen
 Could
be born in another
country to an American parent
 Resident
years
of the U.S. for 14
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”
 25th Amendment fixed this and
other issues
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
Presidential Succession
 Order
 Vice
of Succession
President
 Speaker of the House
 President Pro-Tempore
 Secretary of State
 Each Cabinet Dept. Secretary in
the order they were created
But what if I
die?!?!
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?
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?
Reagan didn’t let
 They do
me do anything.
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 (big picture)

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
Why not by
Because you’re
average citizens
an idiot.
like me?
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
Darn straight,
they did.
 Requires
presidential and
V.P. elections to
be separate
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
 Each state has a different method
of awarding 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 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
 Winner-Take-All
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 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
 McCain wins 20, gets 20 electoral votes
 Obama wins 33, gets 33 electoral votes
 Obama 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
 Obama gets 60%, McCain gets 40%
 Obama gets 12 electoral votes, McCain
gets 8
Proposed Reforms to the
Electoral College
 Direct Popular Election
 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