Hail to the Chief
Jumpstart
Assignment
Describe the following political cartoon.
Describe What’s Happening
in the Cartoon
Executive Branch:
Inception
•
The Articles of Confederation:
combined executive and
legislative branches
The Virginia Plan: proposed
separate executive and legislative
branches
Some feared a strong executive
branch could lead to tyranny or
monarchy
Checks on executive power
•
•
•
3
Pennsylvania delegate
James Wilson
Demographic
Characteristics of U.S.
Presidents
•
•
•
•
100% male
97% Caucasian
97% Protestant
82% of British
ancestry
• 77% college educated
• 70% politicians
• 63% lawyers
• >50% from the top 3%
wealth and social class
• 0.5% born into
poverty
• 69% elected from
large states
http://www.presidentsusa.net
Constitutional Qualifications
 Must be at least
35 years old
 Must have lived
in the United
States for 14
years
 Must be a natural
born citizen
And that’s
it!!!
The President’s Term
• Until 1951, the Constitution placed no limit on the number of
terms a President might serve.
• Presidents limited the number of terms served to two. This
tradition was broken by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940 when he
ran for and won a third term in office. He then went on to be
elected to a fourth term in 1944.
• The 22nd Amendment placed limits on
presidential terms. A President now may not
be elected more than twice or only
once if they became President due to
succession.
Chapter 13, Section 1
Presidential Term of Office
• The two-term
precedent
• The 22nd
Amendment
7
George
Washington set the
two-term
precedent
President Franklin
D. Roosevelt was
elected to four
terms
Presidential Benefits
 $400,000 taxable salary
 $50,000/year expense
account
 $100,000/year travel
expenses
 The White House
 Secret Service
protection
 Camp David country
estate
 Air Force One personal
airplane
 Staff of 400-500
Christmas at the White House, 2004
Presidential Roles
Head of State

Chief Diplomat; Symbol of the US
Head of State
Queen Elizabeth and President Reagan, 1983
President Kennedy speaks at Berlin Wall,
1963
Chief Executive

Administrator of the federal government
Chinese
Presidents
Visit to the US
Chief Executive
President Clinton with Janet Reno,
the first female Attorney General,
February, 1993
President Bush holds cabinet meeting
in October, 2005
Commander in Chief
 Civilian
commander of the US
Armed Forces
Commander-in-Chief
President Johnson decorates a soldier
in Vietnam, October, 1966
President Bush aboard U.S.S.
Lincoln, May, 2003
Chief Legislator

National agenda setter; proposes bills for
consideration in Congress
Chief Legislator
President Clinton delivers the State
of the Union Address, 1997
President Roosevelt signs into law the
Social Security Act, 1935
Political Party Leader

Head of the party who assists in member’s
elections or appointment to office
Barack Obama
delivers his Inaugural
address in front
millions in
Washington and
millions more on
worldwide TV.
Political Party Leader
President Reagan & Vice-President Bush accepting their party’s
nomination in 1980
Crisis Manager

Lead country through disasters, both natural
and man-made
President Barack Obama wipes away
a tear during his speech at the event
"Together We Thrive: Tucson and
America" honoring the January 8,
2011 shooting victims
Crisis Manager
President Bush at Ground Zero after 9-11
Vice-President Johnson sworn in
aboard Air Force One
after President Kennedy’s
assassination, 1963
Moral Persuader

The White House as a bully pulpit (From
President T. Roosevelt, meaning a platform
from which to persuasively advocate and
agenda. Word “bully” means superior.”
Moral Persuader
President Lincoln during the Civil
War, 1862
President Roosevelt and the “Bully
Pulpit,” 1910
Role of the Vice
President
Role of the Vice President
____ 1. The vice president is also the president of
the Senate.
_____2. The vice president is also head of the
judicial branch and presides over the Supreme
Court.
____ 3. The vice president and cabinet are part of
the legislative branch.
____ 4. The vice president is first in the line of
succession to the presidency.
____ 5. The Constitution notes only one official
role for the vice president.
____ 6. The qualifications for the vice presidency
are not the same as those for the presidency.
____ 7. The vice president administers the oath of
office to the president.
Presidential Disability
• Sections 3 and 4 of the 25th Amendment provide
procedures to follow when the President is disabled.
• The Vice President is to become acting
President if:
(1) the President informs Congress, in writing,
“that he is unable to discharge the powers and
duties of his office,” or
(2) the VP and a majority of the members of the
Cabinet inform Congress, in writing, that the
President is thus incapacitated.
Chapter 13, Section 2
The 25th Amendment
• Deals with instances
in which the
president dies or
becomes disabled
• Established an order
of succession
• Set rules for
choosing a new
vice-president
Lyndon Johnson takes the
presidential oath of office after the
assassination of JFK
27
Presidential Succession Act of
1947
 Provides an official line of
succession should
something happen to the
President or Vice President.
 Non-Natural-Born citizens are ineligible
 Must have been confirmed by Senate
 14 VP’s have went on to become
President. 5 of our last 11 Presidents
were once VP.
Vice President
 Joe Biden-D
Speaker of the House
 John Boehner - R
President Pro Tempore of the
Senate
 Patrick Leahy-D
Secretary of State
 John Kerry-D
Secretary of the Treasury
 Jacob Lew-Ind
Presidential Powers of
the United States
Constitutional Powers


1.
2.
3.
4.
Powers/duties are very limited
“executive power” – enact/enforce law
Military Power
Diplomatic Power
Appointment Power
Veto Power
Formal Powers of the
President
 Constitutional or enumerated powers of the
presidency
 Found primarily in Article II of the Constitution
Formal Powers:
Commander-in-Chief
(National Security Powers)
 Commander in Chief of the Army & Navy
 Commander in Chief of the state militias (now
the National Guard)
 Commission all officers
Formal Powers:
Commander-in-Chief Examples
 Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief
during Civil War
 FDR during WWII
 Eisenhower sends army to segregate HS
in Little Rock, AR (1957)
 George W. Bush deploys National Guard
reservists in Iraq
Formal Powers:
Chief Executive
(Administrative Powers)
 “Faithfully execute” the laws
 Require the opinion of heads of executive
departments
 Grant pardons for federal offenses except for
cases of impeachment
 Nominate judges of the Supreme Court and all
other officers of the U.S. with consent of the
Senate
 Fill vacancies that may happen during recess of
the Senate
Formal Powers:
Chief Executive Examples
 Washington created the first cabinet
(1789)
 President Ford pardoned Richard Nixon
(1974)
 President Reagan appoints first female
Supreme Court Justice (1981)
Formal Powers:
Foreign Affairs
(National Security Powers)
 Appoint ambassadors, ministers and consuls
 Make treaties subject to Senate confirmation
 Receive ambassadors
Formal Powers:
Foreign Affairs Examples
 President Kennedy negotiates the
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty with the USSR
Formal Powers: Chief Legislator
(Legislative Powers)
 Give State of the Union address to
Congress
 Recommend “measures”
(legislation) to the Congress
 Upon “extraordinary occasions”
convene both houses of Congress
 Adjourn Congress if House and
Senate can not agree on
adjournment
Formal Powers:
Chief Legislator (cont.)
 Presidential Veto
 Veto Message within 10 days of passing the
House of origin
 Pocket Veto - President does not sign within 10
days
 Congress can override with 2/3 majority from
both Houses
 Veto Politics
 Congressional override is difficult (only 4%)
 Threat of veto can cause Congress to make
changes in legislation
Formal Powers:
Chief Legislator Examples
 George Washington gave the first State
of the Union address
 FDR and the New Deal
 Obama and Stimulus Plan
JUDICIAL POWERS
 Grant reprieves and pardons for federal
offenses (except impeachment)
 Nominate federal judges (including
Supreme Court Justices), who are
confirmed by the Senate
Informal Powers
• Those powers not explicitly written in the
Constitution
• Similar to “necessary and proper” powers
of Congress
• In the modern era (since 1933), the
President’s informal powers may be
significantly more powerful than his
formal powers
Executive Orders
• Orders issued by the
President that carry the force
of law
• Clinton’s “Don’t ask don’t
tell” gays in the military
policy
• FDR’s internment of
Japanese Americans
• GWB trying suspected
terrorists in military tribunals
Notice for Japanese “relocation,” 1942
Executive Agreements
• International agreements, usually related to trade, made
by a president that has the force of a treaty; does NOT
need Senate approval
• Jefferson’s purchase of Louisiana in 1803
• GWB announced cuts in
the nuclear arsenal, but
not in a treaty; usually
trade agreements between
US and other nations
Executive Privilege
• Claim by a president that he has the right to decide
that the national interest will be better served if
certain information is withheld from the public,
including the Courts and Congress
• United States v. Nixon
(1973) – presidents do
NOT have unqualified
executive privilege (Nixon
Watergate tapes)
Questions for Discussion
•
•
•
Why are informal powers more important
than formal powers, particularly to modern
presidents?
Identify several advantages and
disadvantages of the use of the president’s
informal powers.
Has the use and perhaps abuse of the
informal powers created an “Imperial
Presidency?” Defend your answer.
War & Peace - Whose Power Is It?
The War Powers Struggle Between
the President and Congress
Constitutionally
Speaking:
War Powers
War Powers - President
Commander in Chief of the Army & Navy
Commander in Chief of the state militias (now the
National Guard)
Commission all
officers
Appoint ambassadors,
ministers and consuls
Make treaties subject
to senate confirmation
Receive ambassadors
Indirect War Powers – President




“Faithfully execute” the laws
Require the opinion of heads of executive
departments
Recommend “measures” to the congress
Upon “extraordinary occasions” convene
both houses of congress
War Powers - Congress
 Declare war
 Raise & support army
& navy
 Ratify treaties (Senate)
 Advise & consent of
ambassadors (Senate)
 Make rules concerning
captures on land &
water
 Organize, arm, train &
provide for the militia
 Suppress insurrections
& repel invasions
Indirect War Powers-Congress






Make all laws necessary and proper for
carrying out the expressed powers of the
Constitution
Regulate commerce with foreign nations
Originate tax bill (House)
Collect taxes, duties, excises (both
Borrow (both)
Define and punish offenses against the law
of nations
War Powers Resolution - Purpose



Full intent of the framers
Insure “collective judgment” between
Congress and the President occurs when
US armed forces are introduced into
hostilities
Cites necessary and proper clause to grant
Congress authority in WPR
The War Powers Resolution
1. President must consult w/
Congress before introducing
armed forces into hostilities
2. Consult with Congress
regularly until troops removed
3. If war not declared, President
must submit report to
Congress within 48 hours of
troop deployment
4. President must remove troops
after 60 days (+30 days for
withdrawal) if Congress has
not declared war