Chapter 12The Presidency:
Leading the Nation
The Presidency
 Article II
 Powers of the Chief Executive
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Appoints officials
Commander-in-Chief
Sign/veto legislation
Grant Pardons
Chief Diplomat
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Treaties,
Send/ receive ambassadors
 Qualifications
 35 years of age
 Natural born citizen
 14 year resident of U.S.
 Limits
 Two 4-year terms (22nd Amendment)
 Impeachment (Article I)
 Congress & the Courts (Acts & rulings)
The Presidency
 The Framers’ vision of the presidency
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National Leadership
Administration of the Laws
Statesmanship in foreign affairs
Executive accountability
 The presidency has become much stronger
than the Framers envisioned
 constitutional roles have expanded
 Foreign policy role has expanded since the U.S.
has become a world power
Foundations of the Modern
Presidency
Asserting a Claim to National Leadership
 Whig Theory- a limited or constrained
Constitutional authority
 James Buchanan- “My duty is to execute laws and not
my individual opinions.”
 Stewardship Theory- calls for an assertive
pres. that is confined only at points
specifically prohibited by law
 Theodore Roosevelt- “bully pulpit”, challenged the
power of business monopolies
 FDR- felt he was permitted “to do anything that the
needs of the Nation demand unless such action was
forbidden…”
Foundations of the Modern
Presidency
 The Need for Presidential Leadership of an
Activist Government
 Foreign Policy Leadership
 As sole representative of the U.S. the president
can act quickly and speak authoritatively for the
nation as a whole
 Domestic Policy Leadership
 Role has grown as the U.S. has gone from an
agrarian to industrialized nation
 Budget & Accounting Act of 1921
 Executive Office of the President
 Importance of the Cabinet has declined as the rest of
the Executive Branch has grown
Executive Office of the President
Office of the
Director of
National
Intelligence
Choosing the President
 Toward a More “Democratic” System of
Presidential Election
 Electoral College
 270 votes needed out of 538
 Electors tied to state’s popular votes
 House of Reps. chooses if no candidate receives
a majority
 Open Party Caucuses
 Andrew Jackson ended the practice of
nominating by Congressional caucus
 Primary Elections
 Used more extensively in recent decades
Choosing the President
 The Campaign for Nomination
 Momentum
 Early “Mo” is a big factor
 Early states vs. late states
 disenfranchisement
 Money
 $20 million to $30 million to run an effective
nominating campaign
 Candidate with the most money wins most of the
time
 GW Bush nominating campaign in 2000
 $ 75 Million
 Choice of Vice President (running mate)
 Nominee’s choice at the convention
Choosing the President
 The Campaign for Election
 Election Strategy
 Electoral College/Popular vote
 Media and Money
 Television: Debates and advertising
 About ½ spent on TV
 Kennedy-Nixon 1st televised debate
 Federal Funding
 Matching funds
 The Winners
Presidents who lost the popular vote but
won the Electoral College
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John Quincy Adams
Rutherford B. Hayes
Benjamin Harrison
George W. Bush
 Election of 2000
 Gore won the popular vote
 Bush won Florida by 537 votes
 The Supreme Court blocked a count of ballots in
Florida
 Bush receives 271 Electoral College votes, one
more than the 270 needed
Electoral College Results- 2004
Presidential Voting by County- 2004
Electoral College Results- 2008
Presidential Election of 2012
Obama - 332 Romney-206
Staffing the Presidency
 Presidential Appointees
 The Executive Office of the President
 The Vice President
 The White House Office
 Policy Experts
 The President’s Cabinet
 Other Presidential Appointees
 The Problem of Control
 Too many people to see much less control
 Career bureaucrats dominate
Factors in Presidential Leadership
 The Force of Circumstance
 It’s the economy stupid
 Accomplishments usually depend on
circumstances outside their control
 The Stage of the President’s Term
 Honeymoon Period- 1st 100 days
 Strategic Presidency
 The need to move quickly on important
issues while conditions are favorable
 May run out of ideas, get caught up in
scandal, or exhaust political resources
Factors in Presidential Leadership
 The Nature of the Issue: Foreign or
Domestic
 Two presidencies theory
 Broad powers to act as the “sole arm” of the
U.S. when reaching out to other nations
 More likely to get the backing of Congress on
foreign policy issues
Factors in Presidential Leadership
 Relations with Congress
 Seeking Cooperation from Congress
 Benefiting from Partisan Support in Congress
 Colliding with Congress
 To veto or not to veto…
 G.W. Bush 2 vetoes in first five years
 700+ Signing statements
 War Powers Act,
 Impeachment
 House of Reps. – Impeachment Charges
 Andrew Johnson
 William Jefferson Clinton
 Senate- Impeachment Trial
 0 presidents convicted
G.W. Bush had an 87 %
success rate with Congress
in his first year in office
Factors in Presidential Leadership
 Public Support
 Presidential Approval Ratings
 Events and Issues
 From 9/11 to Hurricane Katrina
 Economy
 The Televised Presidency
 Scandal is the largest threat to the pres. ability
to control the media
 The Illusion of Presidential Government
 Too much credit
 Too much blame