THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH
WARM UP : 11/3/14 :
WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE A GREAT
PRESIDENT?
DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS
OF U.S. PRESIDENTS
 Male—100%
 Protestant—97%
 British ancestry—82%
 College education—77%
 Politicians—69%
 Lawyers—62%
 Top 3% wealth and social class—at least 50%
 Elected from large states—69%
HOW MUCH DO YOU KNOW?
 Who was the youngest person ever to be President of the United States?

J.F.K.
 Who was the oldest person ever to be President of the United States?

Ronald Reagan
 Who held the presidency for the longest time?

Franklin D. Roosevelt
 Who held the presidency for the shortest period of time?

William Henry Harrison (9) – died 32 days after Inauguration.
 Can a person born abroad become President?

No. To be President, you must be natural born.
THE PRESIDENCY THROUGH A
PRESIDENT’S EYES
“I sit here all day trying to persuade people to do
things they ought to have the sense to do without
my persuading them. That’s all the powers of the
President amount to.”
-HST
“No easy problem ever comes to the President of
the U.S. If they are easy to solve, somebody else
has solved them”
- JFK
“The presidency has made every man who
occupied it, not matter how small, bigger than
he was; and no matter how big, not big enough
for its demands.”
-LBJ
THE PRESIDENCY THROUGH A
PRESIDENT’S EYES
“Under the doctrine of the
separation of powers, the manner in
which the president personally
exercises his assigned executive
powers is not subject to questioning
by another branch of government.”
-RN
“To those of you who received
honors, awards, and distinctions, I say
‘well done.’ And to the C students, I
say ‘you too, can be president of the
United States.’”
-GB
WARM UP: 11/5 –PRESIDENT’S SCHEDULE
-Why do you think the president has so many
responsibilities?
-Based on the diary, what are some of the roles and
responsibilities of the president?
EXECUTIVE BRANCH AT A GLANCE
Enforces the law
Described in Article II
of the U.S. Constitution
“The executive power shall be vested in a
President of the United States of America. He
shall hold his Office during the Term of four
Years, and, together with the Vice President,
chosen for the same Term, be elected as follows”
EXECUTIVE BRANCH AT A GLANCE
 Salary and Benefits
 $400,000 salary (tax free)
 $50,000/year expense account
 $100,000/year travel expenses
 A nice house (White House)
 Secret Service protection
(up to 10 years after leaving office)
 Country home (Camp David)
 Personal airplane (Air Force One)
 Staff of 400-500 full-time employees
THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH
A. President
1.
Qualifications
Natural-born citizen
b. Must have lived in the U.S. for 14 years
c. Must be at least 35 years old
a.
2.
Term
Four year term; eligible for re-election
b. President Washington set precedent for serving only
two terms; 22nd Amendment made it law
a.
THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH
B.
Presidential Powers
1. National Security Powers
a. Serves as Commander-in-Chief
of armed forces
1) Can authorize the use of troops overseas
without declaring war
2) Needs approval of Congress to declare war
officially
b. Makes treaties with other
nations
c. Nominates ambassadors
d. Receives ambassadors of other
nations, and thus recognizes
those lands as official countries
THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH
B. Presidential Powers (continued)
2. Legislative Powers
a. Presents information on the state of
the union to Congress
b. Recommends legislation to Congress
c. Calls Congress to special sessions
d. Approves laws passed by Congress
a.
Veto (Checks and Balances)
3. Administrative Powers
a. “Take care that the laws be faithfully
executed” Article II, Section 3
b. Makes appointments, with agreement of
Senate
c. Approves laws written by Congress
THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH
B.
Presidential Powers (continued)
4. Judicial Powers
a. Grants reprieves and pardons for federal crimes
b. Appoints Federal judges, with agreement of majority
of Senate
 How can the president check the legislative branch?
 How can the president check the judicial branch?
 How can the president enforce the laws?
THE MANY ROLES OF THE PRESIDENT
USING PAGE 250…
PRESIDENTIAL ROLES
Chief of State
 Ceremonial head of government
 Other countries have similar positions
(Kings/Queens, Emperor)
Chief Executive
 Head of the executive
branch/bureaucracy
 President Truman issued executive order to
abolish segregation in military
PRESIDENTIAL ROLES
 Chief Manager of Economy
 Works with Congress to write
federal budget
 Set tax policy
 Works to control money supply
and keep economy growing
 Chief Diplomat
 Main architect of American foreign
policy
 Chief spokesperson to the rest of
the world
Foreign Policy: What is this political cartoon implying?
What are some of the foreign policy challenges President Obama is faced with?
PRESIDENTIAL ROLES
 Commander in Chief
 In charge of the armed forces
 Controls military and has
ultimate responsibility for
military decisions
 2.7 million men and women in
the armed forces and the
nation’s entire military arsenal
are subject to the President’s
direct and immediate control
PRESIDENTIAL ROLES
Chief Legislator/Policy
Maker
 Main architect of domestic
policy (public policy)
 Initiates, suggests, requests,
insists and demands that
Congress enact legislation
 Sets over all shape of
Congressional agenda
PRESIDENTIAL ROLES
Chief of Party
 Leader of the political party that controls the executive
branch
 Works to make sure their party does good in congressional
elections….why?
Chief Citizen
 “The representative of all the people”
 Roles of President Quiz- Scatter
REVIEW
 What are the roles of the President? Which do you think is the most
important?
 What are the powers of the president? Which two do you think are the
most important?
EXECUTIVE BRANCH AT A GLANCE
 Line of Succession
 The order successors to the presidency if the president is
unable to serve as specified in the Constitution
 Vice President
 Speaker of the House
 President pro tempore of the Senate
 Secretary of State
 Line continues by each of the 14 heads of the Cabinet
departments, in the order in which their offices were created
by Congress
WHAT IS THE FEDERAL BUREAUCRACY
AND WHAT PURPOSE DOES IT SERVE?
FEDERAL BUREAUCRACY
 Bureaucracy
 Large, complex administrative structure that handles the
everyday business of the federal government
 Federal government is the largest organization in the
country
 Consists of four main groups:
 The White House staff
 The Executive Office of the President
 Executive departments
 Independent agencies
FEDERAL BUREAUCRACY
 Brief History
 Government at all levels grew enormously during
the 20th century
 Society has become increasingly complex
 Recent years = trying to cut down size
 Deregulation – big during Reagan, also possible
cause of current economic crisis
 Obama – largest unfunded expansion of government
in history
FEDERAL BUREAUCRACIES
Bureaucrats
“paper pushers”
 Employees of government units
 Most that work for the federal government are hired under the
requirements of the civil service
 Appointments to the federal bureaucracy filled on the basis of merit
 Employees are not fired for political reasons (known as “patronage”)
 CREATES A PROFESSIONAL NON PARTISIAN WORKFORCE!
President
Vice President
White House Staff
Executive Office of the President
Cabinet
Independent Agencies
THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH
C. Executive Office of the President
1.
Agencies and individuals who directly help the president;
President’s right arm
-perform specialized tasks for President
- About 1800 members
2.
Members
a.
b.
c.
d.
White House Office
Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
National Security Council (NSC)
National Economic Council (NEC)
THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS
D. The Cabinet
1.
2.
3.
Not mentioned in Constitution, but
maybe best known organization in
executive branch
Group of advisors to the President;
appointed by President with agreement of
Congress
15 departments today – Heads of these
departments make up the Cabinet
-Departments:
-Education
-Defense
-Homeland Security
-State
TWITTER STATUS
 Create a twitter status (140 characters or less) describing the most
important idea from today’s class
 Include at least one hashtag
ROAD TO THE PRESIDENCY
Step #1
Person announces their candidacy and works toward public awareness, fundraising, and
developing a platform
Step #2
Primaries/Caucuses—determines which candidates for president will be supported by
that state at the national convention of each political party
Step #3
National Convention—held for both parties; when parties determine who will receive
their nomination
ROAD TO THE PRESIDENCY
Step #4
General Election—Battling between Republicans and Democrats
(can also include 3rd parties); held on first Tuesday in November
Step #5
Electoral College Vote
ELECTORAL COLLEGE
 TED Talks Electoral College
Watch the video and focus on the items
listed below. You will work with your
group to identify the significance of each
of them.
 The Electoral College
 538, 435, 100, 3
 Each state’s electoral votes
 270
 How is the # of electors per state
determined? How often?
 Popular Vote
 Electoral Vote
 Unfair advantage to larger states
 Protects smaller states
 Safe state
 Swing State
 Do you live in either a safe or swing
state?
 Popular vote
 Electoral Vote
 Magic number
ELECTORAL COLLEGE – THE BASICS
 Electoral College
 Group of persons chosen in each State and
Washington every four years who make a formal
selection of the President
 The candidate that receives the majority of votes in
a State, receives all of the State’s Electoral College
votes
ELECTORAL COLLEGE – NOT A
PERFECT SYSTEM…
 Flaws of Electoral College
 Possible for the winner of the popular vote not to win
presidency
 Nothing forces a State’s electors to vote for the
candidate who wins the State’s popular vote
(uncommon)
 A strong 3rd party candidate could win enough votes to
prevent any candidate from winning
WHY DO WE HAVE AN ELECTORAL COLLEGE
SYSTEM? – WHAT’S THE POINT?
-Number of reasons…
- The framers of the Constitution created it as a compromise after
considering elections of the president by….
-Congress
-State legislatures
-Election by the people (popular vote).
-
They feared a tyrant could manipulate public opinion and come to power
- Lack of trust in the people?
WHO ARE THE ELECTORS?
-The electors are often loyal party activists and may be state
officials, party leaders, or those connected in some way to the
Presidential candidates.
- People’s vote instructs the electors from your state to cast their
votes for the same candidate
WHY DOES THIS MAN HATE THE ELECTORAL
COLLEGE?
ELECTORAL COLLEGE BREAKDOWN
We the people vote for Electors
Electors Vote for the President
President with 270 Electoral votes wins the
Presidency