LBriones
The Executive Office
APGoPo
Directions: Use your textbook, supplemental readings, and the internet to complete the following:
Explain concepts:
1 – 3. Cabinet
4 – 6. Executive agreements
7 – 9. EOP
10 – 12. Executive order
13 – 15. Executive privilege
16 – 17. War Powers Resolution (1973)
Impeachment
Inherent powers
Line-item veto
OMB
pardon
signing statements
25th amendment
22nd amendment
U.S. v. Nixon (1974)
veto
Impoundment Control Act of 1974
Trace the development of presidency and provisions for choosing and replacing president.
1.
2.
3.
4.
What are the formal qualifications for President?
Detail how a president may be removed from office.
How did the 1947 Presidential Succession Act & the 25th amendment (1967) impact presidential succession?
What is executive privilege and what has the Supreme Court said about it?
The Constitutional powers given to the president include the power to make appointments, convene
Congress, make treaties, veto bills, act as Commander-in-Chief, and pardon (or reprieve) criminals.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Where in the Constitution are the powers listed?
What appointments can the President make?
Who confirms presidential appointments?
How do appointments extend presidential influence?
Read “Supreme Court questions Obama’s recess appointment power”
9. What are the arguments for/against his appointments?
10. What are your thoughts on this case?
11. If SCOTUS rules narrowly (a strict reading of the Constitution), what impact will this have on future
appointment power?
12. About 90% of treaties have been approved by _________ of the ___________. What are 2 notable
exceptions?
13. Presidents may “unsign” treaties, as well. I.E: Int’l Criminal Court (ICC) by “W”
14. What does it mean to “fast track” a trade agreement through Congress?
Simply threatening to veto is a powerful legislative influence. Of 2,500 vetoes, only (approx.) 100 have been
overridden.
15. How does Congress “override” a veto?
16. Briefly describe the history of the “line-item veto” since the Clinton era, including Clinton v. City of New York
(1998).
17. What was the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution (1964)?
18. What were The Pentagon Papers (1971) & what significant legislation did the revelations lead to?
19. The executive power to pardon is a check on the _______ branch.
20. Which act cannot be pardoned?
21. Who did Pres. Ford pardon, to the disgust of many?
22. President Carton granted a general pardon to this group, _________, angering many Vietnam vets.
23. What is impoundment? What did Nixon do and how did Congress respond?
Six Professional Roles
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Chief Law Enforcer
Leader of the Party
Commander-in-Chief
Shaper of Public Policy
Key Player in Leg. Process
Chief of State
i.e. Eisenhower & integration in Little Rock, AK
i.e. Reagan @ the Republican National Convention
i.e. Nixon & NASA (Apollo 11 astronauts)
i.e. Clinton and Family Medical Leave
i.e. Meets & greets with heads of state
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The Executive Office
APGoPo
Evaluate the development & expansion of power.
Factors affecting how the president wields power include the times he serves in, his advisors, his personality, and his
leadership qualities. Generally, crisis trigger expansion of power.
Early Presidents
24. How did Washington & Jefferson use inherent powers to strengthen the office of presidency?
1803-1933
25. How did Jackson strengthen the office?
Lincoln frequently took action without congressional approval, using his role as Commander-in-Chief & justifying it
under his oath to see that “laws [were] faithfully executed.” He suspended habeas corpus, blockaded the South,
expanded the size of the army, and closing the mail to treasonable correspondence.
26. How did FDR (1933) a) expand the powers of the presidency? b) create a more personalized office with the
public?
Outline the Structure of the presidential establishment & functions of its compartments.
27. Use your book & this site, http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration, to complete the chart below:
Job
Description and names of all the important players in
this job
Image
Vice President
The Cabinet
The First Lady
* The EOP
The White
House Staff
28. Explain who you think really controls the White House?
29. Which is most directly responsible & loyal to the president?
30. Describe the relationship between the President & Cabinet members.
Explain the concept of presidential leadership and analyze the importance of public opinion.
Public opinion is influenced by a president’s leadership & personality, “going public”, & approval ratings.
31. What, in your opinion, distinguishes a great president from a mediocre one? Give examples.
32. How have presidents used technology to bypass Congress & appeal to the electorate to push forward their
agendas?
33. When is the “honeymoon period” for a president?
Assess the President’s role as policy maker.
34. Who changed tradition by sending the first legislative package to Congress? (Hint: “It’s the duty of the
president to propose and it is the privilege of the Congress to dispose.”
35. 1930s & Great Depression changed everything! What was the Bureau of Budget (1921)? In 1939 is was
made a part of the Executive Office of the President (EOP) and in 1970 its name was changed to ______.
36. After reading the excerpt from “With the Stroke of a Pen” (link on my website), define what an executive
order it is and explain in your own words why this is an important tool of presidential power.
37. Summarize the Youngstown Sheet & Tube v. Sawyer (1952) case & its significance.
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The Executive Office
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38. What are signing statements and what do these say about power struggles between the president and
Congress?
39. After reading the handout on “Restraining the Imperial Presidency” (link on my website), make a list of the
ways that the Congress tried to limit the president’s powers in the past 30 years. Make sure you understand
all of these.
Practice questions:
1. The Executive Office of the President (EOP) is
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
often a favored tool of the president due to the lack of Congressional oversight
Relatively powerless since it is mentioned nowhere in the Constitution
Located within the Dept. of Defense
A dumping ground for ex-cabinet secretaries who have done a poor job
Always run by the vice president
2. What is the National Security Council (NSC) in charge of?
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Matters relating to immigration
All matters relating to space exploration
Advising the president and helping to coordinate American foreign policy
The construction of nuclear weapons
Protecting the environment
3. The responsibilities of the secretary of state are most likely to overlap with those of
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
the Secretary of the Interior
the Secretary of the Treasury
The Speaker of the House
The President’s Chief of Staff
The Chief National Security Advisor to the president
4. A member of the president’s cabinet is said to have “gone native” when that cabinet member
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
Resigns to take a position as consultant to lobbying groups
Cedes control of his or her department to lifelong bureaucrats within the department
Places his or her department’s priorities above the presidents
Accepts bribes or expensive favors from businesses regulated by his or her department
Suggests merging his or her department into another department
5. Under which of the following circumstances does a president usually experience a reduction in political power?
I.
II.
III.
IV.
The president is in the final two years of his or her 2nd term.
The number and severity of int’l crisis is increasing.
Different parties control Congress and the White House
The economy is strong and the president’s approval ratings are high.
A. I only
B. I & II only
C. I & III only
D. II & III only
E. II, III, & IV only