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CHAPTER 10
The Presidency
Introduction
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Demands on the presidency are numerous and
contradictory.
 Presidential influence and power has varied
since the 1950s.

The President and Symbolic
Leadership
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The president serves as both the ceremonial chief
of state and the actual head of government.
The ceremonial presidency is the symbol of
national unity.
The “honeymoon period” is one of general public
goodwill and often results in political victories.
International crises rally presidential support.
The fusion of symbolic and political authority
sometimes fuels public criticism as well.
Public Approval Ratings of
Presidents, Roosevelt to Obama
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Public
approval
ratings usually
vary widely
during a
president’s
time in office.
Sometimesratin
gsreflect the
president’s
handling of
events. At
other times,
they reflect
public
frustration over
events largely
out of a
president’s
control.
The President and the Constitution
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
Executive Power
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Presidents have interpreted “executive power” differently.
The stewardship theory suggests broad powers.
The constitutional theory suggests narrow, limited powers.
The steel seizure case established a middle ground:
 “When the President acts in absence of either a congressional
grant or denial of authority… there is a zone of twilight in
which he and Congress may have concurrent authority.” –
Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson
 Jackson implied that the Court would decide such constitutional
boundary disputes on the basis of “the imperatives of events
and contemporary imponderables rather than on abstract
theories of law.”
The President and the Constitution
(continued)
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

The Power of Appointment

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The President nominates ambassadors, judges, and other officials,
usually with the advice and consent of the Senate.
The Senate may delay or defeat a nomination.
The Removal Power

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The plasticity of the presidency means that the office can be molded
according to a particular president’s personality and events.
The Supreme Court has ruled that the President’s removal powers
apply only to purely executive offices.
The President can place pressure on officials to resign.
The Power to Pardon

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The President’s pardon powers are limited to federal offenses.
Ford’s pardon of Nixon was one of the most controversial uses of this
power.
The President and the Executive Branch
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
The Cabinet

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The cabinet is not a high-level decision making body.
Although the president is not obligated to share responsibility
with his cabinet, and its officers serve at the president’s discretion,
individual officers can still have a significant influence on the
president.
Cabinet officers may be politically independent and often more
responsive to constituent groups than the president.
The inner cabinet consists of the secretaries of state, defense, and
treasury, and the attorney general—all who work closely with the
president.
The outer cabinet consists of the remaining officers who deal with
sharply defined programs and are subject to pressure from client
groups.
Recent presidents have chosen their cabinets based on criteria
such as loyalty and professionalism.
The Cabinet, 2011
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The cabinet is
composed of the
heads of the
fifteen executive
departments and
certain other
officials in the
executive branch to
whom the president
has accorded
cabinet rank. The
vice president also
participates in
meetings of the
cabinet, and from
time to time the
president may
invite others to
participate in the
discussion of
particular subjects.
The White House Staff
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
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Staff members are loyal to the president and are
usually people who were close to the president
prior to his assuming office.
Staff aides offer advice, set legislative strategy,
keep the bureaucracy in check, review the
performance of the cabinet, plan the president’s
time, and say “no” for the president when someone
asks for something he cannot give.
Presidents manage their staffs to suit their own
personalities.
The Executive Office of the President
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The Executive Office of the President (EOP) is the managerial arm
of the presidency.
The structure of the EOP reflects the dominant issues of the time,
and presidents use the office according to their own styles.
The Office of Management and Budget helps the president
develop the budget and monitors the implementation and
administration of the president’s programs.
The National Security Council provides advice and policy
coordination on questions of national security.
The Council of Economic Advisers analyzes economic issues, makes
economic forecasts, and prepares the president’s Economic Report
to Congress.
The Office of Policy Development focuses on the formulation,
coordination, and implementation of economic and domestic policy.
The President and the Executive
Branch
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
The Vice President
Historically, vice presidents performed largely ceremonial
tasks making the office a target of some ridicule and
disdain.
 However Vice President Walter Mondale played a more
important role as an advisor to President Carter when it
came to policy making.

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Presidential Succession
The Twenty-fifth Amendment allows the vice president to
become acting president when the president is disabled and
provides a procedure for filling a vice presidential vacancy.
 The Presidential Succession Act of 1947 establishes the line
of succession in case of simultaneous vacancies.

The President and Congress: Foreign Policy
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
Introduction
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Congress can influence foreign policy, but the president controls it.
Since Vietnam, Congress has become more assertive in foreign
policy.
Negotiating Treaties

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Treaties are negotiated and signed by the president, but they are
subject to approval by two-thirds of the Senate (Article II of the
Constitution).
Most treaties have been approved by the Senate without
question (a major exception was the Treaty of Versailles).
Since President Wilson, presidents have also included senators in
treaty negotiations.
These days, approval of important treaties is rarely routine and
often requires presidential concessions.
Executive Agreements
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
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An executive agreement is an understanding between
heads of state requiring no Senate approval.
Executive agreements can be serious tools of foreign
policy, and they were often classified and kept from
Congress.
The Case Act (1972) requires the secretary of state
to submit to the Senate the final text of any executive
agreement, sometimes privately to the Senate Foreign
Relations and House Foreign Affairs committees if the
agreement contains sensitive information. It is
designed to prevent the abuse of executive power.
The President and Congress: The
War Power
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
Introduction
 Congress
alone has the constitutional power to
declare war.
 The commander-in-chief clause establishes civilian
control over the military, making the president the
civilian head of U.S. military forces.
The President and Congress: The
War Power (continued)
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
The Mexican and Civil Wars – Use and Misuse of the War
Power
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James Polk manipulated Congress into declaring war on
Mexico using the war power.
Lincoln’s actions before the Civil War, however, were mostly
backed by Congress and upheld by the Supreme Court in the
Prize Cases.
The Two World Wars – Congress Declares War
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In 1917 and 1941, Congress formally declared war and
delegated vast discretionary powers to the president.
Roosevelt made broad use of his wartime powers, including the
detention of all Japanese Americans (an action later upheld by
the court in Korematsu v. United States).
The President and Congress: The
War Power (continued)
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
The Cold War and Beyond – Presidential Assertion of Power
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Truman’s actions during the Korean War bypassed Congress entirely
and fell outside the framers’ original understanding of the president’s
war powers. Congress later implicitly ratified Truman’s decision.
During the Cold War, Congress acquiesced to the president’s war
powers, including with Eisenhower’s request to use force if needed to
protect Taiwan.
The Vietnam Trauma
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Presidential war actions in Vietnam went largely unchallenged.
At Johnson’s request, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
which recognized the president’s claim to unilateral war-making
authority.
As the war lost public support, Congress attempted to regain its
authority primarily through its control of spending power; however, the
task was arduous and the result ambiguous.
The President and Congress War
Power (continued)
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
The War Powers Resolution
The War Powers Resolution states that the president cannot
commit troops to combat for more than 60 days unless
authorized by Congress.
 The resolution has had little effect on presidential behavior
and has been successfully used only in the Gulf War.


The Iraq War
Bush received broad authority from Congress to take action
against Iraq based on the claim that Iraq possessed weapons
of mass destruction. This claim was later found to be
inaccurate.
 The war continues, in part, because Congress has been
unwilling or unable to end it.

The President and Congress:
Domestic Policy
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
Legislative Skills
 Presidents
should do the following to be successful
leaders of Congress:
 Know
the legislative environment
 Have a good sense of timing
 Establish their priorities
 Have a high-quality legislative liaison office
 Consult with both party leaders
 Establish broad bipartisan support
The President and Congress:
Domestic Policy (continued)
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
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The Presidential Veto
 A president can veto a bill within ten days, after which it can be
overridden by a two-thirds majority of each house.
 A pocket veto, which cannot be overridden, occurs if Congress
adjourns within the ten-day period.
 The veto is a powerful weapon, as only about 4 percent are actually
overridden.
 The president does not possess an item veto, where only sections of a
bill are rejected.
Executive Privilege
 Executive privilege is the right of the president to refuse information
requested by Congress and the courts.
 Nixon attempted to enlarge this power during the Watergate affair,
but the court ruled in United States v. Nixon that executive privilege
was not absolute.
 Congress has become more assertive and suspicious about claims of
executive privilege in recent years.
Presidential Vetoes and Overrides
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The veto remains
one of the
president’s most
significant
constitutional
powers. Yet the
president does
not posses the
authority for an
item veto—the
power to reject
part of a bill.
The president
must accept or
reject the entire
bill.
Impeachment
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
Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution:
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“The President, Vice President and all Civil Officers of the
United States shall be removed from Office on Impeachment
for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes
and Misdemeanors.”
Impeachment is the ultimate congressional weapon in
the struggle between the president and Congress.
The House brings the impeachment charges and acts
as grand jury.
The chief justice presides over the impeachment.
A vote of two-thirds of the Senate is required for
conviction and removal.
The President and the Media
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
Introduction:
 Presidents
and the media have a love-hate
relationship.
 Presidents want to control information, while
reporters want to acquire and publicize as much
interesting information as possible.
 The media tend to oversimplify issues and
reduce personalities to stereotypes.
The President and the Media
(continued)
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
Phases of the Relationship
 Stage
1: The administration’s honeymoon stage is often
characterized by a period of cooperation between the
president and the media.
 Stage 2: As the administration settles in, internal
conflicts sometimes arise, and sensitive information
might be leaked. This initiates a period of conflict
between the president and the media.
 Stage 3: Detachment is the third phase, during which
time the president becomes less accessible to the press
and the media becomes more aggressive, often
resorting to sources outside the White House.
The Imperial President vs. The
Imperial Media
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
Presidents can do the following:
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The media can do the following:
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Orchestrate their appearances
Decide what format to use in presenting their case to the public
Use news leaks as a tool by leaking information to reporters they
favor while withholding it from those they disdain
Use investigative reporting to take advantage of leakers within the
administration
Pressure presidents using the Freedom of Information Act
Barrage them with persistent questions at press conferences
Portray the president any way they wish
The result is usually a stand off between the president and
the press.