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The Presidency

The Presidency. Chapter 12. Presidents & Prime Ministers. Parliaments More common PM chosen by legislature Cabinet chosen from members of legislature PM remains in power as long as his party does. Presidents & Prime Ministers. Presidents Outsiders because chosen by the people

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The Presidency

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  1. The Presidency Chapter 12

  2. Presidents & Prime Ministers • Parliaments • More common • PM chosen by legislature • Cabinet chosen from members of legislature • PM remains in power as long as his party does

  3. Presidents & Prime Ministers • Presidents • Outsiders because chosen by the people • Cabinet chosen from outside Congress • No guaranteed majority in Congress • Often works at cross-purposes against Congress

  4. A Divided Government • 15 of 22 presidential/Congressional elections since 1952 have provided divided governments • Americans don’t like divided governments—leads to gridlock

  5. Does Gridlock matter? • Unified government is something of a myth • Gridlock can be consequence of a representative democracy

  6. Divided Government • Gridlock • A good thing? • Enacts as many important laws as a unified government • Creates better balanced policies? • Natural part of checks & balances

  7. Presidential Qualifications • Three formal qualifications • 35 years old • Natural born citizen • Resident of the U.S. for at least 14 years • Informal • Government experience • Well-educated • Communication skills • “Presidential look” • Oval Office

  8. Benefits • $400K salary • Expense account • White House • Suite of offices with large staff • Pension • Cars, limos, helicopters & Air Force One • Secret Service protection • Camp David retreat • Free health care

  9. Electoral College • Casts the official votes to elect the president & vice president • Winner-takes-all effect

  10. Electoral College • # of senators + # of representatives = state’s electoral votes Virginia: Senators + Reps = electoral votes • Bigger states have more electoral votes • California Ohio • Texas Michigan • New York Georgia • Florida New Jersey • Illinois North Carolina • Pennsylvania 271 votes!

  11. Electoral College

  12. Electoral College • Need a majority or 270 electoral votes to win the presidency • If no candidate receives the magic number of electoral votes, the House decides. • Take top three candidates • Each state delegation casts one vote

  13. Evolution of the Presidency Concerns of the Founders • Fear of anarchy & monarchy • Feared use of military power to overpower the states • Feared corruption by Senate because of shared powers • Feared use of bribery to ensure reelection

  14. Term of Office • Precedent set by George Washington • FDR – the exception • Twenty-second Amendment (1951) • Maximum of 2 terms or 10 years • Establishing legitimacy & public acceptance • Creates the orderly transfer of power

  15. Evolution… • The 1st presidents • Prominent men • Minimal activism • Appointed people of stature in community • Relations with Congress were reserved • Few vetoes • No advice

  16. Evolution… • The Jacksonians • Strong & independent presidency • Maximize powers • Many vetoes on policy grounds • Challenged Congress • Reemergence of Congress • President considered a negative force **Dramatic shift in the power of the presidency over the past 70 years**

  17. The Reemergence of Congress • With brief exceptions the next hundred years was a period of congressional ascendancy • Intensely divided public opinion • Only Lincoln expanded presidential power • Asserted "implied powers" and power of commander in chief • Justified by emergency conditions

  18. Power to the POTUS • President mostly a negative force to Congress until the New Deal • Since the 1930s power has been institutionalized in the presidency • Popular conception of the president as the center of government contradicts reality; Congress often policy leader

  19. The Presidents

  20. Limitations on the president Objectives: • Describe the informal powers of the president • Understand the limits to the president’s power Bell Ringer: The President and the Secretary of State negotiate an agreement with North Korea to end its designs on building a nuclear weapon. In exchange, the U.S. will commit $15 billion in humanitarian aid to the North Korean people who are suffering from mass starvation and forgive loans owed by the North Korean government to U.S. banks. The President consulted Congress but did not request a Treaty. • Identify and explain the formal Constitutional powers in this scenario • What are the informal powers the President uses? • Are the President’s actions constitutional? Explain your answer Agenda: Informal powers Limits on power Homework: Imperial Presidency packet Chapter 20 Overview due 03/01(A) and 03/02 (B) Unit 4 Test 03/07 (A) and 03/08 (B)

  21. Powers of the President • Formal powers of Article II • Proposes laws & programs to Congress • Commander-in-chief • Appoints Cabinet members, ambassadors & federal judges • Prepares federal budget • Receives foreign ambassadors • Conducts foreign policy of U.S. • Approves or vetoes all bills passed by Congress • May call special sessions of Congress • State of the Union Address • May pardon people guilty of federal crimes • Greatest source of power • Politics & public opinion

  22. 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

  23. 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

  24. 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

  25. 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)

  26. Limitations on the president Objectives: • Describe the power of the President and Congress concerning war • Understand the limits to the President’s power • Legislative and judicial checks on the President Bell Ringer: What are at least three different factors that have contributed to the expansion of presidential power over time? In what ways have these factors enabled such an expansion beyond the Founding Fathers’ intentions? Do you believe these developments are for the better or the worse, and why? Agenda: War powers Limits on power Checks and balances Homework: Unit 4 Test 03/07 (A) and 03/08 (B)

  27. Presidential Character • Every President brings a distinctive personality • Affects how the White House is organized & runs • Public perception

  28. Power to Persuade • Three audiences • Other politicians & leaders in Washington • Party activists & officials outside Washington • The “public” • Fewer impromptu remarks & more prepared speeches • Transform popularity into influence • Most popular after election -- the “honeymoon”

  29. Power to Say No • Veto power • Returns bill to Congress with list of reasons • Pocket veto • Overrides are rare – need 2/3 vote in both houses • Line item veto = unconstitutional

  30. War & Peace - Whose Power Is It? The War Powers Struggle Between the President and Congress

  31. 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

  32. 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

  33. The War Powers Resolution • President must consult w/ Congress before introducing armed forces into hostilities • Consult with Congress regularly until troops removed • If war not declared, President must submit report to Congress within 48 hours of troop deployment • President must remove troops after 60 days (+30 days for withdrawal) if Congress has not declared war

  34. War Powers: The Supreme Court Weighs In • The Prize Cases (1862) • Korematsu v. United States (1944) • Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer (1951) • Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2005)

  35. The Prize Cases (1862) • Key Issue: Did President Lincoln act within his presidential powers when he blockaded southern ports without a declaration of war? • Court’s Decision:The President had the power to act because a state of war existed. • Discussion Question:Does this case expand or limit the war powers of the President and/or Congress?

  36. Korematsu v. U.S. (1944) • Key Issue: Did the Present, with the support of Congress, have the power to restrict the rights of Japanese Americans by relocating them to internment camps? • Court’s Decision:The government’s limitation of rights was justified during a time of “emergency and peril.” • Discussion Question: Does this case expand or limit the war powers of the President and/or Congress?

  37. Youngstown Sheet Co. v. Sawyer (1951) • Key Issue: Did President Truman have the power to seize & operate steel mills to avert a strike during the Korean War? • Court’s Decision:The President did not have the authority to seize private property without a congressional statute. • Discussion Question: Does this case expand or limit the war powers of the President and/or Congress?

  38. Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2005) • Key Issues: 1) Were the military commissions set up by the Bush administration to try detainees at Guantanamo Bay constitutional? 2) Can Congress pass legislation preventing the Supreme Court from hearing the case? • Court’s Decision:Neither an act of Congress nor the inherent powers of the President authorize military commissions that do not comply with US and international laws. • Discussion Question: Does this case expand or limit the war powers of the President and/or Congress?

  39. Formal Checks on Presidential Power

  40. Congressional Checks on the President(Article I) • Make laws (ex: War Powers Resolution) • Override presidential vetoes • Power to declare war • Power of the purse (taxes and funding) • Regulation of the land and naval forces

  41. Congressional Checks (cont.) • Impeachment Power (House) • Impeachment Trial (Senate) President Clinton’s impeachment trial, January, 1999

  42. Title:"Bill Clinton's Christmas present from the U.S. House." Artist: John Pritchett Date: unknown Source: http://www.pritchettcartoons.com/gift.htm

  43. Limits on Presidential Power (Article II) • President elected indirectly by the people through the Electoral College • Selection of president (House) in case of no majority of electoral vote • President must deliver State of the Union address • Senate approves treaties and ambassadors

  44. Limits on Presidential Power (Article II) • Senate approves department appointments • “Advice and consent” of federal judge appointments (Senate) Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice testifies at her Senate Foreign Relations Committee confirmation hearing, January, 2005. Nominee for Chief Justice, John Roberts is sworn in at his Senate Judiciary committee confirmation hearing, September, 2005.

  45. Judicial Checks on the President • Judicial review (Marbury v. Madison) • Chief Justice presides over presidential impeachment trial (Article I)

  46. Constitutional Amendments 12th– Choosing president & vice- president on separate ballots 20th– Presidential succession 22nd– Presidential term limits (2 terms; 10 years total) 25th– Presidential disability and succession

  47. Limits on Presidential Power: Informal Checks

  48. Public Opinion In a televised address in March, 1968, President Johnson announced he would not seek the Democratic nomination for president due to sagging public support for his administration and the war in Vietnam. Though he enjoyed record public support during the Persian Gulf War, President George H. W. Bush saw his numbers dip dramatically in the polls and he lost his re-election bid to democrat Bill Clinton in 1992.

  49. Public Opinion The ultimate check of public opinion is at the ballot box. Informally, White House staffs and independent news agencies poll Americans regarding the POTUS’ job performance, stand on issues, etc. which often forces presidents to change course in policy. Jimmy Carter lost the 1980 election in part due to his failure to secure the release of American hostages in Iran George W. Bush’s first nominee to replace SC justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Harriet Meyers, withdrew her name from consideration due to negative public opinion against her nomination George H.W. Bush loses re-election in 1992 due in part to low public opinion of his handling of the economy

  50. PartisanPolitics Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee and vigorous critic of the Bush administration, May, 2005 Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (R) battles President Bill Clinton (D) over the national budget resulting in the shutdown of the federal government in 1995

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