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Chapter 14: The Presidency in ActionOpener

The presidency has made every man who occupied it, no matter how small, bigger than he was; and no matter how

big, not big enough for its demands.-President Lyndon Johnson on the responsibilities of being President

Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 3Chapter 14, Opener

Essential Question

• What should the limits be on the powers of the President?


Guiding Questions

• Section 1: The Growth of Presidential Power– What factors have contributed to the growth of

Presidential power?• The scope and power of the presidency has

changed a great deal as the United States became a world power.


Guiding Questions

• Section 2: The Executive Powers– What are the executive powers and how were

they established?• The executive powers are laid out in Article II of

the Constitution and establish how the President is to execute the laws of the land.


Guiding Questions

• Section 3: Diplomatic and Military Powers– What tools are available to the President to

implement foreign policy?• Tools such as the power to write treaties, the

power of diplomatic recognition, and the role of commander-in-chief help the President implement foreign policy.


Guiding Questions

• Section 4: Legislative and Judicial Powers– How can the President check the actions of

the legislative and judicial branches?• The President is given certain legislative and

judicial powers, such as the veto and the power to pardon, to help check the actions of the legislative and judicial branches.

Chapter 14: The Presidency in Action Section 1

Copyright © Pearson Education, Inc. Slide 2Chapter 14, Section 1

Objectives

1. Explain why Article II of the Constitution can be described as “an outline” of the presidential office.

2. List several reasons for the growth of presidential power.

3. Explain how the Presidents’ own views have affected the power of the office.


Key Terms

• Executive Article: the name given to Article II of the U.S. Constitution, which establishes the office of the President

• imperial presidency: a critical view of the presidency that argues that Presidents have become too powerful, isolated from Congress, and unaccountable for their actions


Introduction

• What factors have contributed to the growth of presidential power?– The presidency is a unified office with a

focused purpose.– Congress has granted more authority to the

executive branch. – The President can act decisively in times of

crisis, increasing his or her influence.– The support staff of the President has grown

over time.


Article II

• Article II of the Constitution gives the President power to:– Command the armed

forces– Make treaties– Approve or veto acts of

Congress– Send or receive

diplomats– “Take care that the Laws

be faithfully executed.”• The presidency has been

called the “most powerful office in the world.”


Views of the Presidency

• Checkpoint: What two views of the presidency were debated by the Framers?– These executive powers are broadly defined

and open to interpretation.• At the Constitutional Convention, some delegates

argued for a weaker chief executive appointed by Congress.

• They were defeated by delegates supporting a strong, independently elected executive.


Growth of Power

• Presidential power has grown over time. Why has this happened?

– Compared to Congress, the executive branch is a unified office with one leader, capable of quicker decisions.

– As the role of the federal government has grown and the country has endured wars and other major crises, citizens have looked to the presidency for decisive leadership.


Growth of Power, cont.

• Congress has delegated authority to the executive branch to carry out the many laws passed by the legislative branch.

– Certain Presidents have used the influence of their office to increase the scope of presidential power.


Growth of Power, cont.

• The size of the staff supporting the President has grown, allowing involvement in more areas of government.

– Presidents have a unique ability to use mass media—such as radio, television, and the Internet—to attract public attention to their policies and goals.


Means of Gaining Power

• The debate continues over how much power the President should have relative to Congress.

– What is the source of presidential power as shown in this political cartoon?


Gaining Power

• In this cartoon, who is giving the President increased powers?


Limits on Power

• Checkpoint: What limits the growth of presidential power?

– In 1952, the Supreme Court ruled that President Harry Truman could not use his powers as commander in chief to take control of U.S. steel mills during the Korean War. (Youngstown Sheet & Tube C. v. Sawyer)


Limits on Power, cont.

• In 2006, the Court ruled that President George W. Bush could not use military tribunals to prosecute “enemy combatants” and held that part of his plan violated the Geneva Conventions and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. (Hamdan v. Rumsfeld)


Opposing Views

• Presidents like Theodore Roosevelt have supported broad powers.

– Roosevelt supported the “stewardship theory,” arguing that the President should try to do whatever would help the public, using whatever powers could be claimed.


Opposing Views, cont.

• Presidents like William Taft have favored limited presidential powers.

– Taft felt that Presidents could not simply assume powers that they felt were needed to serve the people. All executive power had to be based clearly on the Constitution.


Imperial Presidency

• In recent years, some critics claim that the presidency has grown too powerful.

• They refer to this increase of power as an imperial presidency because presidents often take actions without consulting Congress.


Imperial Presidency, cont.

• Supporters of the imperial presidency argue that the President often needs to act more swiftly than would be possible if he or she had to wait for congressional approval.


Review

• Now that you have learned about the growth of presidential power, go back to the Chapter Essential Question.– How much power should the President have?

Chapter 14: The Presidency in Action

Section 2


Objectives

1. Identify the sources of the President’s

power to execute federal law.

2. Define the ordinance power.

3. Explain how the appointment power

works and describe the limits on the

removal power.

4. Examine the power of executive

privilege.


Key Terms

• executive order: directives, rules, or

regulations issued by the President that

have the force of law

• ordinance power: the authority to issue

executive orders

• executive privilege: a right claimed by

some Presidents that allows them to

refuse to provide certain information to

Congress or the federal courts


Introduction

• What are the executive powers and how were

they established?

– The President:

• Executes and interprets the law of the land

• Issues executive orders

• Appoints many public officials

• Removes appointed officials

• Can use executive privilege to withhold information

from Congress and the federal courts

– These powers come from the Constitution and from

acts of Congress.


The Chief Executive

• The President enforces

and carries out all federal

laws. This authority

comes from two sources:

– The oath of office,

which requires the

President to “faithfully

execute the Office of

President” and “protect

and defend the

Constitution.”

– The constitutional requirement that the

President “take Care that

the Laws be faithfully

executed.”


Interpreting Laws

• Congress passes many laws that set out broad

policies, but do not include specific details for

enforcement.

• The President and other members of the

executive branch must decide how these laws

should be administered and enforced.

• To do so, they must often interpret the intent of

these laws.


The Ordinance Power

• The President can issue executive orders—rules

and regulations that have the force of law. This

is called the ordinance power.

– The President must have this authority in order to use

some of the executive powers granted by the

Constitution.

– In addition, Congress has delegated the authority to

direct and regulate many legislative policies and

programs to the President and the executive branch.


The Appointment Power

• The Constitution grants the President

appointment power, the ability to appoint some

federal officials.

– This power is necessary to ensure that presidential

policies are carried out.

– The President appoints some 3,000 of the 2.7 million

federal workers.

– The majority of the rest are hired according to civil

service laws.


Presidential Appointments

• Presidents appoint top-ranking officials such as:

– Cabinet members and their top aides

– Ambassadors and other diplomats

– The heads of independent agencies– All federal judges, U.S. marshals, and

attorneys– All officers in the U.S. armed forces

• These appointments must be a approved by a

majority vote of the Senate.


Recess Appointments

• The president can make recess

appointments to fill vacancies when the

Senate is not in session.

– These appointments expire at the end of the

congressional term they were made.

– They are controversial because they allow the

President to bypass the Senate confirmation

process.


The Confirmation Process

• This graphic outlines

the process of

nominating and

approving or rejecting a

presidential appointee.

– Under the custom of

senatorial courtesy, the

Senate will only approve

federal appointees

supported by the

Senators from their state

who belong to the

President’s party.


Presidential Appointees

• Presidential

appointees are

sometimes criticized

for lacking

independence and

simply parroting

presidential views.

– How might this

parroting actually

benefit the President?


The Removal Power

• The Constitution does not say how

appointed officers should be removed.

– Some politicians wanted Senate approvalfor removals as well as appointments.

– Others argued that the President must

have the power to remove incompetent appointees.


The Removal Power, cont.

• The First Congress gave the President

the power to remove any appointed

officer except for federal judges.

• Congress tried unsuccessfully to take

the removal power away from President

Andrew Johnson in 1867.



• In 1962, the Supreme Court ruled that the

removal power was a key part of the

President’s authority to execute the laws.



• In 1935, the Court ruled Congress can set the

conditions under which members of

independent regulatory agencies, such as the

Federal Trade Commission, may be removed

from office.

– This ruling applies only to a small number of

appointed offices.

– In general, the President can remove whomever they

appoint.


Executive Privilege

• At times, Presidents have refused to reveal

certain information to Congress or the federal

courts.

• Congress has never officially recognized the

right of executive privilege.

– The President’s advisers and staff must be able to

speak freely to give good advice. To do so, they must

believe that their words are confidential unless the

President chooses to reveal them publicly.

– What is the court’s stand on executive privilege?


United States v. Nixon

– However, the Court also

ruled that executive

privilege cannot be used

to prevent evidence from

being heard in a criminal

proceeding, as that

would deny the 6th

Amendment guarantee

of a fair trial.

• In the 1974 case United States v. Nixon, the Court

ruled unanimously that the President could claim

executive privilege in matters involving national

security.


Review

• Now that you have learned what they

executive powers are and how they were

established, go back to the Chapter

Essential Question.

– How much power should the president have?

Chapter 14: The Presidency in Action

Section 3


Objectives

1. Explain how treaties are made and

approved.

2. Explain why and how executive

agreements are made.

3. Summarize how the power of recognition

is used.

4. Describe the President’s powers as

commander in chief.


Key Terms

• treaty: a formal agreement between two or more independent states

• executive agreement: a pact between the President and the head of a foreign state or their subordinates; it has the same standing as a treaty but does not require approval by Congress

• recognition: the act of acknowledging the legal existence of a country and its government

• persona non grata: an unwelcome person


Introduction

• What tools are available to the President to implement

foreign policy?

– Making treaties and executive agreements with foreign

countries

– Recognizing foreign nations

– Recalling American diplomats or expelling foreign

diplomats from U.S. soil

– Ordering the U.S. military to conduct operations on foreign

soil without a formal declaration of war


Chief Diplomat

• The Constitution does not formally give the status of chief diplomat to the President. But two presidential powers play a key role:

– The President is the commander in chief of the nation’s armed forces.

– The President, usually acting through the secretary of state, negotiates treaties with foreign nations.


Treaties

• Treaties have the same legal status as an act of Congress.

• Congress can repeal a treaty by passing a law that nullifies its provisions.

• An existing law can be repealed by the terms of a treaty.

• A treaty cannot conflict with any part of the Constitution.

• If a treaty and a federal law conflict, the most recently passed measure wins.


Treaties and the Senate

• A two-thirds majority of the Senate must approve all treaties before they go into effect.

– This gives the Senate an important role in shaping U.S. foreign policy.

– A Senate minority can kill a treaty. In 1920 the Senate rejected the Treaty of Versailles.

– Presidents John Tyler and William McKinley each overcame Senate rejections of treaties by getting joint resolutions passed to annex Texas and Hawaii, respectively.


Executive Agreements

• Checkpoint: How do executive

agreements differ from treaties?

– Presidents can make executive agreements

without Senate approval.

– These agreements cannot overrule state or

federal law.

– Executive agreements do not become part of

American law. Only those agreements made

by the current President remain in force.


Power of Recognition

• The President recognizes the legal status of other nations on behalf of the United States.

• Countries usually recognize each other by exchanging diplomatic representatives.


Power of Recognition, cont.

• Out of political necessity, the United States recognizes some nations whose conduct it does not agree with.

• Recognizing a new nation, such as Panama or Israel, can help ensure its success.

• Expelling foreign diplomats or recalling U.S. diplomats from a foreign country is a strong expression of disapproval and sometimes a step toward war.


Commander in Chief

• Presidents delegate many command

decisions to military officers, but

Presidents make the most critical

decisions and have the authority to take

command in the field.


Commander in Chief, cont.

• It is difficult for Congress to challenge

many presidential command decisions.

• President Theodore Roosevelt once sent

the U.S. Navy halfway around the world

without consulting Congress. Legislators

had no choice but to approve funds to

bring the Navy back.


Making Undeclared War

• Only Congress can declare war; however, many U.S. presidents have sent armed forces into combat abroad without a declaration of war:

– John Adams had the U.S. Navy fight French warships in 1798.

– Ronald Reagan ordered the invasion of Grenada in 1983 to block a military coup.

– George H.W. Bush ordered the ouster of Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega in 1989.

– Bill Clinton sent troops to the Balkans in the 1990s.

– How might a President exercise the role of commander in chief?


Congressional Resolutions

• Congress has not declared war since World

War II.

• However, Congress has passed eight joint resolutions authorizing the President to use

military force abroad, such as:– In 1955, Congress let President Dwight Eisenhower

position the U.S. Navy to block Chinese aggression toward

Taiwan.

– The Iraq Resolution of 2002 authorized the use of force

against Iraq.


Power Over the Years

• At times Presidents

have sought

Congressional

approval for the

use of military

force, while other

times they have

not.


War Powers Resolution

• Checkpoint: Why did Congress enact the

War Powers Act?

– The results of the undeclared Vietnam War

led Congress to pass the War Powers

Resolution of 1973.

– There is still a debate over whether this

Resolution is constitutional or not.


War Powers Act

• The War Powers Act states that the President can commit military forces to combat only

– If Congress has declared war, OR

– If Congress has authorized military action, OR

– If an attack on the nation or its armed forces has taken place. In this case, Congress must be notified within 48 hours and can end the commitment of troops at any time.


Review

• Now that you have learned about the tools

available to the President to implement

foreign policy, go back and answer the

Chapter Essential Question.

– How much power should the President have?

Chapter 14: The Presidency in ActionSection 4


Objectives

1. Explain the President’s legislative powers and how they are an important part of the system of checks and balances.

2. Describe the President’s major judicial powers.


Key Terms

• pocket veto: a method of killing a bill at the end of a congressional session by not acting on it before Congress adjourns

• line-item veto: the power to cancel out specific provisions, or line items, in a bill while approving the rest of the measure

• reprieve: the postponement of the carrying out of a criminal sentence


Key Terms, cont.

• pardon: the legal forgiveness of a crime• clemency: the power of mercy or leniency• commutation: the power to reduce a fine

or the length of a sentence imposed by a court

• amnesty: a blanket pardon offered to a group of law violators


Introduction

• How can the President check the actions of the legislative and judicial branches?

– By using the message power to influence Congress to pass desired legislation

– By vetoing bills passed by Congress– By issuing signing statements– By pardoning citizens accused or convicted of crimes– By reducing fines or the length of sentences– By granting amnesty to groups of people


Legislative Powers

• As party chief, the President can greatly influence Congress.

• The President sends messages to Congress to suggests legislation.

• There are three major messages a year:• The State of the Union, delivered to a joint

session of Congress.• The President’s budget message• The Annual Economic Report


Veto Power

• Checkpoint: What options are available to the President when presented with a bill?

– Every bill or measure requiring the consent of both House and Senate must be submitted to the President.


Veto Power, cont.

– In response, the President can:• Sign the bill into law• Veto the bill• Allow the bill to become

law by not acting upon it within ten days

• Exercise a pocket veto at the end of a congressional session by not acting on the bill before Congress adjourns in under 10 days.

President Ford prepares to address the nation about his decision on vetoing a tax cut.


Overriding a Veto

• Congress can override a veto with a two-thirds majority, but this rarely happens.

– It is difficult to gather enough votes in each house for a veto override.

– The mere threat of a veto can often defeat a bill or cause changes to its provisions.

– Early Presidents rarely exercised the veto, but it is common today.

When the President and the majority of Congress are of the same party, vetoes tend to be rare. They tend to be more frequent during periods of divided government. Do you think the veto gives the President too much authority?


Signing Statements

• Signing statements describe how a new law should be enforced or point out problems that the President sees with the law.

• Presidents may issue signing statements when signing a bill into law.


Singing Statements, cont.

• President George W. Bush issued a record number of signing statements.

– He claimed the power to refuse to enforce certain provisions of a law or to interpret it as he saw fit.

– Critics saw this as an attempt to veto bills without exercising a formal veto.


Line-Item Veto

• The President can either accept all of a bill or reject all of it.

• The Supreme Court has ruled that the line-item veto power can only be given to the President by a constitutional amendment.

– How is a line-item veto different from a regular veto?


Line-Item Veto, cont.

• The proposed line-item veto would allow the President to cancel out some parts of a bill while approving others.

– Supporters argue that this would cut down on wasteful federal spending.

– Opponents argue that the line-item veto would shift too much power from the legislative branch to the executive branch.


Judicial Powers

• The President can grant pardons and reprievesin federal cases.

– The President can pardon people before they have even been tried or convicted, though this is rare.

• President Gerald Ford famously pardoned former President Nixon in 1974 before Nixon had been tried.

– A person must accept a pardon for it to go into effect.

• The Supreme Court upheld this rule in 1915.


Judicial Powers, cont.

• Checkpoint: What powers are included under the power to pardon?

– The President can commute, or reduce, a fine or prison sentence.

– The President can also issue a blanket amnesty that pardons a group of people.

• In 1893, President Benjamin Harrison pardoned all Mormons who had violated polygamy laws.

• In 1977, President Jimmy Carter gave amnesty to all Vietnam War draft evaders.


Review

• Now that you have learned about the way in which the President can check the actions of the legislative and judicial branches, go back and answer the Chapter Essential Question.– How much power should the President have?

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