Presidential Powers

• Article 2, Section 1:– Executive Power in a Prez and

VP for 4 years

• Article 2, Section 2:– Commander-in-Chief– Pardons– Make treaties– Nominate and appoint and fill

vacancies

Presidential Powers

• Article 2, Section 3:– Information on State of the

Union– Convene Special Congressional

Sessions– Receive Foreign ambassadors

• Article 2, Section 4:– Removed by Impeachment for

treason, bribery, high crimes and misdemeanors

Presidential Powers

• 20th Amendment:– Changed term to begin January

20

• 22nd Amendment:– 2 terms

• 25th Amendment:– Presidential succession and

disability

Presidential Expectations

• Chief of State• Chief Executive• Commander-in-Chief• Chief Diplomat• Chief Legislator• Party Chief• Voice of the people• Protector of the Peace• Manager of the Prosperity• World leader

ALL AT THE SAME TIME!!

Presidential Limitations

• Congress

• Courts

• Bureaucracy

• Federalism

• Capitalism

• Public

• Time

• Outside Forces

Separation of Powers or Separate Institutions

Sharing Power? (Figure 18.2, Barbour and Wright, Keeping the Republic, Boston:

Houghton Mifflin, © 2001)

Evolution of the Presidency

• Traditional “Do Nothing” Presidency

• “Modern Presidency”– greater formal and informal

powers for initiative– increased staff and advisory

capacity• Brownlow Commission Report

(1937)• EOP (1939)

– agenda setter– most visible national actor

Presidential Leadership

• No-Win Presidency?

• Lead by Command or by Persuasion?

• The President’s Helpers

Policy Triad

• National Security Adviser and NSC (Staff)

• State

• Defense

Advising the President

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

The Good: Brent Scowcroft (?)

• NSA to Ford and “41”

• General, USAF (ret.)

• PhD Columbia

• (pic courtesy www.scowcroft.com)

The Bad: John M. Poindexter (!)

• NSA to Reagan ’85-86

• Vice Admiral, USN (ret.)

• convicted in 1990 of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and destruction of evidence in connection with the Iran-Contra affair

• Overturned on appeal

• (Don Rypka-AFP)

The Ugly: You pick…

The “First”

• McGeorge Bundy

• JFK and LBJ, 1961-1966

• Harvard’s Dean of the Faculty at 34

• 1919-1996

The Current

• Dr. Condoleezza Rice

• Stanford’s Provost

• NSC (Staff) in 41’s administration (Soviet Union)

• 1954, Birmingham, Alabama

• PhD University of Denver, 1974

It’s MY power!

• National Security Act 1947– NSC– JCS– SecDef (et al.)– CIA

• Increasing reliance on NSC staff

• Centralization of policymaking in the White House

Advising the President

• Short Run Advantages for the President

• Long Run Disadvantages for the Presidency?

• Principal-Agent Relationships