The Presidency

Standard• SSCG13: The student will describe the

qualifications for becoming President of the United States

Duties of the President

The constitutional duties of the nation’s first president, George Washington, and those of a modern president are much the same. However, presidents today have enormous power and responsibility.

Duties of the President

Among the duties of the president are:

1) Commander in chief of armed forces

2) Appoints (with Senate consent) heads of executive departments, federal court judges and other top officials

Duties of the President

3 Makes treaties with the advice and consent of the Senate

4 Meets with heads of state5 Hosts foreign officials

Duties of the President

6) Appoints ambassadors to represent the United States in other countries

7) Ensures that all the laws of the United States are “faithfully executed” (a vast bureaucracy assists the president)

Duties of the President

6) Pardons people convicted of federal crimes, except impeachment

7) Reduces a person’s jail sentence or fine

Duties of the President

6) Delivers an annual State of the Union Address to Congress

7) Leadership role in proposing policy changes

President’s Term

• Originally, the Constitution did not specify how many four-year terms a president could serve.

• George Washington set a long held precedent when he served eight years and refused to run for a third term

President’s Term

• In 1940 and 1944, Franklin D. Roosevelt broke this tradition when he ran and was elected for a third and fourth term.

President’s Term

• In 1951, Congress proposed and the states ratified the 22nd Amendment as a reaction to Roosevelt’s four terms and concern over too much executive power.

President’s Term

• This amendment secured the traditional presidential limitation of two terms, while allowing a vice president who takes over the presidency and serves two years or less of the former president’s term to serve two additional terms. Thus it is possible for a president to serve up to 10 years.

Salary and Benefits

• Salary - $400,000 annually

• Nontaxable travel allowance - $100,000 annually

• Congress cannot increase or decrease a the salary during a president’s term

Salary and Benefits

• Air Force One, other planes, helicopters and limousines are made available

• Free medical, dental and health care

Salary and Benefits

• Live in the White House, a 132-room mansion with a swimming pool, bowling alley, private movie theater and tennis courts

• http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/inside-white-house/interactive-tour

• Large White House domestic staff

• Pays all expenses of operating the White House that relate to government business

• Free office space, free mailing service and $96,000 annually for office help

Salary and Benefits

• Lifetime pension of $148,400 annually when they retire

• After the death of the president, the spouse is eligible for a pension of $20,000 annually

Presidential QualificationsConstitutional Requirements

• Natural-born citizen of the United States

• At least 35 years old• Resident of the United States for at

least 14 years before taking office

These requirements are found in Article II, Section I of the Constitution. The same requirements apply to the vice president. Why?

Unwritten Presidential Qualifications

• Experience in government (provides the opportunity to form political alliances and gain name recognition)

• Money (candidates must have the ability to raise money to pay for very costly campaigns)

• Political views (both parties tend to choose people with moderate party views to appeal to a wide variety of people)

 

Personal Characteristics of Past Presidents

• Northern European family backgrounds• Middle – class backgrounds (some

exceptions)• Male• White (Obama is exception)• Married• Protestant (exception – John F. Kennedy –

Catholic)

The VP and Electoral College

The Vice President

The Role of the Vice President

The Constitution gives the vice president only two duties.

1) The vice president presides over the Senate as President of the Senate and vote

in that house in case of a tie. 2) The vice president helps decide if the president is disabled and acts as president should that occur.

25th Amendment

• Article II is unclear about what will happen if a president is unfit to do his job. Congress amended the Constitution to include:

– Section 4: Emergency provision that allows the Vice President and members of the Cabinet to declare the President unfit to carry out the duties of the Presidency.  

• Fourteen vice presidents have become president.

• Nine of these have succeeded to the office upon the death or resignation of the president.

Modern Responsibilities• A vice president’s work

and power depend upon what responsibilities, if any, the president assigns.

• The presidents before Eisenhower usually ignored their vice presidents.

• Since Eisenhower, presidents have tried to give their vice presidents more responsibility.

Vice President Joe Biden

Modern Responsibilities

• Participate in policy discussions• Special assignments such as making

speeches to defend the president’s policies

• Diplomatic activities such as representing the president overseas

• Member of the National Security Council

So… how do we actually elect a president?

Electoral College (clip)

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ok_VQ8I7g6I

What do the following four men all have in common?

• A. Andrew Jackson• B. Samuel Tilden• C. Grover Cleveland• D. Al Gore

The Answer

• They all won the popular vote in a Presidential election but did not become President.

1824• Popular Vote

Andrew Jackson 43%John Q. Adams 30.5%

Electoral VoteJackson 99 votes

Adams 84* Adams elected by House of

Representatives when Jackson did not receive a majority of the Electoral votes

1876• Popular Vote

Samuel Tilden 51%

R. B. Hayes 48%

Electoral College

Tilden 184

Hayes 185

Winner: Hayes

1888• Popular Vote

Grover Cleveland 48.5 %

Benjamin Harrison 47.8 %

Electoral College

Cleveland 168

Harrison 233

Winner: Harrison

2000• Popular Vote

Albert Gore 48.7%

George W. Bush 48.5%

Electoral College

Gore 266

Bush 271

Winner: Bush

Why?• We do not pick our President by direct

ballot. We only select electors. These electors form what is called the Electoral College and are the people who officially elect the President.

Terms to Know • General election: held every four years and

includes the presidential election as well as congressional, state, and local elections.

• Electoral College: A group of people named by each state legislature to select the President and Vice President

Terms to Know • Elector: member of a political party chosen

in each state to formally elect the president and vice president

• Electoral vote: official vote for president and vice president by electors in each state

• Popular vote: the vote for a U.S. presidential candidate made by the qualified voters, as opposed to that made by the electoral college

Election Day

• By US law the general election day is:– the first Tuesday after the first Monday of Nov.

• During the General Election when casting a popular vote for a particular candidate, voters are actually voting for whom the electors will cast a ballot. These electors in turn cast an Electoral vote for that candidate in the Electoral College.

Why was it Created?• Un-informed voter

protection• States were given a voice

in choosing the President• To maintain regional

balance

The Electoral College was devised for 3 reasons

1. The framers of the Constitution feared direct democracy. Hamilton and the other founders did not trust the population to make the right choice.

“election should be made by men most capable of analyzing the qualities adapted to the station” – James Madison

The Electoral College was devised for 3 reasons

2. The founding fathers wanted to protect the interests of smaller states and rural areas

The Electoral College was devised for 3 reasons

3. The Electoral College helps give everyone a say in the election by creating a balance between heavily populated areas that may not share the same concerns as other regions in the country

• Presidential Electors are nominated by their state political parties in the summer before

the Popular Vote on Election Day

ELECTORS

The number of electors for each state is based on

# of senators + # of representatives

Georgia has 16 Electoral votes

All states have a minimum of 3 electoral votes

The party that wins a state gets to cast all of the electoral votes.

This is known as a

Winner Take-all System

(2 exceptions: Maine & Nebraska)

The Presidential Electors meet in their respective state capitols in December, 41 days following the election, at which time they cast their electoral votes. Thus the

"electoral college" never meets as one national body.

Candidates must receive a majority of the

electoral vote to be declared the President-elect or Vice-President-

elect

ELECTORAL VOTES

435 U.S. Representatives+100 U.S. Senators

= 535 electoral votes

+ 3 electoral votes (Washington D.C.)-----------------------------------------= 538 total electoral votes (majority: 270)

If no candidate for President receives an absolute electoral

majority 270 votes out of the 538 possible, then the

House of Representatives is required to go into session

immediately to vote for President.

(an even split would be 269 votes)

As of 2012, the House of Representatives has elected the President on two occasions, in 1801 (Thomas Jefferson) and in

1825 ( John Quincy Adams).

Wait a second….

• What are the drawbacks to the Electoral College???

What are the drawbacks to the Electoral College?

• Encourages low voter turnout• Diminishes third party influence• Person with most popular votes may not win• Leads to tactical, insincere voting• If there is no majority winner in the Electoral

College, the election goes to the H.o. R and there is a loss of separation of powers

Why low voter turnout?• The Electoral College is a winner take all

system of deciding who receives a states electoral votes. Consequently, if a person gets 50.1% of the popular vote (in a two man race), he get 100% of the electoral votes. Therefore, many people feel that their vote does not matter and choose to not vote.

Third Parties• The Electoral College discourages 3rd

parties because a candidate must have a broad based, national platform to have a chance to gain the highest office. Rarely are 3rd parties financially and politically able to do this.

Tactical Voting• Voters often resort to tactical voting in

Presidential elections because the person they truly support cannot win the all of the electoral votes. For instance, many people would have preferred Ralph Nader (of the Green Party) in the 2000 Presidential election but knew that he was not going to win. Instead, they often voted for Al Gore because he was the major candidate with the platform closest to Nader.

Electoral Map after the 2000 Election

The 2008 Presidential Election

In-Class Activity• Given the electoral map on the previous slide,

students will be asked the following hypothetical question; If you were running for President with limited money and could only focus on a few states, where would you focus your campaign?

• (Only 11 states are needed to become President.)

The Electoral Map

1. Which state has the most electoral votes? How many?2. What is the least number of electoral votes per state? Explain3. Do you think that the Electoral College is a good way to elect the president? Why or why not?

Presidential Powers

• Many presidential powers are not listed in the Constitution.

• The Office of the President and it’s powers are influenced by the actual person in the office.

Roles of the President

• Head of State• Chief Executive• Chief Legislator• Economic Planner• Party Leader• Chief Diplomat• Commander in Chief

• The president has broad powers.• The president can issue rules, regulations, and

instructions called executive orders, which have the binding force of law upon federal agencies but do not require congressional approval.

• The president may also negotiate with foreign countries "executive agreements" that are not subject to Senate confirmation.

Head of State

• The president represents the nation and performs many ceremonial roles.

• The president is both head of state and chief executive. In most countries, these two roles are held by separate people.

• Hosts kings, queens, and heads of governments…throws out first pitch.

Chief Executive

• Carries out laws passed by Congress.

• The executive branch employs more than two million people to enforce the laws and programs passed by Congress.

Chief Legislator

• President proposes legislation to Congress.

• The president describes his legislative program in the annual State of the Union address.

Economic Planner

The Employment Act of 1946 expanded the president’s role as economic planner by

1) requiring the president to submit an annual economic report to Congress

2) creating a Council of Economic Advisors3) requiring the government to promote the

economic development of the country4) requiring the president to prepare an

annual budget

Party Leader• He may give

speeches or attend fundraisers to help raise money for the party.

• President appoints chairperson, and plans future elections.

• Presidents are expected to appoint party members to available jobs. (patronage)

Chief Diplomat• The president (and

Congress) make key decisions about the relations the United States has with other countries.

• The president has an advantage because s/he has more access to information than Congress.

Commander in Chief

• Although other military leaders run the military on a day-to-day basis, the president is responsible for key military decisions.

• The president may also use the military to control serious disorders in the nation.

The Cabinet

• One of the president’s first duties is to organize and staff the executive branch of government.

• Today, the president appoints the secretaries that head the 15 major executive departments.

• The 15 secretaries, the vice president and several other top officials make up the president’s cabinet.

Major Factors in Appointments

• A major consideration is that the appointee have a compatible background with the department he or she will lead.

• Another consideration is geographic balance.(ex: Secretary of Ag is typically from a farm state, Sec of HUD is from a big city.)

• Acceptability to interest groups is also important. (Secretary of Labor must be acceptable to labor groups)

• Experience in the role they are assuming is also important, along with race and gender balances.

• As women and minority groups have gained political power, presidents have considered race and gender when selecting their cabinet.

• Robert Weaver became the first African-American department leader when Lyndon Johnson appointed him as the head of HUD. FDR appointed the first woman to the cabinet with Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins.

The Role of the Cabinet

• The cabinet is intended to serve as an advisory body to the president.

• The cabinet meets when the president calls it together.

• Recent presidents have used their cabinets as more of a sounding board for ideas rather than the advisory body that President Washington had envisioned.

The Executive Office

• The Executive Office of the President (EOP) consists of individuals and agencies that directly assist the president.

• Today’s EOP consists of the White House Office and several specialized agencies that all report directly to the president.

• The Office of Management & Budget (OMB) is the largest agency in the EOP.

• The OMB prepares the national budget that the president proposes to Congress each year.

The White House Office• The White House Office has

become one of the most important parts of the EOP.

• These top assistants become the inner circle around the president.

• Positions include the president’s chief of staff, White House counsel, and press secretary.

• Key aides to the president decide what or who gets through to the president.

Presidential Succession• Eight presidents have died in office (four were

assassinated and four died of natural causes)• After Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, the country

realized that the rules for presidential succession established by the Constitution were inadequate.

• The Twenty-fifth Amendment ratified in 1967 established the order of succession to the presidency and spelled out what happened when the vice presidency becomes vacant.

• This amendment was first applied in 1973 after Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned and was replaced by Gerald Ford. Less than a year later, Nixon resigned and Ford became president and nominated Nelson Rockefeller as vice president. This has been the only time in our nation’s history that neither the president nor the vice president were elected.

Presidential Succession1) The Vice President 2) Speaker of the House 3) President Pro Tempore of the Senate 4) Secretary of State 5) Secretary of the Treasury 6) Secretary of Defense 7) Attorney General 8) Secretary of the Interior 9) Secretary of Agriculture 10) Secretary of Commerce 11) Secretary of Labor 12) Secretary of Health 13) Secretary of Housing 14) Secretary of Transportation 15) Secretary of Energy 16) Secretary of Education 17) Secretary of Veterans Affairs 18) Secretary of Homeland Security

Presidential Disability The Twenty-fifth Amendment sets forth a series of rules to be

followed when a president is disabled. The amendment provides that the vice president becomes acting president under one of the following two conditions:

1) if the president informs Congress of his or her inability to perform the duties of the office 2) if the vice president and a majority of the cabinet or another body authorized by law informs Congress that the president is unable to perform the duties of the office The provisions of this amendment allow the president to resume the

powers and duties of president at any time by simply notifying Congress that the disability no longer exists. If the vice president, a majority of the cabinet or other authorized body disagrees with this assessment, Congress has to settle the dispute within 21 days. Unless the Congress decides in favor of the vice president by a 2/3’s vote in each house, the president may resume office.

Inauguration, Impeachment

Inauguration

• The new president is called the president-elect until the inauguration which takes place at noon on January 20th in the year following the election.

Inauguration

• The president-elect rides with the outgoing president from the White House to the Capitol for the ceremony.

Inauguration

• The Constitution requires the president to take a simple oath.

• The chief justice administers the oath and the new president makes an inaugural address.

Impeachment• Expressed power of

the legislature to bring formal charges against a government official for crimes committed in office.

• Removal of an official on conviction is separate from impeachment.

ImpeachmentArticle II, Section 4 (US Const)

• “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.”

• Ben Franklin noted that the removal of “obnoxious” chief executives had been accomplished by assassination. He suggested that a proceduralized mechanism for removal would be preferable.

Impeachment

• Two presidents have been impeached: • Andrew Johnson• Bill Clinton• Both were acquitted before being removed

from office.

Impeachment• Andrew Johnson• Impeached for

intentionally violating the Tenure of Office Act.

• Impeachment voted for in the House, 128 to 47.

• The Senate fell one vote short of the 2/3rds majority required for conviction.

Impeachment

• Bill Clinton• Impeached for perjury

(228-206) and obstruction of justice (221-212).

• The Senate fell 17 votes short of the 2/3rds majority required for conviction.