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12- 1. The Presidency. Presidential Qualifications Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution states that the president must be: a natural-born citizen (or a citizen at the time the Constitution was adopted), at least 35 years old, and
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The Presidency 12-1
The Presidency Presidential Qualifications • Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution states that the president must be: • a natural-born citizen (or a citizen at the time the Constitution was adopted), • at least 35 years old, and • a resident of the United States for at least 14 years . The Presidency
Qualifications for the Vice Presidency The original Constitution did not specify eligibility for the vice presidency, as the person who came in second in the vote for president would be vice president. • The Twelfth Amendment, ratified in 1804, changed the process so that candidates are elected for president and vice president separately. • The amendment also specifies that vice presidents must meet the same eligibility requirements as presidents and that they be from different states. The Presidency
Presidential Succession The Constitution also states that when the president is removed from office, by death, resignation, or inability to perform the duties of the office, the vice president becomes president. • In 1792, Congress passed the Presidential Succession Act, which designated the president pro tempore of the Senate as next in line, and then the Speaker of the House. • In 1886, Congress changed the order of succession to include only cabinet secretaries in order of their creation. • In 1947, Congress changed presidential succession once again, putting the order of succession as vice president, Speaker of the House, president pro tempore, followed by the cabinet secretaries. The Presidency
Vacancies in the Office of the Vice President There was no actual constitutional provision for replacement of the vice president, and in the course of the nation’s history the office was occasionally vacant. • The Twenty-fifth Amendment, ratified in 1967, required the president to nominate a replacement vice president, who must be approved by a majority vote of the House and the Senate. • Gerald Ford was nominated by President Nixon in 1973 after the resignation of Vice President Spiro T. Agnew. The Presidency
Presidential Term Limits For a century-and-a-half, presidents followed the precedent established by George Washington when he stepped down after two terms. • President Franklin D. Roosevelt, however, was elected to four terms. • The Twenty-second Amendment (1951) limits the president to two elected terms. The Presidency
Presidential Term Limits (Cont’d) The Presidency
Presidential Term Limits (Cont’d) • Term Limits • Term limits enforce turnover and open opportunity for new leadership, but they also act as a gate that prevents voters from reelecting a popular president whom they want to stay in office. • Lame Duck • Because a president in his/her second term cannot seek reelection, he/she commonly is referred to as a lame duck. • Lame duck status has the advantage of giving the president more political freedom, but the disadvantage of making him less directly responsive to public opinion. The Presidency
Background and Experience The clearest path to the White House is through the office of the vice president, but most presidents have some combination of service in the military, state legislatures, as governor, in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, or in prior presidential administrations. The Presidency
The States Where Presidents Were Born The Presidency
The Expansion of the Presidency The Constitution did not grant the office of president too much in the way of unchecked powers. However, as the power of the country grew so, too, did the power of the presidency. • The historian and presidential adviser Arthur Schlesinger Jr. used the term imperial presidencyto describe the power of the president to speak for the nation on the world stage and to set the policy agenda at home. The Presidency
Presidential Power The Framers expected that the executive branch would be smaller and less powerful and did not believe it was necessary to enumerate the executive powers as they did with the legislative powers. • In Article II, they “vested” the president with a general grant of “executive power” and then, later in the article, stated certain additional powers and responsibilities of the executive. • It is this general grant of executive power that has allowed the presidency to become the powerful office it is today. The Presidency
Comparison of Legislative and Executive Authority under the Constitution The Presidency
Commander in Chief The president is the commander in chief of the armed forces of the United States. • The president directs all war efforts and military conflicts. • Congress, however, has the power to officially declare war and to authorize funding for the war effort. The Presidency
Power to Pardon The president has the power to grant clemency, or mercy,for crimes against the United States, except in the case of impeachment from federal office. • Clemency is a broad term that includes a pardon, which is forgiving an offense altogether, and a commutation, which is shortening a federal prison sentence. The Presidency
Treaties and Recognition of Foreign Nations • The president or his designated representative has the power to negotiate and sign treaties with foreign nations. • For a treaty to be valid, two-thirds of all Senators must approve it. • There have been notable treaties that the Senate has refused to approve: • the Treaty of Versailles ending World War I, signed by President Woodrow Wilson (1913–1921). • Kyoto Protocol on climate change, signed by Vice President Al Gore who was representing President Bill Clinton (1993–2001). The Presidency
Appointments and Judicial Nominations The president has the power to appoint all federal officers, including cabinet secretaries, heads of independent agencies, and ambassadors. The president also nominates judges in the federal judicial system. • The nominations must be approved by the Senate. • Recess appointments may be made when the Senate is not in session. This has become a tool for Presidents to push through nominees who had been filibustered in the Senate. • The president has the power to fire federal officers, but not to remove judges, who can be removed only by impeachment. The Presidency
Veto and the Veto Override The President has the power to veto bills passed by Congress before they become law, by refusing to sign them and sending them back to the chamber in which they originated, with his objections. • If Congress will be going out of session within ten days, he can simply not sign the bill, a practice known as a pocket veto. • In cases where the president refuses to sign the bill but Congress remains in session, the bill is enacted into law. • To counter the power of the veto, the Framers gave Congress the veto override, the power to overturn a presidential veto with a two-thirds vote in each chamber. • The veto is the most direct way that the president checks the power of Congress. The Presidency
Presidential Vetoes The Presidency
Presidential Vetoes (Cont’d) The Presidency
Other Powers The president works within this framework of formal powers and constraints to lead the nation, and in doing so, becomes the chief agenda setter for domestic and foreign policy. • Smaller tasks assigned to the president in the Constitution have evolved into powerful tools for influencing legislation. • One tool is the State of the Union address. • Over the last century, presidents have turned this obligation into an opportunity to outline a broad policy agenda for the nation. The Presidency
Impeachment and Censure Congress’s ultimate check on the executive and judicial branches is its power to remove officials and judges from office by impeachment and censure. • The president, vice president, and high officials are subject to impeachment for “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” The Presidency
Impeachment and Censure (Cont’d) Impeachment is a two-step process. • First, a majority of the House of Representatives votes to bring formal charges against the president. • Second, the Senate conducts the trial, with the chief justice presiding. • Only two presidents have been impeached, Andrew Johnson and William Jefferson Clinton. Neither were censured. • President Nixon faced impeachment, but resigned before the proceedings were complete. The Presidency
Impeachment Trial of President Bill Clinton Stemming from charges that he lied under oath in his testimony in the Paula Jones case, President Bill Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives on December 19, 1998. In a trial that began the following month in the Senate, presided over by Chief Justice William Rehnquist, the president was acquitted. The Presidency
The Growth of Executive Influence Presidents use the executive power to issue presidential directives that give specific instructions on a federal policy that does not require congressional approval. • Executive Orders • Proclamations • Military orders • Repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell The Presidency
The Oval Office and the Presidential Seal The power of the presidency is symbolized by the unique presidential seal, which is emblazoned on the rug used in the Oval Office during the George W. Bush administration. The Oval Office, located in the West Wing of the White House, evokes the enormous power vested in a single, elected official. The Presidency
Executive Orders The most well-known type of directive is the executive order, whichcan be used for a wide range of purposes. • Executive orders instruct federal employees to take a specific action or implement a policy in a particular way. • In 1948, President Harry Truman integrated the armed forces with Executive Order 9981. • President Dwight D. Eisenhower used a combination of executive orders, proclamations, and military orders to enforce school integration in Little Rock, Arkansas. The Presidency
101st Airborne in Little Rock In September 1957, in a move that demonstrated federal power over state power as well as the authority of the commander in chief, President Dwight D. Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne Division to Little Rock, Arkansas, to protect nine African- American students attempting to attend previously all-white Central High School. He also nationalized the Arkansas National Guard for the same purpose. The Presidency
Presidential Directives on National Security In foreign and military affairs, presidents can issue presidential directives on national security, which have a similar purpose to executive orders. • These directives can announce specific sanctions against individuals who are considered enemies of the United States or make larger statements about U.S. policy toward a foreign country. • President George W. Bush used this power frequently. • In 2001, Bush used this power to create military tribunals that would try suspected enemy combatants and terrorists, rather than allowing them to be tried in a regular military court The Presidency
Signing Statements When a president signs a bill into law, he can issue signing statements; i.e., written remarks that reflect his interpretation of the law. • Signing statements can be classified as nonconstitutional and constitutional. • Nonconstitutional statements are symbolic, celebrating the passage of the law or providing technical instructions. • Constitutional statements are used to indicate a disagreement with Congress on specific provisions in the bill. • Statements may go so far as to say that the President refuses to implement specific provisions of a bill. The Presidency
Presidential Signing Statements, 1969–2010 The Presidency
Power to Persuade Presidents understand that communicating well with the public is essential to building support for their policies. • Bully Pulpit • A Bully Pulpit provides the president the opportunity to use his office to make a public argument in favor or against a policy. • Press conferences are one important way of sustaining a relationship with the media, and presidents have tried to use them to their advantage. The Presidency
Theodore Roosevelt Using the “Bully Pulpit” President Theodore Roosevelt was a larger-than-life figure who challenged corporate monopolies, sought to strengthen U.S. international power, and increased federal efforts at land conservation. He was known for using the office of the president as a bully pulpit to persuade the public to support his policies. The Presidency
Factors Affecting Presidential Persuasion Several factors affect a president’s power to persuade. • ApprovalRatings • Lawmakers are more likely to pass a president’s policy proposal when his approval rating is high, and they are less cooperative when the president is unpopular. The Presidency
Agenda Setting The president has the power to focus the nation’s attention on his ideas and policy proposals. • In dealing with foreign powers, the president is head of state and commander in chief. • As head of state, the president oversees a vast organization of employees in the State Department and the office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) who lay the groundwork for negotiations with foreign leaders on issues ranging from nuclear weapons control to trade policy. • The president is the public face and authority behind U.S. foreign policy decisions. The Presidency
Agenda Setting (Cont’d) In the area of domestic policy, the president uses the following tools to advance his agenda: • State of the Union address • federal budget • Executive Appointments • the bully pulpit • executive power to propose and implement laws • veto power The Presidency
Federal Budget The president issues his federal budget in early February, shortly after he delivers the State of the Union address. • It is a blueprint that indicates his spending priorities for all areas of the federal government. • Congress is not bound by the President’s budget, but he can veto the budget they pass so it is a tool of negotiation. The Presidency
The President in Wartime The Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war, but it has been the practice for presidents to formally ask Congress for a declaration of war first. • Vietnam and the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution • Congress passed the resolution with only two dissenting votes, few restrictions, and no time limit on how long the United States would stay involved in the conflict. • By 1971, Congress had repealed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution. The Presidency
The War Powers Act The War Powers Act states that the president cannot send troops into military conflict for more than 90 days without seeking a formal declaration of war from Congress. • This was designed to limit the power of the President to act militarily without Congressional Approval. • A president could send troops into a conflict and simply not report it to Congress, thereby avoiding a trigger of the War Powers Act. • The act did not really give Congress the power to end a military conflict except by denying all funding for it. • Iraq and Afghanistan The Presidency
Power Struggles between the President and the Judiciary Power struggles between the president and the judiciary in wartime generally focus on civil liberties. • The most recent clashes between the president and the judiciary over wartime powers arose during President George W. Bush’s declared “global war on terrorism.” • Military tribunals and exemption from Geneva Convention • The Court ruled that the Bush Administration did not have the authority to order that suspected terrorists be tried by military tribunals and that it would be a violation of both military law and the Geneva Convention. • Hamdi v the United States • The Court rejected the Bush administration attempts to deny habeas corpus to an enemy combatant who was a U.S. citizen. • The Court also extended habeas corpus protection to enemy combatants who were NOT U.S. citizens. The Presidency
The Executive Office of the President The president runs a large organization known as the Executive Office of the President (EOP). Several key organizations that report directly to him are: • the White House Office, • Office of Management and Budget (OMB), • National Security Council (NSC), and • Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) The Presidency
TheExecutive Office of the President (Cont’d) The growth of the Executive Office in the past 75 years is stunning. • President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had only 60 employees. • President George W. Bush had more than 5000 people working directly or indirectly for him. • The Obama administration is expected to equal George W. Bush’s number. The Presidency
The Chief of Staff A tightly organized White House staff organization yields a productive presidency, and the chief of staff is central to that effort in several ways. • He/she controls the flow of staff and paperwork and focuses the president’s attention on key issues • He/she monitors the coherence of presidential policies across cabinet departments and can serve as a referee for disagreements among members of the president’s senior staff • He/she forms bridges between the president and Congress. The Presidency
The Office of the Vice President Traditionally, the office of the vice president has not had many important responsibilities. • Each vice president tries to carve out a role that he is most comfortable with, and that the president finds acceptable. • Even if a vice president exerts influence, the people hold the president accountable for the actions and policies of his administration. The Presidency
Presidential Greatness The American people like to rank their presidents, and scholars also assess presidential greatness. • In order for Presidents to be great they should have the following attributes: • clarity of vision for policy, • communication and negotiation skills, and • display effective use of presidential power The Presidency
Franklin Delano Roosevelt The Presidency
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (Cont’d) To combat the effects of the depression,FDR had a clear policy vision, which he called the New Deal. • He got Congress to pass legislation that radically altered the size and shape of the federal government. • He created various job programs, including the Conservation Corps, the Works Progress Administration, and the Tennessee Valley Authority, all of which both employed and trained workers. • He expanded the government’s role in regulating the economy. • Securities and Exchange Commission • National Labor Relations Act • Social Security • He frequently used the bully pulpit. • He invented the fireside chat, a radio address to voters explaining the reasoning behind his governing decisions. The Presidency
Lyndon Baines Johnson The Presidency
Lyndon Baines Johnson (Cont’d) President Lyndon Johnson (LBJ) focused his mission on improving race relations and ending poverty. • The Great Society wasbuilt on the infrastructure of FDR’s New Deal, but went much further in connecting the individual to the federal government. • Civil Rights Act of 1964 • Voting Rights Act of 1965 • Fair Housing Act of 1968 • Medicare and Medicaid • Food Stamp Program • School Lunch Program • Head Start • Jobs Corps • Elementary and Secondary Education Act The Presidency
Ronald Reagan The Presidency