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The President

The President. One day, YOU could be president! Turn to a partner and discuss if you think this is really true or not. Chalk Talk!. Jobs of the President. Skills/Qualifications the President should have. Presidents: Before and After. Bill Clinton. George W. Bush. Barack Obama.

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The President

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  1. The President

  2. One day, YOU could be president!Turn to a partner and discuss if you think this is really true or not.

  3. Chalk Talk! Jobs of the President Skills/Qualifications the President should have

  4. Presidents: Before and After

  5. Bill Clinton

  6. George W. Bush

  7. Barack Obama

  8. Roles of the President • Chief of State: ceremonial head of government and symbol of the people • Chief Executive: has power to carry out laws but is limited by checks and balances • Chief Administrator: in charge of the executive branch (more than 2.7 million people) • Chief Diplomat: directs foreign policy and is nation’s primary spokesman to the world • Commander in Chief: head of the armed forces • Chief Legislator: can’t pass the laws, but suggests and influences laws • Chief of Party: leader of his own political party • Chief Citizen: represents all the people of America

  9. Becoming President: The Nomination Process • The Constitution does not lay out a process to run for president • The two major political parties have, in modern times, come up with a system • Step 1: Primaries or caucuses, state-by-state, to decide how many delegates a candidate gets • In most states, delegates are proportionally allocated: someone with 50% of the votes gets half of the delegates for that state • In some states (and never for Democrats), the person with the highest percentage of the votes gets all of the state’s delegates • Step 2: Nominating convention run by the party • Step 3: Presidential campaign and election

  10. Republican Primary Debate

  11. Primaries • Elections in the Spring of an election year to determine the one person that will run for a party for president • Can be open or closed • Open: anyone from any party can vote • Closed: Only someone that has registered to that political party can vote • Early primaries are more important because candidates that seem popular • Can get more funding • Get more time on the news, which gets their message to the people • Can get more votes because people like to vote for “winners”

  12. Caucuses • A closed meeting of party members who gather to choose delegates to the national convention • Usually there are very local meetings, then district meetings, then state meetings, during which party members vote for their favorite person to run for president • At the end, a choice has been made for who the delegates will vote for when they go to the national convention

  13. National Conventions • By the time of the party’s convention, the primary process should have narrowed down the choices of candidates to just one per party • The delegates sent by their states then formally vote for their choice for president • That person then announces their vice-presidential pick and lots of speeches are made • The people in the party decide what ideals the party will represent that year (platform)

  14. Convention Highlights, 2012 • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8peMotP-pLw Mitt Romney, Republican National Convention • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zw-ec4grvvc Barack Obama, Democratic National Convention • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo_v14xz6aM Empty Chair

  15. The Electoral College • The votes of Americans do not directly elect the president • Instead, each state is given a certain number of Electoral Voters based on its number of representatives in Congress (Utah has 6) • Whoever gets the most votes in the states gets all the Electoral Votes • Electoral Voters promise to vote for that person • They can change their vote, but usually don’t • In Maine and Nebraska, the votes are split proportionally • A candidate needs 270 of the 538 possible electoral votes to win

  16. Examples for Utah: • Obama: 60% Romney: 40% Electoral Votes: • Obama: 30% Romney: 70% Electoral Votes: • Obama: 49% Romney: 51% Electoral Votes:

  17. Obama: 40% Romney: 50% Libertarian: 10% In 25 States…269 total EV Total Electoral Votes: Total Votes: • Romney: 70,000 50% • Obama: 3 0% • Johnson: 68,000 49% In 25 States…269 total EV • Romney: 5 0% • Obama: 70,000 50% • Johnson: 68,000 49%

  18. The Electoral College • http://www.timeforkids.com/photos-video/video/electoral-college-and-swing-states-54101

  19. Path to the Presidency • Primaries • National Conventions • Massive campaigning by both sides • Money raised by SuperPACs and parties • Money spent on tv ads, robocalls, polling, websites, etc. • Debates by candidates and VP candidates • Election day • Exit polls to predict/project the winner • Electors find out who they are supposed to vote for in December, but we assume the winner in November • Inauguration

  20. The Powers of the President: Original • The president was designed to be weak and limited • Most presidential power in the Constitution is sketchy and not well laid-out • What it DOES give the president the power to do: • Command armed forces • Make treaties • Approve/veto laws • Send and receive diplomats • “take care that the law be faithfully executed”

  21. Growth of Presidential Power • The power of the president has grown • The president can bring unity to the government by being a single, uniting figure • In times of trouble, the people of the US have looked to the president to fix things (economy, transportation, education, civil rights, etc) • In times of crisis, immediate decisions must be made • The president can hold the public’s attention through the tv or internet better than a member of Congress can to build support for policy ideas

  22. Limits on Presidential Power • The Supreme Court can rule that the president has gone beyond his power • 1952: Harry Truman ordered the Secretary of Commerce to seize steel mills to try to stop a strike; the Supreme Court stopped him • 2006: George W. Bush wanted to use military tribunals to prosecute potential terrorists held at Guantanamo Bay, but the Supreme Court said that only Congress had that power • Checks and Balances • The president can veto a bill, but Congress can override the veto with a 2/3 vote • The president appoints judges, but Congress has to approve them • Congress can impeach the president • The Supreme Court can rule Executive Orders unconstitutional

  23. Executive Powers of the President • The president must execute (carry out or administer) the laws of the federal government • Laws passed can have broad wording; the executive branch figures out fine details and hires people to make sure things happen that the laws require • Ex: immigration laws require immigrants to be able to “read and understand some dialect or language.” • The President and the executive branch decides what exactly that means • US Citizenship and Immigration Services actually carries out this law daily • Executive Orders: Rules or regulations passed by the president that have the same effect as laws • Appoints or removes cabinet members, diplomats, heads of independent agencies, federal judges, and armed forces officers (the Senate has to vote to approve appointments) • Executive Privilege: The president doesn’t have to reveal certain things about himself or his activities/conversations

  24. Diplomatic and Military Powers • The President is the chief diplomat…and the main avenue of diplomacy is military force • The Senate must pass treaties, but it’s the president’s job to push for good treaties that will help his country • Presidents can make “executive agreements” with other countries that only have to last as long as that person is in power and don’t overrule other laws in the country • Presidents welcome diplomats, which is an official recognition of that other country • The President is the commander in chief…he can send troops into war for a short period of time (60 days) before Congress approves (though we’ve found ways around this, because we haven’t formally declared war since WWII)

  25. Judicial Powers • The president has these powers: • Reprieve: postponement of the execution of a criminal sentence • Pardon: legal forgiveness of a crime • Commutation: reduce a fine or length of a sentence for a crime • Amnesty: forgiving a whole group of people • These things can help or hurt him politically

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