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The Presidency

Explore the transformative journey of the presidency from a mere clerk to a powerful policy maker, shaped by compromises, media growth, and constitutional challenges. Learn about the president's roles as head of state, chief executive, legislator, commander-in-chief, diplomat, and more.

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The Presidency

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  1. The Presidency From Chief Clerk to Chief Policy Maker

  2. An energetic president • Hamilton argues for an energetic president in Federalist 70 • Achieved through unity, duration, adequate provision for support, competent powers • The executive also a product of many compromises. (Name them) • The perception of the President’s power is due mainly to the growth of the mass media, primarily television and radio, as well as the decline in party leadership in Congress

  3. President as Head of State • People look to him for guidance and help • 9/11 • Teddy Roosevelt first 20th century president meaning he believed the president is owed an opportunity to be president, i.e. the bully pulpit; Taft, however, believed in enumerated powers

  4. President as Chief Executive • “He shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” • Are there limits to the power to “take care”? “I felt that measures otherwise unconstitutional might become lawful by becoming indispensable to the preservation of the Constitution.” Lincoln and Presidential prerogative

  5. Lincoln and TaneyEx Parte Milligan Issue a:Suspension of habeas corpus

  6. From “enemy combatant” to “civilian” George W. Bush and Jose’ Padilla Hamdi v Rumsfeld (2004) Rasul v Bush (2004) Hamdan v Rumsfeld (2006) Boumediene v Bush (2008)

  7. Issue b: Truman and Steel SeizureYoungstown Sheet and Tube v. Sawyer On Executive Powers: “Their use can make a Lincoln or Jefferson administration; their non use can make a Buchanan or Grant administration.

  8. Issue c: Lawmaking through Executive Orders • Truman and the desegregation of the military (E.O. 9981) It is hereby declared to be the policy of the President that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion or national origin. This policy shall be put into effect as rapidly as possible . . .

  9. Lyndon Johnson and E.O. 11246 • “all Government contracting agencies shall include in every Government contract hereafter entered into the following provisions:” “The contractor will take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, color, religion, sex or national origin”

  10. Executive Privilege

  11. President as Chief Legislator: Innovative uses of “the veto” • Pocket or “recess” veto, but Congress never really recesses • Veto: FDR 635; Bush 12 (11 since Dems took over) • Item veto: originally passed for a future Bush victory, but Clinton won instead • Item veto declared unconstitutional in Clinton v. New York

  12. The Signing Statement • 600 total before Bush, 1100 by Bush challenging constitutionality of laws-so not enforced • Domestic spying • “secret operations” • Torture ban

  13. III. President as Commander-in Chief • The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States

  14. Strategic Placement of Troops: Theodore Roosevelt and the “White Fleet” But how do you control him?

  15. Korea and Vietnam: Undeclared Wars

  16. War Powers Act, 1973

  17. The Bushes and the Middle East Similarities and differences: multi-laterism v. uni-laterism

  18. IV. President as Chief Diplomat • “He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur” • Executive Agreements: Prior to 1940 the US Senate ratified 800 treaties and presidents made 1,200 executive agreements; from 1940 to 1989, presidents signed 800 treaties and approximately 13,000 executive agreements

  19. Other Duties • Appoints heads of government agencies, which approved by the Senate • The President appoints federal judges • He must give a State of the Union address and can recommend legislation • The President can grant pardons to those convicted of federal crimes

  20. The Executive Branch Inner Cabinet: V-P, NSA, State, Defense, A-G, Treasury Cabinet is independent of president and each other; advisors to president; position by patronage, tradition says the president must meet with them

  21. Executive Branch continued “runs” government; heads of agencies chosen by president, but can’t be fired by him

  22. Executive Office of the President Agencies that perform management tasks; give advice to president Make budget Advise president on security matters Advise president on the economy

  23. The White House Office Gatekeeper Friend and advisor to president

  24. The President • Constitutional requirements • Natural born citizen • 35 years of age • US resident for 14 years • Serve 2 terms (22nd amendment) • Impeached by House for “high crimes or misdemeanors”, trial in Senate (only 2 impeached) • Unwritten requirements • White males • Protestant • Paid $400,000/year; $50,000 spending allowance

  25. Line of Succession-25th Amendment • The Vice President Dick Cheney • Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi • President pro tempore of the Senate Robert Byrd • Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice • Secretary of the Treasury Henry Paulson • Secretary of Defense Robert Gates • Attorney General Mukasey • Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne • Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns • Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez • Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao • Secretary of Health and Human Services Mike Leavitt • Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Alphonso Jackson • Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters • Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman • Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings • Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson • Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff Determined by when each department was created

  26. Power of President is power to persuade • Through election victory a president can declare he has a “mandate of the people” and can achieve many of this goals with their support (not so true today) • Honeymoon period of President • President helped by same party domination in Congress unless he is good at appealing to bipartisanship • President can use the media for an unprecedented source of power and persuasion • Bully pulpit used through the media to build support for policies and programs • He is one man whereas the Congress is many • President is the opinion maker, and not the follower, thanks again to the media • Press secretary gets word out through sound bites • Presidents becomes “great explainers”

  27. Other factors of success • High Public approval ratings • Presidential lobbying • Threat of presidential veto • Use of patronage powers • Clear presidential priorities • National emergencies

  28. Growth of Presidency-George Washington • First “head of state” • Sets many precedents that other presidents followed such as 2 terms, cabinet, “Mr. President” • Asserts the president’s control of foreign affairs by declaring neutrality in the war between France and Britain • Establishes the role of Commander in Chief by defeating the Whiskey Rebellion • He shied from policy initiatives and actually avoided the office and its trappings

  29. Thomas Jefferson • Ceases delivering State of the Union addresses in person, instead a clerk in the House read the letter for the President (a trend not broken until Wilson in 1913) • Kept a low profile, but expanded presidential authority with the Louisiana Purchase and fight with the Barbary Pirates

  30. Abraham Lincoln • Expands army beyond legal limits and takes military action without approval of Congress • Repeals habeas corpus rights for captured soldiers • Sets the political agenda and waited for Congress to approve it, which it did • (Congress doesn’t regain its authority until after the Civil War)

  31. Rise of the Rhetorical Presidencynewspaper circulation increases from 2.6 million to 15 million and population increases from 4 to 76 million (1790-1900) • Teddy Roosevelt • “speak softly and carry a big stick” • Recognizes the power of the media and creates the “bully pulpit” • Creates a good relationship with the press corps • Woodrow Wilson • Wilson believed that the President should employ speeches to create an active public opinion that will pressure Congress • The President should also articulate the public’s wishes to advance HIS legislative program (create a sense of vision)

  32. FDR • President becomes communicator in chief • Presidential voice becomes the dominant voice in political dialogue • FDR creates a personal and direct link with the people becomes skilled at molding public opinion • http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/fdrfirstfiresidechat.html • President makes “personal appeals” to the public and looks for their support • FDR ushers in the age of “image”, which is why photographs and information on his health was controlled

  33. Rise of television and Ronald Reagan • President always has cameras following him • There is only 1 of him, 535 members of Congress therefore he can monopolize its time and present a focused and unified message • Reagan a masterful communicator whose speeches avoided “unpleasant specifics” • Transforms State of Union address into second inaugural address • Reagan helped by his acting experience and sense of timing

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