The American Presidency: Roles, Power, and Responsibilities

1. The American Presidency The President of the United States is the leader of the United States and the free world, and the “most powerful person on earth.” Let’s look at the president’s roles

2. The American Presidency The Founders wanted a president of limited powers—above parties & factions, to conduct foreign policy & enforce laws

3. The American Presidency Historians have taken pains to rank my 43 predecessors through scholarly and balanced research. Which presidents do you think they rated as great and near great?

4. The American Presidency The President’s Roles The Chief Executive President G. H. W. Bush in Oval Office

5. The American Presidency Controls a huge executive branch of millions of people, but shares power with Congress

6. The American Presidency The president recruits the best people possible to serve in his cabinet—those people who run the executive agencies of the Federal Government.

7. The American Presidency Commander-in-Chief of Armed Forces Article II, Section 2 of Constitution

8. The American Presidency With the help of the “Chiefs,” the president controls a massive nuclear arsenal With the Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, commands the U. S. military

9. The American Presidency A key part of the president’s job as Commander-in-Chief is crisis management. This photo shows the Kennedy Administration’s meetings during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis

10. The American Presidency It is crucial that during times of crisis the president appear to be a confident, take-charge leader

11. The American Presidency Chief Agenda Setter of the U. S. Government President Obama giving the “non-State of the Union” Address. What is the State of the Union Address?

12. The American Presidency State of the Union Address: A speech that the president gives each January before a joint session of Congress, which sets forth the programs, policies, and legislation that he or she wants Congress to enact. This speech coincides with the submission of the President’s Budget.

13. The American Presidency The president is the chief priority-setter of the United States government—he sets the legislative agenda, often through the submission of the budget each January

14. The American Presidency Representative of the Nation President Bush represents the American People at World Trade Center Ruins

15. The American Presidency The president should be a person who builds the morale of the nation through inspirational actions and symbolic functions

16. The American Presidency Chief of State The president engages in diplomacy.

17. The American Presidency Diplomacy: the art of conducting negotiations with foreign countries. The president is also our nation’s foreign policy leader.

18. The American Presidency Foreign policy: our plans for dealing with other countries. The goals of U. S. foreign policy are to promote trade and friendship with other countries while maintaining the security of the United States.

19. The American Presidency Party Leader Aids candidates, raises money, campaigns

20. The American Presidency Here are some interesting facts about the office of the president. Qualifications: 35 years of age Native born citizen U. S. resident for the last 14 years Until Obama, all presidents have been white, male Christians. Most have been highly educated

21. The American Presidency Today the President presides over: Budget: $1.8 trillion Federal establishment: 2.4 million civilian employees Military: 1.4 million personnel 20,000 deliverable nuclear warheads 278 million people $9.5 trillion GDP 3.8 million square miles of land mass

22. The American Presidency Bully!! The president’s term in office is 4-years and, since the ratification of the 22nd Amendment in 1951, he or she can run for re-election once. President’s salary: $400,000 per year plus a tax free $50,000 allowance for performing official duties

23. The American Presidency I am the third President, Thomas Jefferson. What is presidential succession and what is the current order? Presidential succession: who should fill the presi- dency and in what order Vice President; Speaker of House; Pres. Pro. Tem of Senate; Sec State; Sec Treasury; Sec Def.; Attorney Gen;

24. The American Presidency Executive Powers include carrying out the laws and appointing officials One way the president enforces laws is through executive orders. What are they?

25. The American Presidency Executive orders are detailed instructions, regulations, and rules that state how to carry out and enforce legislation. They have the force of law. In 1957, I signed an executive order that sent federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas to enforce desegregation of Central High School.

26. The American Presidency Presidents usually provide Congress with information that body requests. But sometimes, presidents refuse to do so, as Richard M. Nixon did in 1973. In that case, Nixon invoked executive privilege. What is that? Executive privilege: the president’s right not to hand over documents or to testify regarding matters that he or she believes are his/her confidential business

27. The American Presidency Diplomatic powers involve the fact that the president is the main person responsible for our nation’s foreign policy President George H. W. Bush meeting with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher

28. The American Presidency The president’s foreign policy role includes making treaties that include peace agreements, trade agreements and forming alliances. What are alliances? Alliances: agreements between 2 or more countries to help each other for defense, economic, scientific or other reasons

29. The American Presidency Presidents, such as Lyndon B. Johnson, right, also can make executive agreements. What are they? More informative understandings between an American president and the leader of a foreign government

30. The American Presidency Presidents can also establish diplomatic recognition. What is that? Determining whether or not the U. S. officially recognizes a government as the proper representative of a country’s people.

31. The American Presidency Military powers: Committing troops—such as when President Bush committed troops to Fight in Iraq Limited by the War Powers Act of 1973 soldiers sent abroad by the president must be brought back within 60 days unless Congress approves the action (Congress approved the war against Iraq)

32. The American Presidency Judicial Powers In addition to nominating federal judges, including Supreme Court justices, presidents can issue reprieves, pardons and commutations. What do each of those terms mean?

33. The American Presidency Reprieve: postpones the carrying out of a person’s sentence in order to gather more evidence or to appeal for a new trial. Before I left office, I issued many pardons: forgiveness to a convicted criminal. It frees that person from serving out his or her sentence. Commutations lessen the severity of a convicted person’s sentence

34. The Executive Branch At Work Here are some of the key members of the president’s personal staff. The Chief of Staff manages all of the White House staff and controls access to the president. President Obama’s Chief of Staffis Rahm Emanuel TheWhite House Press Office, led by the Press Secretary, provides key information to the media and conducts press briefings. President Obama’sPress Secretary is Robert Gibbs.

35. The Executive Branch At Work The National Security Act of 1947 established the National Security Council (NSC)to improve coordination among the government departments that deal with national security issues. The NSC includes the Director of Central Intelligence (from the CIA) and the Secretaries of State and Defense.The NSC staff is headed by the National Security Advisor, appointed by the president.President Bush’s National Security Advisor is Retired USMC Gen James L. Jones.

36. The Executive Branch At Work The Executive Office of the President also includes theOffice of Management and Budget, which,among other things,writes the President’s Budget. The Director of the OMB holds cabinet rank.President Obama’s Director is Dr.Peter Orszag. The Executive Office of the President also includes the Council of Economic Advisers and theNational Economic Council.

37. The Executive Branch At Work Another important member of the Executive Branch is theVice President,who, today, isJoe Biden. For many years, it was a do nothing job. John Nance Garner: “It’s like a bucket of warm spit.”

38. The Executive Branch At Work Inrecent years, presidents have used the talents and skills of their vice presidents to the benefit of the nation. Wow! She’s some kind of hottie. Why didn’t I hire HER as an intern? That’s right Elle. For example, I used my vice president, Al Gore, to lead the effort to reduce government waste.

39. The Executive Branch At Work Thepresident’s wife, today Michelle Obama, is called theFirst Ladyof the Land. In recent years, presidents’ wives have taken anactive role in politics.The most active was Hillary Rodham Clinton.

40. The Executive Branch At Work In addition to the Executive Office of the President there are15 cabinet departmentsled by secretaries or, in the case of the Department of Justice, The Attorney General On the next few pages, we will look at President Obama’s present cabinet. For more information go to http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/cabinet.html

41. The Executive Branch At Work Secretary of Agriculture: Tom Vilsack Secretary of Commerce: Gary Locke Secretary of Defense: Robert Gates

42. The Executive Branch At Work Secretary of Education: Arne Duncan Secretary of Energy: Steven Chu Secretary of Health & Human Services: Vacant Secretary of Homeland Security: Janet Napolitano

43. The Executive Branch At Work Secretary of Housing and Urban Development: Shaun Donovan Secretary of the Interior: Ken Salazar Attorney General: Eric Holder Secretary of Labor: Hilda Solis

44. The Executive Branch At Work Secretary of State: Hillary Rodham Clinton Secretary of Transportation: Ray LaHood Secretary of the Treasury: Timothy Geithner

45. The Executive Branch At Work Secretary of Veterans Affairs: Eric Shinseki

46. The Executive Branch At Work The Federal Bureaucracy Hey! Which one of you can tell Bruiser the definition ofbureaucracy? A highly organized system of people and their work. People who work in a bureaucracy are called: Bureaucrats

47. The Executive Branch At Work Let’s discuss things that government agencies do. Advise government officials Make rules and regulations Those regulations have force of law, but they usually carry civil, not criminal, penalties for violations Suchregulationsare usuallyfound in the Code of Federal Regulations.For example, Title IX required schools to give equal athletic rights to females.

48. The Executive Branch At Work Government agencies also implement,or carry out, rules. The U. S. Government also has severalindependent agencies. What are those? Agencies created by Congress to help the president carry out the work of the executive branch. Independent means separate from cabinet departments.

49. The Executive Branch At Work Examples include: The Social Security Administration The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) NASA The CIA

50. The Executive Branch At Work Also under the Executive Branch areregulatory commissions. What are they? Agencies that act with the least direction from the White House; they are independent agencies that have the power to establish and enforce regulations. Examples include the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission