Chapter Fourteen The Presidency

Key Questions for Presidency Chapter How is a president different from a prime minister? How did the framers view executive power? What is the current state of executive power? How has the presidency changed since 1789? How is the Executive Branch organized? How is the character of the President related to the accomplishments of various presidents? What FORMAL and INFORMAL powers does the president possess? Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Presidential and Parliamentary Systems THEME A: THE POWER OF THE PRESIDENT VERSUS OTHER INSTITUTIONS Presidential and Parliamentary Systems Presidents may be outsiders; prime ministers are always insiders, chosen by the members of the majority party in parliament Presidents have no guaranteed majority in the legislature; prime ministers always have a majority Divided government: one party controls the White House and another controls one or both houses of Congress Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Electoral College Almost all states use a winner-take-all system If no candidate won a majority, the House would decide the election The Electoral College ultimately worked differently than expected, because the Founders did not anticipate the role of political parties Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Map 12.1: Electoral Votes per State Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

The First Presidents The office was legitimated by men active in independence and Founding politics Minimal activism of early government contributed to lessening the fear of the presidency Relations with Congress were reserved: few vetoes; no advice from Congress to the president Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Powers of the President Potential for power found in ambiguous clauses of the Constitution—e.g., power as commander in chief, duty to “take care that laws be faithfully executed” (executive power) The Military Commisions Act of 2006 Part 2 CNN’s view of Presidential Signing Statements Fox News Point of View on Signing Statements Bill O’Reilly responds! Greatest source of power lies in politics and public opinion Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

The Power to Persuade Presidents try to transform popularity into congressional support for their programs Presidential coattails have had a declining effect for years Popularity is affected by factors beyond anyone’s control – consider Bush’s approval ratings following the September 11th attacks Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Figure 14.2: Presidential Popularity What happens to a president’s popularity over time? Why? How might this trend affect a president’s power and strategy? You may have to break this into 2 slides. Thomas E.Cronin, The State of the Presidency (Boston: Little, Brown, 1975), 110-111. Copyright © 1975 by Little, Brown and Company, Inc. Reprinted by permission. Updated with Gallup poll data, 1976-2004. Reprinted by permission of the Gallup Poll News Service. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Figure 14.2: Presidential Popularity You may have to break this into 2 slides. Thomas E.Cronin, The State of the Presidency (Boston: Little, Brown, 1975), 110-111. Copyright © 1975 by Little, Brown and Company, Inc. Reprinted by permission. Updated with Gallup poll data, 1976-2004. Reprinted by permission of the Gallup Poll News Service. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Figure 14.3: Presidential Victories on Votes in Congress, 1953-2002 Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Discussion Questions for Theme A Given the resources and constraints that confront presidents and prime ministers, which office would you prefer to hold if you were allowed such a choice? The text concludes that presidential authority began to increase as a result of national crises. Why didn’t presidential power increase after the nation’s first three wars (War of 1812, the Mexican American War, and the Spanish-American War)? Were the wars different or the nation different? If the expansion of presidential power occurred because of political events and has been fostered by public opinion, under what circumstances might presidential power begin to be limited? Will the historical in favor of expanding presidential power be reveresed? How has President Bush expanded executive power? Is the new powers he claims constitutional? Is it a good thing that President Bush has expanded the executive’s power? The text suggests that Congress generally hesitates to chellenge a popular president. Under what circumstances might this maxim not hold true? How can you explain the Clinton impeachment, given the president’s successful re-election campaign and strong approval ratings? How does that compare to the Democrats support of President Bush’s decision to go to war with Iraq? Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

THEME B: THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF THE PRESIDENCY White House Office Rule of propinquity: power is wielded by people who are in the room when a decision is made Pyramid structure: most assistants report through hierarchy to chief of staff, who then reports to president Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan, Bush, Clinton (late in his administration) Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

White House Office Circular structure: cabinet secretaries and assistants report directly to the president Carter (early in his administration) Ad hoc structure: task forces, committees, and informal groups deal directly with president Clinton (early in his administration) Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Figure 14.1: Growth of the White House Staff, 1945-2002 Harold W. Stanley and Richard G. Niemi, Vital Statistics on American Politics, 2003-2004 (Washington, D.C.: Congressional Quarterly Press, 2003), 254-255. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Figure 12.1: Growth of the White House Office, 1935-1985 Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

The Importance and Power of White House Staff: A Case Study Karl Rove Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

The Cabinet Not explicitly mentioned in Constitution Presidents have many more appointments to make than do prime ministers, due to competition created by the separation of power Presidential control over departments remains uncertain—secretaries become advocates for their departments Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Table 14.1: The Cabinet Departments What are the responsibilities of each cabinet department? Which departments are most important? Why? Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Presidential Character Kennedy: bold, articulate, amusing leader; improviser who bypassed traditional lines of authority Nixon: expertise in foreign policy; disliked personal confrontation; tried to centralize power in the White House Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Presidential Character Reagan: set policy priorities and then gave staff wide latitude; leader of public opinion Clinton: good communicator; pursued liberal/centrist policies George W. Bush: tightly run White House; agenda became dominated by foreign affairs following the September 11th attacks Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

The Veto Power Veto message sent within ten days of the bill’s passage Pocket veto (only before Congress adjourns at the end of its second session) Congress rarely overrides vetoes Commentary on Bush’s first veto and Congress’s failure to overide. President does not hold line-item veto power Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Table 12.5: Presidential Vetoes, 1789-2000 Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

The President’s Program Resources in developing a program include interest groups, aides and campaign advisers, federal departments and agencies, and various specialists Constraints include public and congressional reactions, limited time and attention, and unexpected crises Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Discussion Questions for Theme B Why has the president’s staff grown? Many presidents enter office with a commitment to cutting the size of their staff. Why isn’t this goal achieved? Why do presidents rely more on the White House staff than on the various other offices in the Executive Office of the President? Why don’t presidents rely on their cabinets? The text describes the connections between president’s character and their staffing arrangements. But why would a president’s personality have much to do with the staffing method (circular, pyramidal or ad hoc)? Why must the president rely on staff to devise policy when the executive branch bureaucracy already exists for this purpose? Presidents frequently sign legislation with which they disagree. Why doesn’t the president simply veto such laws, since Congress seldom manages to override a veto? What kinds of veto strategies would you recommend to a president whose party controlled Congress? Or whose party was in the minority in Congress? Should the president be grated absolute executive privilege? Have the courts placed too many constraints on the White House staff, in denying them confidentiality in so many of their communications? Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Presidential Transition THEME C: PRESIDENTIAL SUCCESSION Presidential Transition Only fourteen of forty-one presidents have served two full terms (George W. Bush will be the 15th if he finishes his full 2nd term) Eight vice presidents have taken office upon the president’s death Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

The Vice President Prior to 2000, only five vice presidents won the presidency in an election without having first entered the office as a result of their president’s death The vice president presides over Senate and votes in case of tie Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

The 25th Amendment (1967) Allows vice president to serve as acting president if president is disabled Illness is decided by president, by vice president and cabinet, or by two-thirds vote of Congress The new vice president must be confirmed by a majority vote of both houses Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

1 Vice President and President of the Senate Dick Cheney This is a list of the current presidential line of succession, as specified by the Presidential Succession Act of 1947 (3 U.S.C. § 19). # Office Officer 1 Vice President and President of the Senate Dick Cheney 2 Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi 3 President pro tempore of the Senate Robert C. Byrd 4 Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice 5 Secretary of the Treasury Henry M. Paulson, Jr. 6 Secretary of Defense Robert Gates 7 Attorney General Alberto Gonzales 8 Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne 9 Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns -- Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez (ineligible; not a natural-born citizen)† -- Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao 10 Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt 11 Secretary of Housing and Urban Dev. Alphonso Jackson 12 Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters 13 Secretary of Energy Samuel W. Bodman 14 Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings 15 Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson 16 Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff ††h Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Impeachment Indictment by the House, conviction by the Senate Presidential examples: Andrew Johnson, Richard Nixon (pre-empted by resignation), Bill Clinton VIDEO: Summary of Clinton Impeachment Neither Johnson nor Clinton was convicted by the Senate Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Constraints on the President Both the president and the Congress are more constrained today due to: Complexity of issues Scrutiny of the media Greater number and power of interest groups Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Discussion Questions for Theme C What does the peaceful and orderly transfer of power from one president to the next have to do with presidential legitimacy? Can a revolutionary government or a military junta ever be legitimate? What factors have precluded vice presidents from succeeding “their” presidents in office? Recent vice presidents who have failed in this effort include Nixon 1960, Humphrey 1968, Ford 1976, Gore 2000. The two who have recently succeeded are LBJ 1964 and Bush Sr. 1992. Unless a president resigns, the chief executive can be politcally removed only through impeachment proceedings. These proceedings are extremely involved and are undertaken only in extraordinary circumstances. Is it a strength or a weakness of the presidential system that its chief executive is so difficult to remove? Does this provide the system with greater stability or does it increase the likelihood of corruption in the executive branch? In other words, does this practice contribute to or detract from the legitimacy of government? Answer your question in light of the Clinton impeachment proceedings and President Bush’s conduct of the Iraq War. Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Wrap Up for the Presidency 31W--What are the three most important lessons you learned in this chapter? Which is the most important? Why? Questions from Chapter 11 worksheet? Key ideas from supplemental readings: Copyright © Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.