The Executive Branch

Presidential Succession

What is presidential succession? The plan by which a vacancy in the presidency is filled

25th Amendment (1967) The vice president takes over if the president Dies Resigns Is removed from office Becomes disabled

Presidential Disability The VP takes over if President tells Congress he can’t do his job VP and Cabinet tell Congress Pres. Can’t do job The disability provision has been used twice: Reagan transferred power to VP George Bush for 8 hours after assassination attempt while in surgery George W. Bush transferred power to VP Dick Cheney for 2 hours during a minor surgical procedure.

Presidential Succession Act 1947 Congress sets the order of succession if the VP is unable to serve VP Speaker of the House President Pro Tempore of the Senate Secretary of State Secretary of the Treasury The rest of the cabinet heads in order of creation of the cabinet (15 cabinets or departments in all)

Presidential Elections

Original Plan At the Constitutional Convention, delegates debated how the president would be chosen Congress People Political Experts (electors) Decided to let people vote for electors who then choose the president Indirect election of the president

Original Plan Why did the delegates decide on this method? Congress choosing would give them too much power People were not smart enough Electors serve as a “check” on the people

Testing the Waters When: 1 to 2 years prior to the presidential election!! Purpose: To test the appeal of the candidate among voters Get your name and face out there!! Begin to raise money 2008 Presidential Election raised and spent over $1 billion

Primaries and Caucuses When January – June of election year Purpose Candidates complete against members of their own party for their party’s nomination Pick the best candidate to defeat the other party

Primaries Voters go to polling place and cast a ballot for a candidate

Caucuses People get together at a meeting and decide who they want to support as their party’s candidate

First Caucus Iowa Caucus: (Mon. Jan. 16th, 2012)

First Primary New Hampshire Primary: (Tues. Jan. 24, 2012)

Importance of Iowa and New Hampshire Give first indication of which candidate could win in the general election Could “make-or-break” a campaign

Super Tuesday Day when many states (20+) hold primaries and caucuses

National Convention When Purpose Other happenings Late summer (August) A meeting to officially nominate each party’s presidential candidate Other happenings VP candidate introduced Write and approve Party Platform

2012 Republican National Convention Minneapolis, MN

2012 Democratic National Convention

The Race to the Finish When: Late Summer – November Purpose: Candidates campaign for votes Advertisements Debates Phone / mail contacts Door-to-door appeals (canvassing) Town Hall meetings, picnics, etc. Spend lots of money!!!!!!

The General Election When: 1st Tuesday after the 1st Monday in November, every four years What: People vote for electors Must be registered to vote! Called the popular vote

Electoral College The group that selects the winner of the presidential election It is made up of 538 presidential electors A presidential candidate must win the majority of electoral votes to become president (magic # is 270) 2012: Obama 332 to Romney 206 2008: Obama 365 to McCain 173 2000: Bush 271 to Gore 267

Electoral College “Winner Take All” System The winner of a state’s popular votes gets ALL of the state’s electoral votes. Even if you win by 1 vote!!!! Electors for the losing candidate do nothing. How is the number of electoral votes per state determined? # of senators + # of representatives Washington DC gets 3 electoral votes (Amendment 23 – 1961)

Electoral College 2012 Results

Electors Cast Ballots Electors vote in December They cast separate ballots for president and VP Amendment 12 Electors vote for the candidate they pledged to support

Electors Cast Ballots Electors did not always have to cast a ballot for their pledged candidate This was the check on the popular vote (people’s vote) Today, most electors DO cast a ballot for their pledged candidate Some states require electors to do this BY LAW SO . . . it is fairly safe to say that today, the winner in November will be president

Counting Electoral Votes When: January 3rd How The President of the Senate (VP) counts the votes No one with 270 electoral votes?? House picks president Senate picks VP

Step 9: Inauguration Both the President and VP take the oath of office on January 20th at noon.

Indirect Election The American people do not directly elect the president and vice president Voters elect electors who then choose the president and VP We have and indirect process for selecting the president and VP

Flaws with the Electoral College

Electoral College dictates where and how candidates campaign

All electors are not required to vote as pledged A third party candidate won’t win but could affect outcome

The winner of the popular vote is not always guaranteed the presidency 2000 Bush defeats Gore and becomes president Bush lost the popular election by 500,0o0 votes but beat Gore in the electoral votes 271 to 267 Florida: Bush wins by 543 votes

Electoral College Game Divide into pairs; decide who will be the Republican candidate and the Democratic candidate If there is an odd number, someone can be a third party For each state, take turns rolling the dice; the person who rolls the highest number wins the state If you tie, roll again until there is a winner Color in each state you win; keep a running total on the side of the map as to the number of electoral votes each candidate has First candidate to gain 270 electoral votes is the winner!