Chapter 13 The President CP Government
Roles (all at the same time) Chief of State Chief Executive Chief Administrator Chief Diplomat Commander in Chief Chief Legislator Chief of Party Chief Citizen
Constitutional Qualifications Natural Born Citizen 35 years old 14 year resident of the United States 22nd Amendment—2 terms or 10 years
Benefits AirForce 1 (2) Helicopters Limousines $400,000 salary Security 24 hour medical Yacht Staff $400,000 salary $200,000 retirement $50,000 expense account House Vacation home
Succession 25th Amendment Succession or disability Page 359 Used 2 x’s in history of country
Vice-President Kind of powerless -has as much as the Pres. gives No guarantee will become Pres. 9 have taken over Cannot be fired by the Pres.
Elections Remember fundraising ($100,000 in 20 states) Presidential candidates are selected by a Convention Actually elected by Electoral College
Elections Parties now control the primaries Each one selects delegates to then select the Pres. Candidate States choose date of primary Candidate is officially selected at the convention
Presidential Conventions Incumbent in Aug. challenger in July (suggested) Lasts 4 days (a big party) Day 1/2 speeches and writing the platform Day 3 voting for candidates Day 4 acceptance speech
Conventions Primaries pull a party apart The convention is to put it back together/re-unify A motivational 4 days to get psyched up for the last few months of campaigning
Electoral College 2 votes by electors Most votes=President; 2nd=V.P. Usually from opposing parties Electors were “respectable” citizens chosen by people in states
Electoral College 2 After 1796 were chosen by parties Election of 1800 Electors were chosen with the “understanding” they would vote by party line Created a tie-Jefferson vs. Burr
The Duel Needed 36 votes in the House to break the tie (pg. 367) Hamilton (Federalist) helped Jefferson win A few years later Burr-Hamilton duel (Burr wins) The govt. decides voting for President should not cause duels/death
12th Amendment Made electors cast separate votes for President and Vice-President Parties would now provide a “ticket” to help with the vote
Electoral College 3 2 sets (D/R) of Electors chosen by state legislatures (party loyalists) Vote in state capital on 1st Friday after the 2nd Wednesday in December Counted in Senate on January 6th Need a majority-270 or House decides
Electoral College 4 Flaws Electors do not have to vote as popular election in their state did Winner of the popular vote may not be President (2000) The House might decide the outcome
Possible Alternatives District plan (2) -same districts as the House Proportional plan -EC votes same as % of popular (no winner take all) Direct popular election -count each vote Bonus plan -keep EC as is and add 102 bonus votes to popular vote winner