Copyright, 2000 © Prentice Hall Magruder’s American Government C H A P T E R 13 The Presidency

The Presidency C H A P T E R 13 The Presidency SECTION 1 The President’s Job Description SECTION 2 Presidential Succession and the Vice Presidency SECTION 3 Presidential Selection: The Framers Plan Presidential Selection: The Framers Plan SECTION 4 Nominating Presidential Candidates Today SECTION 5 At the National Convention SECTION 6 The Election Chapter 13

Chapter 13, Section 1 The President’s Job Description S E C T I O N 1 The President’s Job Description The Constitution sets out certain formal qualifications for the presidency. The President is simultaneously the nation’s: (1) chief of state (2) chief executive (3) chief administrator (4) chief diplomat (5) commander in chief (6) chief legislator (7) chief of party These roles are all closely related and none can be played in isolation from the others.

Presidential Succession and the Vice Presidency S E C T I O N 2 Presidential Succession and the Vice Presidency The 25th Amendment formalized the practice of making the Vice President the President on the death, resignation, or removal of the President. The Vice President is “only a heartbeat away from the presidency” but the office has long been treated as inconsequential. No President has ever made the Vice President a real assistant President. Chapter 13, Section 2

Chapter 13, Section 3 Presidential Selection: The Framers Plan S E C T I O N 3 Presidential Selection: The Framers Plan The Framers did not believe that the people were qualified to select a President, therefore, they developed the electoral college. Electors, chosen in each State, were to be independent agents in the selection of the President. Political parties soon transformed the original method: today the electors are really “rubber stamps” for the popular vote result.

Nominating Presidential Candidates Today S E C T I O N 4 Nominating Presidential Candidates Today Since 1831, the two major parties have used national conventions to nominate their presidential candidates. At the conventions, delegates from each State’s party organizations choose a ticket for the upcoming election. More than three-fourths of delegates are chosen in some form of the presidential primary and the rest are chosen by State caucuses or conventions. Chapter 13, Section 4

At the National Convention S E C T I O N 5 At the National Convention Conventions are held to: (1) adopt the party platform; (2) nominate the party’s presidential and Vice-presidential candidates; (3) unify the party behind that ticket for the upcoming campaign. Each party seeks a candidate who can win, and the nomination of the candidate marks the high point of the convention. Neither major party has ever been much interested in alternatives to the national convention process. Chapter 13, Section 5

The Election S E C T I O N 6 The Election Voters finally cast their ballots in November, but the President is actually selected by the electors who have been chosen by the voters. The electoral college system is seriously flawed—it is possible that the loser of the popular vote can still win the presidency in the electoral college vote or, in the event of a tie, in the House of Representatives. A number of plans to reform the electoral college have been debated over the past 200 years. But even the most widely supported, the direct popular vote, will not likely be adopted in the foreseeable future. Chapter 13, Section 6