1. The Presidency Chapter 8

2. The Presidency In this chapter we will cover: Roots of the Office of President of the United States Constitutional Powers of the President Development of Presidential Power/Informal-Formal Presidential Establishment Role of President in the Legislative Process: President as Policy Maker President and Public Opinion What Makes for a successful Presidency

3. Roots of the Office of the President of the United States American colonists distrusted the King to the point that their Articles of Confederation largely neglected the need for an executive With the failure of the Articles, the Framers saw the need for an executive office that would be strong enough to govern, but not so strong that it could abuse power The majority of the Framers agreed that the executive power should be vested in a single person to be called the president

4. Constitutional Convention Formal Qualifications for Office Constitution requires: 35 years of age 14 years a US Resident Natural-born Citizen Terms of Office Length of term was controversial Four, seven, and eleven-year terms were suggested and several of the Framers suggested a limit of one or two terms 22nd Amendment limits presidents to two four year terms or a total of 10 years in office

5. Removal of a President Removal is the ultimate check on the President House conducts the investigation and drafts Articles of Impeachment for “treason, bribery, or high crimes and misdemeanors.” Senate tries the case with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presiding If 2/3 of the Senate votes for the Articles, the president is removed from office Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton have been the only Presidents impeached. Neither were removed from office

6. Succession Through 2001, seven presidents have died in office (plus Nixon’s resignation) If the president is unable to preform his duties, the vice president then becomes responsible for the office. Congress passed the Presidential Succession act of 1947 that stated the order of succession after the Vice President The 25th Amendment (1967) lays out succession and allows the president to appoint a new vice president if the post is vacant

7. Table 8.2: What is the presidential line of succession?

8. 25th Amendment Adopted 1967 to set procedures for filling vacancies in the office of president and vice president procedures to deal with the disabilities of a president President may appoint a new VP, with simple majority of Congress Used twice Nixon replaces Agnew with Ford Ford appointed new VP VP and Cabinet can deem President unable to fulfill his duties President can voluntarily relinquish duties 1985-Reagan made George HW Bush Pres. for 8 hrs during his surgery 2002 & 2007 VP Cheney acted as President while George W. Bush underwent a colonoscopy

10. Vice President VP’s primary job is to assume office if the president dies or is incapacitated His/her only formal duty is to preside over the Senate or to break tie votes in the Senate Historically, the office has had little power and often VPs have low profiles “They know who Amy is, but they don’t know me.” VP Walter Mondale VP chosen for several reasons: geographical balance-ideological reasons to bring the party back together at the convention achieve a social and cultural balance on the ticket VP’s can also be used to overcome candidate shortcomings

11. Constitutional Powers of the President Article II is quite short and details few powers for the president President received certain enumerated powers in the Constitution, however, the first line of Article III may be the most important to grant power to the President “the executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America” Executive power clause has been the basis for allowing the president to exceed the list of enumerated powers in Article II

14. Development of Presidential Power All presidents have had similar formal parameters of checks and balances via the Constitution The power and success of the presidency is dependent upon: the personality of the person holding the office the informal powers of the presidency the goals of the officeholder the timing of events...events often shape a presidency (for example, crises often lead to an expansion of presidential powers)

17. Presidential Leadership and the Importance of Public Opinion Presidential Leadership Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt Going Public Bully Pulpit Press Conferences Television Appearances Public perception of performance Approval ratings

18. Challenges of Presidential Leadership Power to Persuade Going Public Mobilizing public opinion by going directly to the public Going over the heads of Congress to gain support from the people who can then put pressure on their elected officials in Washington

19. President and Public Opinion Bill Clinton spoke to the public in a variety of media configurations about 550 times a year Ronald Reagan averaged 320 appearances a year Harry Truman - only 88 times a year Going Public: the act of going over the heads of Congress members to gain direct support form the people

22. Two Views of Executive Powers Constructionist View: President has a moral duty to serve popular interests, regardless of specific constitutional or legal authority Stewardship View: President exercises no power unless granted by the Constitution or Congress

23. The Institutionalized Presidency White House Office Chief of Staff Executive Office of the President National Security Council Council of Economic Advisors Office of Management and Budget The Cabinet The Vice Presidency

24. Presidential Establishment Vice President Greater powers in recent history Cabinet Article II, section 3 Size First Lady Influence on policy Informal social/philanthropic endeavors Executive Office of the President White House Staff

25. The Executive Office of the President (EOP) The EOP was established by FDR and is a very important inner circle of advisors to the President The EOP is staffed by persons responsible to the president alone The EOP includes such important offices as the National Security Council, the Council of Economic Advisors, and the Office of Management and Budget

27. The Cabinet The Cabinet is not mentioned in the Constitution and is formulated by each president a he/she sees fit The Cabinet consists of the heads of the major bureaucratic departments (State, Defense, Treasury, etc.) Congress exercises some control over the bureaucracy- -through advice and consent and budget controls

29. White House Staff The people most directly responsible to the president are the White House staff such as personal assistants, senior aides, administrative personnel, and more There is no Senate confirmation and their power comes solely from their personal relationship with the president The White House staff reached a height of 583members in 1972, but has gotten smaller since and is generally around 400

31. Table 8.5: What can we learn from presidential personalities?

32. Growth of the Modern President In the 20th Century, the President has become ever more powerful

33. President in Legislative Process: President as Policy Maker FDR claimed the leadership and agenda-setting power for the president and got it FDR shifted the president’s powers from the at of simply executing policy to making it However, presidents have a hard time getting Congress to pass their programs especially during periods of divided government

34. President’s role in proposing and facilitating legislation FDR Difficulties Budgetary process and legislative implementation Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Policy making through Executive Order Limited effectiveness Youngstown Sheet and Tube vs. Sawyer (1952)

42. Continuity and Change The presidency is a peculiar institution. Some have argued that the job is too big for one person and that we expect far too much from one person Presidents do have a difficult set of jobs. They are a symbol of the country and a ceremonial leader as well as the nation’s chief executive We know more about our presidents than ever before What kind of underwear they prefer what they eat Who they dated in high school How much their haircuts cost. Has knowing so much made us lose respect for the office? Perhaps we need to know less about our presidents so that they may do more