1. Chapter 13 The Presidency What makes a good President?

2. Section 1: The President’s Job Description Objectives: – Describe the President’s many roles – Understand the formal qualifications necessary to become President – Explain how the President’s term of office has changed over time – Describe the President’s pay and benefits

3. Presidential Roles Chief of State – Head of the government Chief Executive – “executive power”, broad in both domestic and foreign affairs Chief Administrator – Director of the executive branch Chief Diplomat – Main architect of American foreign policy and the nation’s chief spokesman to the rest of the world Commander in Chief – Nation’s forces Chief Legislator – Author of its public policies Chief of party – Acknowledge leader of the political party that controls the executive branch Chief citizen – Representative of all the people

4. Formal Qualifications Be a natural born Citizen of the United States – Born to American citizens abroad? Must be age 35 years old Been fourteen years a Resident within the US

5. The Presidential Term Four year term and then can be up for reelection 1951-no limit on terms 22 nd amendment- limiting terms to 2 – “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.”

6. Pay and Benefits Congress determines the President’s annual salary, which can be neither increased or decreased during a presidential term $400,000 per year $50,000 a year expense allowance White House Staff Fleet of automobiles Air Force One Camp David Healthcare Travel and entertainment fund

7. Section 2: Presidential Succession and the Vice Presidency Objectives: – Explain how the Constitution provides for presidential succession – Understand the constitutional provisions relating to the presidential disability – Describe the role of the Vice President

8. The Constitution and Succession Presidential succession – Scheme by which a presidential vacancy is filled President dies, resigns, impeached – 25 th Amendment in 1967 VP shall become president Presidential Succession Act of 1947

10. Presidential Disability Sections 3 and 4 of the 25 th Amendment – VP becomes acting president if President informs Congress in writing VP and majority of Cabinet inform Congress, in writing that the President is so incapacitated – President may resume powers with writing VP and Cabinet can challenge president Congress then has 21 days to make a decision

11. The Vice Presidency Importance of the Office – Preside over the Senate – Help decide the question of presidential disability “President in waiting” The VP Today – Making much greater use of VP’s today Vice-Presidential Vacancy – 25 th Amendment Vacancy in VP office, the President shall nominate a VP who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress

12. Section 3: Presidential Selection: The Framers Plan Objectives: – Explain the Framers’ original provisions for choosing the President – Understand how the rise of political parties changed the process of choosing a President as set out in the Constitution.

13. Original Provisions President and Vice President chosen by a special body of presidential electors – Chosen in each state – As many electors as senators and representatives in Congress – Cast two electoral votes, each for a different candidate Most votes-President Second-most votes-VP

14. Rise of Parties Electoral college – Original version worked only if George Washington held the presidency. 1789 and 1792 Flaws-1796 – Rise of political parties

15. The Election of 1800 – Two well defined parties – Each nominated and President and VP candidates Democratic-Republican: Jefferson and Burr Federalist: Adams and Hamilton – Each elector then cast their two votes which created a tie 36 separate votes in the House to finally select the President and be default the VP

16. 12 th Amendment – 1804 – It separated the presidential and vice presidential elections – “The Electors….shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice President”

17. Section 4: Presidential Nominations Objectives: – Describe the role of conventions in the presidential nominating process – Evaluate the importance of presidential primaries – Understand the caucus-convention process – Outline the events that take place during a national convention – Examine the characteristics that determine who is nominated as a presidential candidate

18. National Conventions Convention Arrangements – National committee makes arrangements for the party’s convention Apportioning Delegates – “call”-time, place, how many delegates the States may send to the national gathering Selecting Delegates – Selected prior to the national election in November. – Each party picks a representative through two different elections

19. Presidential Primaries An election in which a party’s voters – Choose some or all of a state party organization's delegates to their party’s national convention – Express a preference among various contenders for their party’s presidential nominations Primaries today – Delegate-selection process or a candidate preference election – Each state sends representatives based on Electoral votes. Candidates are reviewed and voted upon – Primaries in June one candidate is picked for main election in November

20. Caucuses Held in some states instead of primaries – Closed meeting of members of a political party who gather to select delegates to the national convention

21. Securing the Nominations National conventions – Meetings at which the delegates select their presidential and vice-presidential candidates 3 major goals – Naming the party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates – Bringing the various factions and the leading personalities in the party together in one place for a common purpose – Adopting the party’s platform, its formal statement of basic principles, stands on major policy matters, and objectives for the campaign and beyond

22. Convention Days: Day 1 – Dedicated to welcoming the delegates and organizing the convention Day 2 – Parade of speakers Adoption of the party’s platform Delivery of keynote speaker Day 3 and 4 – Nomination pf the party’s candidates for President and VP

23. Who is Nominated? Sitting president wants another term they are certainly getting the nomination Political experience

24. Section 5: The Presidential election Objectives – Describe the features of the presidential campaign – Explain how the electoral college provides for the election of the President – Identify the major flaws in the electoral college system – Outline the advantages and disadvantages of proposed reforms of the electoral college

25. The Presidential Campaign Both campaigns focus efforts on – Swing voters Roughly 1/3 of the electorate who have not made up minds – Battleground States States in which the outcome is “too close to call” and either candidate could win

26. The Election Least understood points in the American political process – Election of the President by the electoral college, each state has as many electors as it has members of Congress Choosing electors – Chosen by popular vote in every State MONTANA – 3 electoral votes Population, 2010 census: 989,415 267,928 popular votes cast for Electors pledged to Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan: – Thelma Baker – John Brenden – Errol Galt http://www.270towin.com/states/Montana

27. Counting the electoral votes – 12 th Amendment “the electors shall meet in their respective States,” at their State capital on the date set by Congress, now the Monday after the second Wednesday in December – Vote for President and VP – Signed and sealed and sent to President of the Senate in Washington – Midnight of election day they usually have a winner Formal election finally takes place in early January President of Senate opens the electoral votes from each state Majority wins (270 out of 538) No majority thrown into the House and they vote for the top 3, majority wins, no decision made by Jan. 20 th VP acts as President until a choice is made

28. Flaws in the Electoral College 3 major defects: – The winner of the popular vote is not guaranteed the presidency – Electors are not required to vote in accord with the popular vote Winner take all states It is not written in the Constitution that requires electors to vote for the candidate favored by the popular vote – Election might have to be decided in the House of Representatives Happened only twice 3 objections – Voting is by States not by individual members-small population states Majority of states in the House (26): third party candidate

29. Proposed Reforms Amendments to revise or eliminate the electoral college have been introduced in ever term of Congress since 1789

30. District and Proportional Plans District plan – Each State would choose its electors much as it chooses its members of Congress. 2 electors would be chosen from the State at large, and they would be required to cast their electoral votes inline with the popular vote in their state Other electors would be chosen, separately, in each of that State’s congressional districts (MT would have 1) Proportional plan – Each presidential candidate would receive a share of each State’s electoral vote equal to his or her share of that State’s popular vote Example: 62% of the votes in a State with 20 electors would receive 12.4 of that State’s electoral votes.

31. Direct Popular election Abolish the electoral college Voters would have the power to choose Smaller states would reject this idea because of their population

32. The National Popular Vote Plan A proposal to bring about the direct popular election of the President and to do so without making any change in the words of the Constitution – Each State’s lawmaking body to Amend State election laws to provide that all of a State’s electoral votes are to be awarded to the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote Enter into an interstate compact, the Agreement Among the States to elect the President by National Popular Vote

33. Defending the electoral college The only two presidential elections that went to the House were 180 years ago 3 major strengths – It is a known process – The present system identifies the President to be quickly and certainly – Promotes the nation’s two-party system