1. Composition Book Your Composition Book is due next class
B Day- Thursday
A Day- Friday
Please use this time to make sure your Composition Book is completely in order and ready to go.
You can check with your neighbor if you’re missing an entry
You should have a total of 11 entries
When you are done please send pictures to Mrs. Nelson’s for the Senior Slide Show

2. The executive branch
An Overview

3. Recap: The Legislative Branch
The Legislative Branch is also known as Congress which is made up of two houses
House of Representatives- 435 members elected by population
Senate- 100 members every state gets 2
The main job of the Legislative branch is to write and make the laws that our country will abide by

4. Executive Branch: Video Overview

5. Executive Branch: Function
The function of the Executive Branch is to enforce the laws that were made by the Legislative Branch
Remember the paranoia of the Founding Fathers? They felt it important to separate the branch that makes the laws from the branch that enforces the laws in order to prevent abuse of power
Checks & Balances

6. Continued
The President signs a bill into law and carries each law through numerous cabinet departments and agencies.
The way that the Branches are written out in the Constitution it was intended by our Founding Fathers for the Legislative Branch to be the most powerful branch. However, it is now the President

8. Article 2 of the U.S. Constitution
Article II of the Constitution establishes the Executive branch of the Federal government
It defines the
office of President and Vice President
The electoral college
Requirements to be President
Establishes powers
There are 4 Sections to Article 2
The Executive Vesting Clause gives to the President the executive power.
(It vests him with power)
Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution states: “The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.”

9. Requirements to be President
Do you think there should be more requirements to be President (For example: amount of education, political experience, certain job experience)? Why or Why not?
The President must be at least 35 years of age
Do you notice this is older than the minimum age of Congress? Why do you think that is?
Must be a natural-born U.S. citizen (must be born in the country)
Must have been a resident of the U.S. for at least 14 years

10. In Short…
As long as you meet those three requirements anyone can be the President no matter your ethnicity, religion, gender, social background, or education level. In fact, you do not even need to hold any political office to become President.

11. Role of the President
The President must address Congress at the beginning of each session.
State of the Union
Important speech describing how the country is doing
Ideas of what will be done next year
Ensure the Government cooperates and everything runs smoothly
Otherwise little will get done and this is called Gridlock
President travels to other countries to meet with heads of foreign governments
President works out treaties with nations
Commander in Chief: can send out armed forces to protect our interests
President signs and vetoes bills from Congress

12. Powers of the President
There are 7 Presidential Roles
Head of State-
Chief Executive
Commander in Chief
Chief Diplomat
Legislative Leader
Economic Planner
Party Leader
Use your Textbook on page 264 and write down the description for each role
Next pick what you think is the most important role of all 7 and explain to me why this is the most important

14. How does the Constitution Balance the Branches?
Congress holds important powers that the President cannot do. Those include
Coining Money
Declaring War
Signing Treaties
Most of the actual Powers the President has he is unable to exercise without Congressional Consent
Congressional Consent: Permission by Congress
Why do you think the Framers wanted to limit the Power of the President?

15. Vice President
The second most important office within the executive branch is the Vice President
The VP is elected at the same time and for the same term as the President
What happens if the President dies or leaves office?
The Vice President will replace the President
Election Process:
Originally the VP would be the candidate who received the second most votes in the Electoral College
Since the 12th Amendment it was changed
VP runs as a running mate
Powers of the VP: Serve as President of the Senate & casts tie-breaking vote
Ever since the 1950s Vice Presidents have gained more executive responsibilities

17. The Cabinet The President is able to have a Cabinet
A Cabinet is a group of people who advise the President
They are to help the President and assist in decision making
This was not originally a part of the Constitution
Therefore advisors have no formal power
The size of the Cabinet has changed
George Washington’s first Cabinet had just four secretaries
Foreign Affairs, Treasury, War, and Attorney General
There are now fifteen heads of departments

18. The Cabinets The Secretary of State The Secretary of the Treasury
The Secretary of Defense
The Attorney General (Justice Department)
The Secretary of the Interior
The Secretary of Agriculture
The Secretary of Commerce
The Secretary of Labor
The Secretary of Health and Human Services
The Secretary of Homeland Security
The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
The Secretary of Transportation
The Secretary of Education
The Secretary of Energy
The Secretary of Veterans' Affairs

20. How do we elect the President?
The Constitutional Convention designed a method to select the President
This is called the Electoral College
This means that there is a college (group) of electors who are responsible for choosing the president
Each state chooses its number of electors (number of Senators + number of Representatives in the House)
Each citizen’s vote selects a slate of electors who promise to select the presidential candidate in line with the popular vote elections/videos/the-electoral-college

21. Need to Know Dates
The Presidential Election takes place on the first Tuesday of the month of November
When will the next Presidential Election take place?
Once voted in the candidate becomes known as the “President Elect”
The President will then take office on January 20th

22. Executive Orders:
We all know that a President can sign Bills into Law that come from Congress
But, Presidents can also issue executive orders.
An executive order directs how existing laws are interpreted and enforced
Manages operations of the federal government
Have the “force of law “
Exec Orders are numbered and published in the Federal Register
The Official record of actions of the United States government
Almost every single president has used Executive Orders
FDR holds the record of most orders: 3,721

23. Notable Executive Orders
Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation (1863)
FDR’s New Deal (1933)
Truman’s Desegregation of the Military (1948)
Eisenhower’s sending of federal troops to integrate schools in Little Rock, Arkansas (1957)
Bush’s Establishment of the Office of Homeland Security (2001)

24. How much do they make? Position Salary President 1789 $25,000
  $25,000
  $400,000
Vice President $230,700
Senator $174,000
Representative $174,000
Majority & Minority Leaders $193,400
Speaker of the House $223,500
Chief Justice, U.S. Supreme Court $255,500
Assoc. Justice, U.S. Supreme Court $244,400

25. Article 2 Foldable For each of the 4 sections
Give it a title that is unique to each section
Summarize it
Draw a Picture representing it
On the Back of the Foldable
In 3 sentences explain the importance of this section? Why did the Framers of the Constitution think that adding this section is important for our Government?
In 2 Sentences What would you add to this Section of the Constitution? What do you think is missing?
In 1 Sentence name one interesting thing you learned from this Article