1. The American Presidency
The President of the United States is
the leader of the United States and the
free world, and the “most powerful
person on earth.”

2. The American Presidency
The Founders wanted a president of
limited powers—above parties & factions,
to conduct foreign policy & enforce laws

3. The American Presidency
The President’s Roles
The Chief Executive
President G. H. W. Bush in Oval Office

4. The American Presidency
Controls a huge executive branch of
millions of people, but shares power with
Congress

5. The American Presidency
The president recruits the best people
possible to serve in his cabinet—those
people who run the executive agencies
of the Federal Government.

6. The American Presidency
Commander-in-Chief of Armed Forces
Article II, Section 2 of Constitution

7. The American Presidency
With the help of the
“football,” the
president controls a
massive nuclear
arsenal
With the Secretary
of Defense and the
Chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff,
commands the U. S.
military

8. The American Presidency
A key part of the president’s job as
Commander-in-Chief is crisis management.
This photo shows the Kennedy
Administration’s meetings during the
1962 Cuban Missile Crisis

9. The American Presidency
It is crucial that during times of crisis
the president appear to be a confident,
take-charge leader

10. The American Presidency
Chief Agenda Setter of the U. S. Government
President Obama giving the “State of the
Union” Address. What is the State of the Union
Address?

11. The American Presidency
State of the Union Address: A speech
that the president gives each January
before a joint session of
Congress, which sets forth
the programs, policies,
and legislation that he or
she wants Congress to
enact.
This speech coincides with
the submission of the
President’s Budget.

12. The American Presidency
The president is the chief priority-setter
of the United States government—he sets
the legislative agenda, often through
the submission of the budget each
January

13. The American Presidency
Representative of the Nation
President Bush represents the American
People at World Trade Center Ruins

14. The American Presidency
The president should be a person who
builds the morale of the nation through
inspirational actions and symbolic
functions

15. The American Presidency
Chief of State
The president engages in diplomacy.

16. The American Presidency
Diplomacy: the art of conducting
negotiations with foreign countries.
The president is also our nation’s foreign
policy leader.

17. The American Presidency
Foreign policy: our plans for dealing
with other countries. The goals of
U. S. foreign policy are to promote
trade and friendship with other
countries while maintaining the
security of the United States.

18. The American Presidency
Party Leader
Aids candidates, raises money, campaigns

19. The American Presidency
Executive Powers include carrying out
the laws and appointing officials
One way the president enforces laws is
through executive orders. What are they?

20. The American Presidency
Executive orders are detailed instructions, regulations, and rules that state how to carry out and enforce legislation. They have the force of law. In 1957, I signed an executive order that sent federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas to enforce desegregation of Central High School.
President Dwight Eisenhower

22. The American Presidency
Presidents usually provide
Congress with information
that body requests. But
sometimes, presidents
refuse to do so, as
Richard M. Nixon did
in In that case,
Nixon invoked executive
privilege. What is that?
Executive privilege: the president’s right
not to hand over documents or to testify regarding matters that he or she believes are his/her confidential business

23. LIMITS ON EXECUTIVE PRIVILEGE
What? I can’t
use EP? What
do I do now?
The Supreme Court does have the final voice in determining constitutional questions; no person, not even the President of the United States, is completely above law; and the president cannot use executive privilege as an excuse to withhold evidence that is "demonstrably relevant in a criminal trial.” Supreme Court’s decision in U.S. v. Nixon in 1974.

24. The American Presidency
Diplomatic powers involve the fact that
the president is the main person
responsible for our nation’s foreign
policy
President George H. W. Bush meeting
with British Prime Minister Margaret
Thatcher

25. The American Presidency
The president’s foreign policy role
includes making treaties that include
peace agreements, trade agreements and
forming alliances. What are alliances?
Alliances: agreements
between 2 or more
countries to help
each other for
defense, economic,
scientific or other
reasons

26. The American Presidency
Presidents, such as
Lyndon B. Johnson, right,
also can make executive
agreements. What are
they?
More informative
Understandings/agreements
between an American
president and the leader of
a foreign government

27. The American Presidency
Presidents can also establish
diplomatic recognition. What
is that?
Determining whether or not
the U. S. officially recognizes
a government as the proper
representative of a country’s people.

28. The American Presidency
Military powers:
Committing troops—such as when
President Bush committed troops to
Fight in Iraq
Limited by the War Powers Act of 1973
soldiers sent abroad by the president
must be brought back within 60 days
unless Congress approves the action
(Congress approved the war against
Iraq)

29. The American Presidency
Judicial Powers
In addition to nominating federal
judges, including Supreme Court
justices,
presidents can
issue reprieves,
pardons and
commutations.
What do each
of those terms
mean?

30. The American Presidency
Reprieve: postpones the carrying out
of a person’s sentence in order to
gather more evidence or to appeal for a
new trial.
Before I left office, I issued many pardons: forgiveness to a convicted criminal. It frees that person from serving out his or her sentence.
Commutations lessen the
severity of a convicted
person’s sentence

31. PARDONS
Obama pardons nine people - USATODAY.com
Pardon Me? - ABC News

32. The Executive Branch At Work
The Office of the President is made up of several separate organizations. Here are some of them.
Today, the White House Office serves as
the president’s personal staff and close advisers.
Because they are considered the president’s
personal staff, they can be appointed by the
president without Senate confirmation being
necessary.

33. The Executive Branch At Work
Here are some of the key members of the
president’s personal staff.
The Chief of Staff manages all of
the White House staff and controls
access to the president. President
Obama’s Chief of Staff is William Daley
The White House Press Office, led by the Press Secretary, provides key
information to the media and
conducts press briefings.
President Obama’s Press
Secretary is Jay Carney.

34. The Executive Branch At Work
The National Security Act of 1947 established
the National Security Council (NSC) to
improve coordination among the government
departments that deal with national security
issues. The NSC includes the
Director of Central Intelligence
(from the CIA) and the Secretaries
of State and Defense. The NSC
staff is headed by the National
Security Advisor, appointed by
the president. President Obama’s
National Security Advisor is
Tom Donilon.

35. The Executive Branch At Work
The Executive Office of the President also
includes the Office of Management and
Budget, which, among other things, writes
the President’s Budget. The Director of the
OMB holds cabinet rank. President Obama’s
Director is Jacob Lew.
The Executive Office of the
President also includes the
Council of Economic Advisers
and the National Economic
Council.

36. The Executive Branch At Work
The president’s wife, today Michelle Obama, is called the First Lady of the Land. In recent years, presidents’ wives have taken an active role in politics. One of the most active was Hillary Rodham Clinton.