1. The President’s Job Description
-The president has eight major roles, which are exercised simultaneously
-The constitution outlines the formal qualifications for the president
-Presidents are limited to two four year terms
-Congress determines the President’s salary

2. The President’s Roles The President has 8 simultaneous jobs
Chief of State
Chief Executive
Chief administrator
Chief diplomat
Commander in Chief
Chief Legislator
Party Chief
Chief Citizen

3. Chief of Chiefs 1-4 Chief of State Chief Executive Chief Administrator
Ceremonial head of government
Symbol of all the people of the nation
Chief Executive
Constitution gives him or her the “executive powers”
Foreign and domestic
So broad, most powerful office in the world--”for now”
Chief Administrator
Director of the federal gov’t
Employs 2.7 million people
Chief Diplomat
Main architect of American foreign policy
Spokes person to the world

4. Chief of Chiefs 5-8 Commander in Chief Chief Legislator
1.4 million men and women are in the armed forces
Subject to the Presidents direct and immediate control
Chief Legislator
Main architect of public policy
Initiates, suggests, requests, insists, and demands that congress enact much of its major legislation
None Constitutional Roles
Chief of Party
Leader of the political party they belong too
Political parties not mentioned in constitution but still play a vital roles
Chief Citizen
Representative of all the people of the USA

5. Formal Qualifications
Natural born Citizen
Jus sanguinis
Possible for a person born abroad that is an American citizen to become president
At least 35 years old
Have lived in the United States for at least 14 years
Why?

6. The President’s Term Four year term No third term tradition
Eligible for reelection
No third term tradition
Started with George Washington
Breaking with tradition, Roosevelt
3rd term 1940
4th term 1944
Why?
Resulted in 22nd amendment formally limiting the president to two terms in office

7. Pay and Benefits Congress determines the President’s salary
Can not be increased or decreased during a presidential term
$400,000
$50,000 expense allowance
Fringe benefits
Air force one
Camp David
White House
And so on…

8. Presidential Succession
47 vice presidents
14 have become president
Succession
Scheme by which a presidential vacancy is filled
Dies, resigns, of is removed from office
Constitution
Power not position transferred
25 Amendment
Formally gave position to vice president

9. What happens if the Vice President kicks the bucket?
Presidential Succession Act of 1947
Speaker of the House
President pro tem of the Senate
Secretary of state
And then each of the other heads of the cabinet department in order of precedence
Order in which the offices were created by congress

10. Presidential Disability
Neither the constitution nor Congress had made any provisions for deciding when a president was disabled. Nor was there anything to indicate by who would determine this
25th amendment filled this Gap
Three times this plagued our county
Eisenhower
Heart attack, ileitis, stroke
Garfield
80 days lingered after assassin’s bullet till he died
Wilson
Stroke, 7 months

11. 25th Amendment fills the Gap
The Vice President becomes the acting President if
The president informs congress in writing
The Vice President and a majority of the members of the Cabinet inform Congress in writing
Can resume powers when he can address congress in person
Disability provisions have come into play twice
1985, Reagan
8 hours, Tumor removed
2002, Bush
2 hours, anesthetized during a routine medical procedure

12. Vice presidential vacancy
Vice presidency has been vacant 18 times
Nine times by succession
Twice by resignation
7 times by death
25th amendment
President nominates a replacement and then is confirmed by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress

13. Picking a President, Original Problems
Framers of the Constitution were against two methods
Chosen by Congress
Under thumb of legislative branch
Chosen by Popular Vote
Too large of a country for people to be properly informed
Is this still a problem today? Why or why not?

14. Original Plan
President and Vice President would be chosen by a special body of presidential electors
These electors would each cast two electoral votes, each for a different candidate
The candidate with the most votes would become president and the person with the second most votes would become VP
Electoral College
The group of people chosen from each state to formally select the President and Vice President
Who seems to be left out of this process?

15. Rise of Political Parties and Problems
System brakes down
Two well defined parties
Federalists
Democratic-Republicans
Nominated candidates for president, VP, and Electoral college
Electoral college no longer free agents
Jefferson finally win when both houses of congress intervened
12th amendment fixes the problem by separating the elections of President and VP

16. It is that time again… Read Chapter 13.4 Page 368-375
Answer the following questions
Describe the role of conventions in the presidential nomination process
Evaluate the importance of presidential primaries
Understand the role of the caucus-convention process in States that do not hold primaries
Outline the events that take place during a national convention
Examine the characteristics that determine who is nominated as a presidential candidate