7. THE PRESIDENCY: THE POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT

I. According to the ConstitutionII. According to Congressional law

III. According to court decisions and precedentsIV. Political authority

Jimmy Carter: “When things go bad, you get entirely too much blame. And I have to admit that when things go good, you get entirely too much credit.”

“political capital” An adviser to LBJ, who wanted to mention civil rights in his first presidential speech: “The presidency has only a certain amount of coinage to expend, and you oughtn’t to expend it on this.”

“hit the ground running”

The White House: 1600, Pennsylvania Avenue

I. According to the Constitution-Article II-“take care clause”-John Adams on being VP: “most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived”; “I am nothing, but I may be everything”; LBJ: “a heartbeat away” from the presidency-2564 vetoes since 1789

commander in chief War Powers Act 1973 power to pardon treaty-making authority (chief diplomat) nominations and appointments (mid-90s:

more than 2,400) recess appointments messages and recommendations to

Congress impeachment

II. According to Congressional law-executive agreements-legislative veto (ruled unconstitutional in 1983)

III. According to court decisions and precedents

-executive orders-presidential memoranda-executive privilege

Tocqueville: “It is chiefly in its foreign relations that the executive power of a nation finds occasion to exert its skill and its strength.”

signing statements court rulings (e.g. Curtiss-Wright 1936)

IV. Political authority-Madison: “War is in fact the true nurse of executive aggrandizement.” -“bully pulpit” (T. Roosevelt): opinion leadership