The Presidency

AP UNIT 4 (CONTINUED)

Qualifications and Limitations

• Must be:– A natural-born citizen– 35 years old– Resident of U.S. for 14 years

• 22nd Amendment - puts a two-term limit on the presidency

• 25th Amendment - provides for the Vice-President to become president when the current president is incapacitated

Impeachment and Removal

• Impeachment is an indictment (formal accusation) of a wrongdoing, NOT removal

• President can be impeached on grounds of “treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors”

• Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton only presidents to be impeached

• House of Rep. ONLY has the power to impeach (majority vote)

• Evidence gathered by House then sent to Senate for trial – Chief Justice of Supreme Court presides– 2/3 vote needed to convict– Conviction = removal from office

Roles of President

• Commander-in-Chief (armed forces)• Chief Legislator (creator of agenda)• Chief Administrator (leader of Exec. Branch)• Chief of Party (head of party)• Chief of State (face of nation to world)• Chief Executive (uses executive powers given

in Constitution)• Chief Citizen (rep. of common citizens)• Chief Diplomat (speaks on behalf of nation,

negotiates foreign affairs)

Scope of Powers

• The Framers did not want another king, but an executive with limitations (by other gov’t branches)

• Powers of the president have grown exponentially over time– Presidential powers have been more widely

interpreted to give president more powers/influence outside Constitution

– STUDY TABLE ON PAGE 406 OF EDWARDS BOOK

Executive Powers of the President

• prerogative - a president’s wide interpretation (“stretching”) of presidential powers in order to preserve the public good– Can be seen as the president’s

“emergency powers”– Still subject to restraint by other gov’t

branches

• executive privilege - allows president to withhold information from Congress or the courts because publicizing the information would disrupt the running of the executive branch or injure the public and/or its safety

• executive order - decisions/rules of the president that have the force of law within the executive branch/bureaucracy

• appointment power - president appoints federal judges, Supreme Court justices, ambassadors, and exec. branch leaders– Must be approved by the Senate by

majority vote– President can also remove members of

executive branch

Diplomatic Powers of the President

• Can create treaties (agreements with other countries)– need Senate approval by majority vote

• executive agreement - an agreement between the president and the leader of another country– does not need Senate approval

The President and Congress

• President constitutionally required to communicate with Congress via State of the Union + other occasional instances

• Every president has a legislative agenda (goals of legislative matters to push through Congress)– MUST work with them to get this done

• President can veto legislation (See Congress notes), but Congress can override with 2/3 vote in both houses

• Must accept or veto bill as a whole

• line-item veto - allows state governors (NOT president) to veto parts of a bill they don’t like

Getting the President’s Agenda Through Congress

• President turns to many sources to support his legislative agenda

1.) HIS POLITICAL PARTY

• Strong ties between president and party

• members are generally supportive of his agenda, policies, and ideology

• President can’t always count on party (some support declines) -- must mobilize party and its leaders to act

• Diversity within party and president unpopularity can fracture support for president

• president’s party usually loses seats in Congress in midterm (non-presidential year) elections

• presidential coattails - when voters elect Congress members of the president’s party just because they support the president

2.) PUBLIC SUPPORT• High approval: more mobilized party

members, less resistance to policies and agenda

• Low approval: party distances themselves, more resistance to policies and agenda

• electoral mandate - president feels voters (through an election) have agreed to and instructed him to get his policies accomplished

3.) LEGISLATIVE SKILLS

• Bargaining - needed when voting coalition needs more votes; trading support on policies or giving out benefits to those who vote favorably

• President takes advantage of high popularity at the beginning of a term (“honeymoon phase”) and pushes policies through Congress

• Competes with Congress’s agenda to set his administration’s (and often country’s) agenda

Policies, Presidents, and Congress

• Congress usually defers to president in matters of foreign policy (easier for president to make quick decisions than Congress)

• Two aspects of Congress-president relationship: domestic policy and foreign policy (with competing agendas)

• In protest, Congress can withhold support and funding for presidential policies and military actions, conduct oversight, and turn public opinion against president’s goals

The President and National Security

• Leader in protecting the nation and handling foreign affairs

• Can negotiate treaties with other countries (with 2/3 Senate approval)

• Can negotiate executive agreements with leaders of country (noncontroversial, no Senate approval needed)

• Communicates with and tries to mobilize U.S. allies

• Recognizes countries by appointing and sending ambassadors to represent U.S.

The Commander-in-Chief

• Although Congress declares war, the president is in charge of the military and its movements (deploying, moving, and recalling troops)

• Framers separated the powers of declaring war and enforcing war to spread out power

The War Powers Resolution (1973)

• passed to return more military influence to Congress

• Stated:– President must inform Congress within 48 hours of

moving troops and consult with Congress– Troops can only be stationed for 60 days unless

Congress extends time or declares war– Congress can end all conflict by passing a

resolution that cannot be vetoed

• President expected to be a strong leader in crisis management (making critical tough decisions in a short period of time with limited information)

Judicial Powers of the President

• pardon - full forgiveness for an individual who committed a federal crime

• amnesty - forgiveness for a group of people who committed a federal crime

• commutation - shortening of a convicted individual’s sentence or fine

• reprieve - delay of an individual’s sentence

The President and the Public

• Presidents crave and need public support to get their initiatives accomplished– Other elements of gov’t (esp. Congress), use

public opinion to gauge their own relationship with the president

• Presidents often appeal to public through appearances, speeches, and media events

• Presidential approval is often based upon the public’s perception of how well the president is doing his job

• Presidential decisions in response to events and crises define presidential approval as well (ex: disasters, terrorist attacks, etc.)

• Presidential efforts to rally public support are generally ineffectiveREASONS:– The American public is largely apathetic

about gov’t and politics– Often misinterpret or don’t understand

presidential policies– Often have a superficial view of the

president

The President and the Media

• Presidents rely on the mass media to communicate their policies to the American public

• President followed closely by the media (is one individual, leader of the country; unlike Congress, made of many members and more decentralized)

• President and media often conflict in their goals (president wants to inform, media wants to sensationalize)

• Media coverage is often short, superficial, and can distort a president’s image because of lack of proper analysis or focus

• How the media views the president often becomes how the public views the president

The President and the Executive Branch

VICE-PRESIDENT• Very few responsibilities

– 20th Amendment - VP takes over presidency when president dies

– preside over Senate

• Can serve as an advisor to the president as well as a foreign and policy representative

CABINET• Advisors of the president that are also the

leaders of the 15 executive departments (bureaucracy)

• 14 secretaries and 1 attorney general • chosen by president, approved by Senate• Can also include VP, national security

advisor, and joint-chiefs of staff• NOT mentioned in the Constitution

Executive Office of the President (EOP)

• The president’s closest advisors (even closer than his cabinet)

INCLUDE:• National Security Council (NSC) - advise on

national security policymaking (incl. VP, national security advisor, secretaries of state and defense + other advisors)

• Council of Economic Advisors (CEA) - 3 member group that advises president on state of the economy and resulting policymaking

• Office of Management and the Budget (OMB)– helps the President make the year’s budget– reviews proposal ideas from exec. depts.– estimates/advises on budget issues and funding

The White House Office (Staff)

• Part of the EOP• Conduct the primary day-to-day activities of

the White House (schedules, press activity, communications, etc.)

• Advise president on a variety of policy matters

• Run the White House to advance the president’s agenda

Office of the First Lady

• First Lady often works as an advocate of presidential policies and an advisor to the president

• often will choose a policy to focus her attention on improving using her influence