EXECUTIVE BRANCHAP US GOVERNMENT & POLITICS

ELECTORAL COLLEGE

(Explanation)

Presidential Term of OfficeTRADITION – Washington, etc.

BREAK WITH TRADITION

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT1951 22nd Amendment

POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT

POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT ALONECommander-in-chief of armed forcesCommission officers in armed forcesGrant reprieves and pardons for

federal offenses (except impeachment)

Convene Congress in special sessionReceive ambassadors – appoint

officialsExecute laws faithfully

POWERS OF THE PRESIDENT

SHARED WITH THE SENATE

Make treatiesAppoint ambassadors, judges, high

officials

SHARED WITH CONGRESS AS A WHOLEApprove legislation

WHITE HOUSE OFFICE

Essentially three ways president can organize his personal staff:

1) PYRAMID STRUCTURE – assistants report through hierarchy to chief of staff

(Eisenhower, Nixon, Reagan, Bush, Clinton)

White House Office (con’t)2) CIRCULAR STRUCTURE

Cabinet secretaries and assistants report directly to the president(Carter)

3) AD HOC STRUCUTRETask forces, committees, informal groups deal directly with president (Clinton, for a while)

*NOTE: common for Presidents to mix methods

EXECUTIVE OFFICE of the PRESIDENT

*Agencies report directly to president*Perform staff services for him (though

not located in White House itself)

Principle agencies:Office of Management and BudgetDirector of National IntelligenceOffice of Economic AdvisersOffice of Personnel ManagementOffice of U. S. Trade Representative

PRESIDENTS CABINET

Fifteen executive branch departments of the federal government

Abundance of political appointments

NOTE the Cabinet Departments

Independent Agencies, Commissions, JudgeshipsAbout 50 agencies and commissions to

which the president appoints people.

Heads of many independent agencies serve for fixed terms – removed only “for cause.”

President can also appoint federal judges

Presidential Character

Each president brings to White House a distinctive personality:

Eisenhower: orderly, military, delegating

Kennedy: bold, “pattern of personal rule and an atmosphere of improvisation”

Johnson: master legislative strategist; persuasive; many personal decisions

Nixon: knowledgeable; distrustful

Presidential Character (con’t)

Ford: genial; at home with “give-and-take”

Carter: outsider; moved from circular to pyramid structure

Reagan: outsider; set agenda, left details to others; “Great Communicator”

Bush: hand-on manager; extensive experience in federal government

Clinton: attentive to public policy; informal

Power to Persuade

Chief Executive of Government; Ceremonial Head of State

Three Audiences:1. Fellow politicians / leaders in Washington2. Party activists and officeholders3. “The Public” – but many different publics

Popularity and Influence

Goal: convert personal popularity into congressional support to legislative programs

Presidential coattails? (chart p. 391)

Presidential popularity (chart p. 392)

What do the tables/charts demonstrate?

Presidential Power to Say “No”“Executive Privilege”: withhold info. From

Congress

VETOVeto messagePocket veto (Pres. doesn’t sign within 10 days and Congress adjourned)Line-item veto (don’t have!)

IMPOUNDMENT OF FUNDS