UNIT 4 – The Executive Branch

Chapter 13 – The Presidency

The President’s Job Description

I. The President’s Roles – the President has 8 roles that he fills simultaneouslya. Chief of State – the ceremonial head of the

government of the United Statesb. Chief Executive – vested with the executive power

of the United States

c. Chief Administrator – director of the huge

executive branch of the Federal

government

Chief Diplomat – main architect of American foreign policyCommander in Chief – Head Commander of the nation’s armed forcesChief Legislator – main architect of public policyChief of Party – acknowledged leader of the political party that controls the executiveChief citizen – expected to represent the people and work for public interest

Formal Qualifications

a.“A natural born Citizen of the United States”

b.Be at least 35 years oldc. Have been a resident of the United States

for 14 years

The President’s Term

a. 4 year term, believed to be long enough for the President to have gained experience, demonstrated his abilities, and established stable policies

b. After Washington, there was a two term traditionc. Franklin D. Roosevelt won 4 terms. The 22nd

Amendment was passed in 1951 which prevents a President from serving more than 2 terms or 10 years

Pay and Benefits

a. 400,000 a year and a 50,000 expense allowanceb. 132 room mansion, large office and staff, fleet of

automobiles, air force one, helicopters, Camp David, finest medical and other health care, large travel and entertainment funds, etc.

The Oval Office

Presidential Succession and the Vice Presidency

I. The Constitution and Successiona. Presidential Succession is the scheme by which a

presidential vacancy is filled.b. 25th Amendment in 1967 allowed for the Vice President to

officially follow the Presidentc. Presidential Succession Act of 1947

i. Vice President, Speaker of the House, President pro tempore of the Senate, Secretary of State, Sec of Treasury, Sec of Defense, Attorney General, Sec of the Interior, etc.

I. Presidential Disabilitya. Section 3 and 4 of the 25th Amendment allow for

the Vice President to be acting President if Congress declares the President unable or the VP and a majority of the Cabinet members inform Congress that the President is incapacitated

In 1985, Reagan transferred the powers of Presidency to George H. W. Bush for about 8 hours while surgeon’s removed a tumor from his intestine.

In 2002, George W. Bush gave presidential powers to Dick Cheney while he had a routine medical procedure.

I. The Vice Presidencya. Importance of the Office

i. Two duties – to preside over the Senate and help decide the question of Presidential disability

ii. Originally this office was of little real consequenceiii.President usually chooses some to “balance the ticket”

– a running mate who will strengthen his chance of being elected by virtue of certain characteristics

Joe Biden

The Vice President todayi. Recently, Presidents have made use of their Vice

Presidents.ii. Dick Cheney was probably the most influential VP in the

nation’s historyVice President Vacancy – according to the 25th Amendment, the President nominates a candidate who is confirmed by Congress

Presidential Selection: The Framer’s Plan

I. Original Provisionsa. Framers opposed selecting the President by Congress or

popular voteb. Finally, the Framers agreed to a plan suggested by

Hamilton. The President and Vice President would be chosen by Presidential electors who would each cast two electoral votes. The candidate with the most votes would become President. The candidate with the second most votes would be Vice President. This worked only as long as Washington was President. The flaws of this system began to appear when political parties did.

The Rise of Parties

The Election of 1800 i. By 1800, there were two parties – the Federalists and

the Democratic-Republicansii. There was a tie for the presidency. 36 separate ballots

were taken in the House before Jefferson was finally chosen. This election produced new elements – parties nominating for President and Vice President, nominating electors pledged to vote for their party’s candidate, and automatic casting of votes in line with those pledges.

The 12th Amendmentiii.Separated the Vice President and Presidential elections

Presidential Nominations

I. The Role of Conventionsi. The Constitution says nothing about presidential

nominations. The convention system has been built from the two major parties in American politics. In both parties, the national committee makes the arrangements for the party’s convention.

ii. States are given delegates based on their electoral vote and some states are awarded bonus delegates for party support.

iii.There are two campaigns for the Presidency. One for convention delegates and one between the two major party candidates

I. Presidential Primaries – election in which a party’s voters choose delegates to the national convention or express preference among the contenders for their party’s presidential nomination

a. History of the Presidential Primaryi. Began in the early 1900s as part of the reform movement.

Now, some form of presidential primary can be found in most states.

b. Primaries Todayi. Must be described on a state-by-state basis because delegate-

selection is controlled by state law and reform efforts are on-going.

a. Proportional Representationi. Winner-take-all - candidate who wins preference vote

automatically won all of the delegatesii. The Democratic Party prohibits winner-take-all so they use a

proportional representation. Any candidate who receives at least 15% of the votes gets the number of that State’s delegates that corresponds with his/her share of that primary vote.

I. The Caucus-Convention Process – In states that do not hold presidential primaries, delegates to the national convention are chosen in a system of caucuses and conventions

I. The National Convention – meeting at which delegates vote to pick their presidential and vice-presidential candidates. Three major goals – name the party’s presidential and vice-presidential candidates, bring various factions together for common purpose, and adopt the party’s platform (formal statement of basic principles)

a. Day 1 - welcome delegates and organize convention, dozens of short speeches

b. Day 2 – adoption of party’s platform and delivery of keynote addressc. Day 3 – Nominate presidential and vice-presidential candidates

I. Who is Nominated? An incumbent is almost certain to get the nominationa. Try to select the most electable candidate, may include

governors of large states or Senatorsb. Usually Protestant, from larger state, pleasant and healthy

appearance, good speaker

The Election

I. The Electoral College Today – people do not vote for the President, they vote for presidential electorsa. Electors are chosen by popular vote in every state. Every

state, except Maine and Nebraska, are at large – winner take all. In most states, the electors names do not appear on the ballot just the President and Vice President’s names.

a. The Winner of the Popular Vote is not guaranteed the presidency

i. The Winner-take-all feature of the electoral college system – if a candidate gets 51% of the vote, he gets all the electoral votes

ii. Distribution of electoral votes – two are given to each state for their Senate seats. This means the allotment of electoral votes does not match the population and voter distribution

Election of 2000

Electors are not required to vote in accord with popular votei. There is no federal statute that that requires electors to

vote for the candidate favored by the popular vote. This has happened only 11 times and has never changed the outcome

May be decided by the Houseii. If not candidate receives a majority, the House votes.

Vote is by State not individual so each state, regardless of population, has equal say.

I. Proposed Reformsa. The District Plan – Would do away with the winner-take-all

system. Electors would be chosen like Congressmen. 2 from the state at large and 1 per district but would depend on how district lines were drawn

b. The Proportional Plan – each presidential candidate would receive the same share of that State’s electoral vote as he/she received in the popular vote

Direct Popular Election – do away with the electoral college and allow each vote to count equally. The National Popular Vote Plan – calls for states to amend their election laws to provide that all of the state’s electoral votes are awarded to the winner of the national popular vote and enter into an interstate compact Defending the Electoral College - many see flaws in proposed changes. They see two benefits to the current system – it is a known process and it identifies the President-to-be quickly and certainly