Vice President, Executive Cabinet and Federal Bureaucracy

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Vice President, Executive Cabinet and Federal
Bureaucracy
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Powers of Modern Presidents

• Negotiate executive agreements with foreign
  powers without Congressional approval
• Break treaties without Congress
• Chief State carries out ceremonial
  responsibilities such as dedicating national
  monuments and government buildings
• Chief Ambassador

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Presidential Clauses

• Executive Power Clause president has the power
  to develop, create and legislate new laws
• Take Care Clause empowers president with
  responsibility to see that laws are enforced.

4
Nixons Resignation

• One month later President Gerald Ford pardoned
  him
• Watergate shook faith of Americans in the
  presidency and test for the U. S. Constitution
• Illustrated that no one is above the law, not
  even the president
• Testing of Legislative-Executive Checks and
  Balances

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Vice President

• John Adams called it the most insignificant
  office created
• 9 Vice Presidents have taken over the office of
  president, first was John Tyler in 1841 when
  President William Henry Harrison died
• Same qualifications as president
• 171, 500 salary plus official expenses

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Vice President

• Before 1804, the vice presidency went to the
  candidate that was second, no matter the party.
• After 1796 election two rivals John Adams and
  Thomas Jefferson ended in office together and it
  led to very little being accomplished
• 12th Amendment ratified in 1804, revised the
  election process so that candidate clearly run
  for either president or vice president

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Evolving Vice President

• 1841 John Tyler first Vice President to become
  President due to the death of a president
• President William Henry Harrison died one month
  after taking office
• Tyler did not have a vice president

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Vice President

• Between 1789-1921, no vice president attended a
  meeting of the presidents cabinet
• Theodore Roosevelt first to win a full term
  election of his own
• Became president in 1901 when President McKinley
  was assassinated
• Won election of 1904

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Increased Role

• Since 1933 vice president has attended cabinet
  meetings
• Since 1947 Congress has included the vice
  president as one of the four statutory (legal)
  members of the National Security Council, which
  advises president on military matters and foreign
  affairs

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25th Amendment

• 25th Amendment in 1967 provides that a president
  fill a vacancy in the vice presidency by
  nominating a candidate who is confirmed by the
  majority of both houses of Congress
• Vice President takes over if the president
  resigns from office or is incapacitated

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Spiro Agnew

• First use of 25th Amendment
• Vice President under President Nixon
• Resigned in 1973 over tax evasion, extortion and
  bribery
• Fined 10,000
• President Nixon appointed Gerald Ford as vice
  president

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Gerald Ford

• He was appointed Vice President when Spiro Agnew
  resigned
• He became President less than one year later when
  President Nixon resigned
• According the 25th Amendment, he appointed John
  Rockefeller as his Vice President
• Only time President and Vice President not elected

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Residency

• 1975 obtained a residency for Vice President at
  the Naval Observatory
• Sometimes called the Admirals House because it
  was the former home of the Chief of Naval
  Operations

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Current Issues of Concern

• Iraq War/Afghanistan
• Economic Crisis
• Economic Policies
• Health Care
• Taxes
• Energy/global warming
• Abortion
• Education

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Executive Office and the Federal Bureaucracy
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Executive Office

• Established 1939
• Advise president on current issues
• Council of Economic Advisers furnish the
  president with facts and figures about nations
  economy and recommends programs to promote
  economic growth
• Office of Management and Budget assists in the
  preparation of the federal budget
• National Security Council (NSC) is the
  presidents top ranking group of advisers on all
  matters concerning the nations defense and
  security
• Office of National Drug Control Policy
  coordinates federal, state and local activities
  designed to stop the use of illegal drugs
• Council on Environmental Quality monitors the
  environment and makes recommendations to the
  president
• White House Office includes closest personal and
  political advisers to the president

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Executive Departments

• 37 czars right now
• 15 executive departments
• Congress has the power to establish executive
  departments, reorganize and combine different
  departments or eliminate them
• President influences changes

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Executive Agencies

• Executive Branch has established a large number
  of agencies that carry out some of the executive
  functions of the government
• There are 15 departments of the executive branch.
  
• There are 140 agencies
• Departments are authorized by Congress, their
  chiefs sit in the Cabinet and deal with large
  policy issues
• Agencies are designed to carry out specific tasks
  
• A few agencies such as the Central Intelligence
  Agency (CIA) are independent
• Executive Branch employs 98 of all national
  government personnelover 4,000

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Cabinet

• Department of State, includes ambassadors
• Department of Treasury, including IRS
• Department of Defense, Armed Forces under this
  department since 1947. Under this is Department
  of the Navy, Department of the Air Force and
  Department of the Army. Highest military ranking
  officers of Army, Navy and Air Force are members
  of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This department
  takes care of the Academies at West Point,
  Annapolis, Colorado Springs and New London

• Department of Agriculture
• Department of Commerce
• Department of Labor
• Department of Health and Human Services
• Department of Housing and Urban Development
• Department of Transportation
• Department of Energy
• Department of Education
• Department of Veterans Affairs
• Department of Justice
• Department of the Interior

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The Cabinet

• 1793 George Washington had the help of three
  departments Departments of State (Thomas
  Jefferson), Treasury (Alexander Hamilton) and War
  (Henry Knox)
• Attorney General Edmund Randolph

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The Cabinet

• Today there are 15
• Appointed by the President, approved by the
  Senate
• Heads of departments are Secretaries, except
  Department of Justice, Attorney General

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Executive Branch Tendencies

• United States has a tradition of limited
  government
• U. S. citizens resist taxes
• Local and state governments provide day to day
  services for citizens
• Executive branch different from others in the
  world with its separation from the legislative
  and judicial branches.

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Federal Bureaucracy

• Headed by the President
• Many department and agencies in the executive
  branch form the federal bureaucracy
• 3 million people work in the bureaucracy about
  2 of U.S. workforce
• 7,500 appointed by the President, remainder are
  civil service
• Over 2/3 of federal workers work for two
  agencies the Defense Department and the Postal
  Service
• Many rules and regulations red tape
• Subject to in history to the Spoils System
• Presidents power over bureaucracy is limited by
  checks and balances in that Congress controls
  appropriations and size limits influence as well
• Interest groups, federal agencies and related
  congressional committees form the iron triangle
  that influences policies

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Current Concerns

• War in Iraq and Afghanistan
• Iran
• North Korea
• Health Care
• Energy
• Economy/Stimulus Money
• Housing
• Nuclear Weapons
• Relations between Congress and President are
  often strained due to political party affiliation