The Presidency

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The Presidency

• Magruder Chapter 13

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The Presidents Roles

• Chief of State
• Rules and reigns
• Chief Executive
• Vested with immensely broad powers in both
  domestic and foreign affairs

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• Chief Administrator
• Head of one of the largest government machines in
  the world
• Chief Diplomat
• Speaks for the nation around the world

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• Commander-in-Chief
• Head of the American military
• Chief Legislator
• Main architect of public policies
• Chief of Party
• Leader of his respective party

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• Chief Citizen
• Representative of the people
• Each role is played simultaneously and is
  inseparable from the others

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Formal Qualifications

• The President must be
• Article II, Section 1, Clause 5
• 35 years of age
• Has lived in the United States for at least 14
  years
• Is a natural-born citizen, or a citizen at the
  time of the adoption of the US Constitution

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The Presidents Term of Office

• The President is elected for a four-year term
• Article II, Section 1, Clause 1
• Originally could serve as long as the Electoral
  College would elect him
• Today, can only be elected to two full terms
• Twenty-Second Amendment

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Pay and Benefits

• The pay of the President
• 400,000 per year
• Fixed by Congress
• Washington paid 25,000 per year
• 50,000 taxable expense account
• Pension of 181,100 per year
• Many other perks.

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Presidential Succession
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The Constitution and Succession

• If the President dies, resigns, or is removed
  from office, the Vice President succeeds to the
  office

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The Constitution and Succession

• The Constitution states In case of the removal
  of the president from office, or of his death,
  resignation, or inability to discharge the powers
  and duties of the said office, the same shall
  devolve upon the Vice President.
• Article II, Section 1, Clause 6

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The Constitution and Succession

• John Tyler took the office in 1841 instead of
  becoming acting president
• 25th Amendment
• In case of the removal of the President from
  office or his death or resignation, the Vice
  President shall become President

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The Constitution and Succession

• Presidential Succession Act of 1792
• President, Vice President, President pro tempore,
  Speaker of the House
• Special Election to fill the Vacancy

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The Constitution and Succession

• Presidential Succession Act of 1886
• President, Vice President, Secretary of State,
  Secretary of the Treasury, etc.

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The Constitution and Succession

• Presidential Succession Act of 1947
• President, Vice President, Speaker of the House,
  President pro tempore, Secretary of State, etc.

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Presidential Disability
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Disability

• The Constitution made no provision for the
  disability of the President
• Dwight David Eisenhower had three serious
  illnesses
• James Garfield
• Woodrow Wilson

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Disability

• 25th Amendment meets this problem
• Vice President will become acting President
• If the President informs Congress in writing that
  he cannot discharge the powers
• The Vice President and a majority of Cabinet
  inform Congress that the President is
  incapacitated

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The Vice Presidency
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The Importance of the Office

• The Constitution pays little attention to the
  office itself
• Vice President has only two formal duties
• Preside over the US Senate
• Article I, Section 3, Clause 4
• Help decide presidential disability
• 25th Amendment, Section 3 4

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The Importance of the Office

• The Vice President is only a heartbeat away from
  the Presidency
• Eight presidents have died in office
• One president resigned
• Vice Presidency has been vacant 18 times
• 9 times by succession to President
• 2 by resignation, 7 by death

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The Importance of the Office

• 25th Amendment changes this
• When a vacancy occurs, the President will
  nominate someone who will take the office upon a
  majority confirmation vote of both houses of
  Congress
• 1973 Gerald Ford
• 1974 Nelson Rockefeller

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The Importance of the Office

• President has made the Vice President more
  important of late
• Sits in on Cabinet meetings
• Head of NASA
• National Security Council
• Special Ambassador of President
• Still not an assistant President

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The Importance of the Office

• Basic bottom line is that the President of the
  United States cannot fire the Vice President

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The Electoral College
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The Electoral College

• Created in Article II of the US Constitution
• Not well understood by most people
• Combination of the Constitution, a few State and
  federal laws, and a number of practices born of
  the nations political parties

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Original Provisions

• Many debated this plan
• James Wilson (PA) this was the most difficult of
  all on which we had to decide
• Most favored selection by Congress
• A few by the people
• This would lead to tumult and disorder

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Original Provisions

• George Mason The extent of the country renders
  it impossible that the people can have the
  requisite capacity to judge the respective
  contentions of the candidates.
• Plan that was approved was originally put forward
  by Alexander Hamilton
• The President would be chosen by electors

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The College

• Each State would have as many presidential
  electors as it has representatives and senators
  in Congress
• These electors would be chosen in each State in a
  manner the State legislature directed

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The College

• The electors, meeting in each State, would each
  cast two votes each for a different person for
  President
• The electoral votes would be opened before a
  joint session of Congress and counted
• The person receiving the largest number of votes
  (if a majority) would become President

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The College

• The person with the second largest number would
  become Vice President
• If a tie occurred, the President would be elected
  by the House of Representatives, voting by States
• If a tie occurred for the second spot, the Vice
  President would be chosen by the Senate

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The College

• The Framers intended the electors to be the Most
  enlightened and respectable citizens from each
  State
• They were to be free agents who would be
  deliberate freely in selecting the persons
  best qualified to fill the nations top two
  offices.

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The Rise of Parties

• System works only as long as Washington was
  President
• Only President elected unanimously
• In 1796, political parties began to play a role.
• John Adams is elected President
• Thomas Jefferson is elected Vice President

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The Election of 1800

• Each party nominates a presidential and vice
  presidential candidate
• Each party also nominates candidates to serve as
  electors (would vote for party)
• Each of the 73 electors elected voted for Thomas
  Jefferson and Aaron Burr
• House took 36 ballots to decide on Jefferson

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The Election of 1800

• Election marked the introduction of three
  elements in the nomination of the president
• Party nominations for president
• Party nominations for electors pledged to vote
  for the candidate
• Automatic casting of electoral votes in line with
  those pledges

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The 12th Amendment

• Added in 1804
• Separates election of President and Vice
  President
• The fiasco of 1800 will never happen again

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Nominating Candidates Today
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Nominations

• First method devised to nominate candidates was
  the Congressional Caucus
• Used from 1800 to 1824
• Both parties turned to the nominating convention
  in 1832 and used it ever since

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The Nominating Convention

• Largely a creation of the political parties
• Constitution is silent on this and have few
  federal or state laws controlling it
• The national committee makes the arrangements for
  the national convention
• Will set the time and date of the convention

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The Nominating Convention

• Will select the city for the convention
• Must have facilities
• Gain support of a swing state
• Many larger cities bid on a convention
• Will make a bundle of money

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Apportionment of Delegates

• The national committee issues a call for the
  convention
• Tells each states party organization how many
  delegates it is allowed to send.
• 1996
• Republicans 1,990 delegates
• Democrats 4,320 delegates

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• Really are two campaigns for president
• Primaries and election
• State laws and/or party rules fix the procedures
  for picking delegates in each State
• Can use primaries, conventions, and caucuses

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Presidential Primaries
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The Election
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The Electoral College Today

• One of the least understood parts of the American
  political process
• Constitution provides for the election of the
  President by the Electoral College
• Each State has the same number of electors that
  it has members of Congress
• Founders expected the electors would use their
  own judgment

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The Electoral College Today

• Today, the electors are really just a rubber
  stamp of the popular vote.
• They are expected to vote for their partys
  candidates.
• They go through the form
• It is a far cry from the original intent

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The Electoral College Today

• Electors are chosen by popular vote in every
  State on the same day
• Electors are chosen at large except for Maine and
  Nebraska (district)
• Electors are chosen on a winner-take-all basis
• Names of the electors are found on less than
  one-fourth of the ballots in the US

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The Electoral College Today

• The electors meet in their respective State
  capitals on the Monday following the second
  Wednesday in December
• They cast their ballots for President and Vice
  President
• The ballots are signed, sealed, and sent to the
  President of the Senate

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The Electoral College Today

• Formal election of the President does not take
  place until January 6th
• Ballots are opened by the President of the Senate
  and counted before a joint session of Congress
• The candidate who receives a majority of
  Electoral College votes will be the President

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The Electoral College Today

• The candidate who receives a majority of the
  Electoral College votes in the vice presidential
  race will be the vice president.
• If no one receives a majority of votes (270 out
  of 538), the election is thrown into the House of
  Representatives
• House chooses from the top three candidates

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The Electoral College Today

• Each State delegation has one vote
• 26 votes necessary to win
• 1800 Thomas Jefferson/Aaron Burr
• 1824 John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson, William
  Crawford, Henry Clay

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• If no one receives a majority of votes in the
  vice presidential race, the Senate chooses from
  among the top two
• It takes a majority of Senators to elect
• 1837 Richard Johnson

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Flaws in the Electoral College
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The First Major Defect

• The winner of the popular vote does not become
  President
• Winner-take-all in the voting
• 1992 Clinton won 50 of the vote in New York
  and all 33 electoral votes
• Bush won 2.2 million votes
• Perot won 1.1 million votes

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The First Major Defect

• Way that electoral votes are distributed
• California 55 electoral votes
• 1 for every 652,614.5 persons
• Alaska 3 electoral votes
• 1 for every 218,478 persons

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The First Major Defect

• Popular vote winner has failed to win the
  presidency four times
• 1824
• 1876
• 1888
• 2000

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The Second Major Defect

• Nothing in any federal statute or the
  Constitution requires an elector to vote for the
  person who wins the state popular vote
• States can and do require this
• Not sure of the constitutionality of states laws
• Virginia and Tennessee do require this

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The Third Major Defect

• Contest will be decided in the House of
  Representatives
• Voting is by state, not by individuals
• If the state is so divided that it cannot decide,
  it loses its vote
• If strong third-party candidate, then might not
  have a winner by inauguration day

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Proposed Reforms
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The District Plan

• Choose electors as one would do members of
  Congress
• Two for the senators, and one per congressional
  district
• Much more accurate reflection of popular returns
• Would not eliminate possibility of winner of
  popular vote losing presidency

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The District Plan

• 1960 Richard Nixon wins
• Gives another reason for Gerrymandering

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The Proportional Plan

• Each candidate would receive the same share of
  the electoral vote as he won of the popular vote
• 40 of popular vote, 40 of electoral vote
• Cure winner-take-all problem
• Remove faithless electors
• Yield a more accurate count with states

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The Proportional Plan

• Would not necessarily produce the same idea
  nationally
• 1896 William Jennings Bryan wins
• 1880 Winfield Scott Hancock wins
• 1876 Samuel J. Tilden wins
• 1888 Grover Cleveland wins

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The National Bonus Plan

• Keep the electoral college as it now is
• A pool of 102 electoral votes would be added to
  the total of the popular vote winner
• Need 321 electoral votes to win
• If no received 321, a national run-off election
  between the top two candidates

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Direct Popular Election

• Remove the electoral college altogether

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• I am Vice President. In this I am nothing, but I
  may be everything.
• The most insignificant office that ever the
  invention of man contrived or his imagination
  conceived.
• Honorable and easy
• Tranquil and unoffending

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• The Vice Presidency isnt worth a warm pitcher
  of spit
• A woman had two sons. One of them went away to
  sea and the other one became Vice President and
  neither of them was ever heard from again.