Hail to the Chief

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Hail to the Chief
The Power of the American Presidency
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Demographic Characteristics of U.S. Presidents

• 69 politicians
• 62 lawyers
• gt50 from the top 3 wealth and social class
• 0.5 born into poverty
• 69 elected from large states

• 100 male
• 98 Caucasian
• 97 Protestant
• 82 of British ancestry
• 77 college educated

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Constitutional Qualifications

• Must be at least 35 years old
• Must have lived in the United States for 14 years
• Must be a natural born citizen

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Presidential Benefits

• 400,000 tax-free salary
• 50,000/year expense account
• 100,000/year travel expenses
• The White House
• Secret Service protection
• Camp David country estate
• Air Force One personal airplane
• Staff of 400-500

Christmas at the White House, 2004
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Term Limits

• Length of Presidential Term 4 Years
• Term Limits
• 22nd Amendment
• Can be elected to 2 terms
• Can serve a max of 10 years

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Line of Succession

• If the president cannot serve due to death,
  impeachment, or disabled the line of succession
  can be found in the
• 25th Amendment
• Vice President
• Speaker of the House
• President Pro Tempore
• Cabinet Secretaries in order of creation

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Cabinets in Order of Creation

• Secretary of State 
• Secretary of the Treasury 
• Secretary of Defense Attorney General 
• Secretary of the Interior 
• Secretary of Agriculture 
• Secretary of Commerce 
• Secretary of Labor 
• Secretary of Health and Human Services 
• Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 
• Secretary of Transportation 
• Secretary of Energy 
• Secretary of Education 
• Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
• Secretary of Homeland Security 

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Enumerated Powers of President

• Article 2, Section 2 3
• Commander in Chief of the Army Navy
• Commander in Chief of the state militias (now the
  National Guard)
• Require the opinion of heads of executive
  departments
• Grant pardons for federal offenses except for
  cases of impeachment
• Make treaties subject to Senate confirmation
• Appoint ambassadors, ministers, consuls, and
  judges of the Supreme Court and all other
  officers of the U.S. with consent of the Senate
• Fill vacancies that may happen during recess of
  the Senate
• Give State of the Union address to Congress
• Recommend measures to the Congress
• Upon extraordinary occasions convene both
  houses of Congress
• Receive ambassadors
• Faithfully execute the laws
• Commission all officers
• Presidential Veto (found in Article 1, Section
  7)

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Informal Powers

• Those powers not explicitly written in the
  Constitution
• Similar to necessary and proper powers of
  Congress
• In the modern era (since 1933), the Presidents
  informal powers may be significantly more
  powerful than his formal powers

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Executive Orders

• Orders issued by the President that carry the
  force of law
• Clintons Dont ask dont tell gays in the
  military policy
• FDRs internment of Japanese Americans
• GWB trying suspected terrorists in military
  tribunals

Notice for Japanese relocation, 1942
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Executive Agreements

• International agreements, usually related to
  trade, made by a president that has the force of
  a treaty does NOT need Senate approval
• Jeffersons purchase of Louisiana in 1803

• GWB announced cuts in the nuclear arsenal, but
  not in a treaty

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Executive Privilege

• Claim by a president that he has the right to
  decide that the national interest will be better
  served if certain information is withheld from
  the public, including the Courts and Congress

• United States v. Nixon (1973) presidents do NOT
  have unqualified executive privilege (Nixon
  Watergate tapes)

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Signing Statements

• Statements issued at the time of signing a bill
  into law that reveal what the president thinks of
  a new law and how it ought to be enforced
• Purpose
• To express presidential attitudes about the bill
• To tell the bureaucracy how to implement it
• To declare that the president thinks some parts
  of the bill are unconstitutional
• Monroe to Carter 109 total
• Reagan to Clinton 217 total (71, 141, 105)
• George Bush 150 total
• Obama 33 so far

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Questions for Discussion

• Why are informal powers more important than
  formal powers, particularly to modern presidents?
• Identify several advantages and disadvantages of
  the use of the presidents informal powers.
• Has the use and perhaps abuse of the informal
  powers created an Imperial Presidency? Defend
  your answer.

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Presidential Roles
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Head of State

• Performs Ceremonial Functions
• Comforts Citizens in Times of Crisis
• Hosts Dignitaries and Ambassadors
• Gives Awards to Distinguished Citizens

Queen Elizabeth and President Reagan, 1983
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Chief Executive

• Leads Executive Branch
• Carries out the Laws
• Appoints Cabinet and other Agency Heads
• Appoints Federal Judges and Supreme Court Judges
• Issues Executive Orders
• Grants Reprieves, Pardons, and Amnesty

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Commander-in-Chief

• Defend the Nation/Power to Make War
• Engage in Overseas Operations
• Control Serious Turmoil in the United States
• Aid in Natural Disasters in the United States

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Chief Diplomat

• Directs US Foreign Policy
• Makes Decisions about US Relations with other
  Countries
• Negotiates and Signs Treaties
• Sign Executive Agreements with other Countries
• Recognizes Foreign Governments

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Legislator Leader

• Gives Annual State of the Union Address
• Drafts and Negotiates Bills
• Veto Power

President Clinton delivers the State of the Union
Address, 1997
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Economic Leader

• Economic Planning
• Not in Constitution
• Grew since FDRs New Deal
• President appoints seven members who direct the
  nations banking system The Federal Reserve
• Council of Economic Advisors
• Study and advise President on economic matters
• Budgeting
• President prepares annual budget
• Budget is sent to Congress to debate. Congress
  can change how money is allocated but cannot
  change total amount of budget.

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Political Party Leader

• Gives Speeches and Attends Fundraisers to Support
  Party Candidates
• Selects Partys National Chair
• Helps Plan Election Strategies
• Appoints Party Members to Political Office