Government Study Guide Chapter 13

Transcription

1 Government Study Guide Chapter 13 The Presidents Great Expectations Americans want a president who is powerful and who can do good, like Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Kennedy Yet Americans do not like a concentration of power because they are individualistic and are skeptical of authority Who they are Formal Requirements Must be 35 years old Must be a natural-born citizen Must have resided in the U.S. for 14 years Informal Requirements White, male, Protestant (except one) President Obama, for obvious reasons Kennedy was catholic All manner of professions, but mostly political ones Former state governors, for example How they got there Elections: the normal road to the White House Once elected, the president serves a term of 4 years In 1951, the 22nd amendment limited the number of terms to 2 Most presidents have been elected to office Succession The vice president succeeds if the president leaves office due to death, resignation, or removal Under the 25th amendment, the VP becomes acting president if the VP and president s cabinet determine that the president is disabled Impeachment Impeachment is an accusation, requiring a majority vote in the House Charges may be brought for treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors If impeached, the president is tried by the Senate with the Chief Justice presiding Only 2 presidents have been impeached Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton and neither was convicted Hats of the president Chief Executive Chief Legislator Head of State Commander in Chief Director of Foreign Policy Party Leader Guardian of the economy Expansion of power

2 Presidents may develop new roles for and expand power of the office Perspectives on the Presidential power During the 1950 s ad 60s people favored powerful presidents By the 1970 s, presidential power was checked and distrusted by the public Running the Government: The Chief Executive As Chief Executive, the president presides over the administration of government Constitution: Take care that the laws be faithfully executed Today, federal bureaucracy spends $2.5 trillion a year and numbers more than 4 million employees Presidents appoint 500 high-level positions and 2,500 lesser jobs The Vice President Basically just waits for things to do Power has grown over time, as recent presidents have given their VPs important jobs The Cabinet Presidential advisers, not in Constitution Made up of 14 Cabinet secretaries and one Attorney General, confirmed by the Senate The Executive Office Made up of policymaking and advisory bodies 3 principle groups: NSC, CEA, OMB National Security Council (NSC) Created in 1947 to coordinate the president s foreign and military policy advisers Members include: president, VP, secretary of state and defense, and manage d by the president s national security adviser Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) A 3-member body appointed by the President to advise on economic policy Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Performs both managerial and budgetary functions, including legislative review and budgetary assessments of proposals The White House Staff Chief aides and staff for the president some are more for the White House than the President Presidents rely on their information and effort but presidents set tone and style of the White House The First Lady No official government position, but many get involved politically Recent ones focus on a single issue E.g., Hillary Clinton and Health Care Presidential Leadership of Congress: The Politics of Shared Powers Chief Legislator Veto: The constitutional power of the president to send a bill back to Congress with reasons for rejecting it. A two-thirds vote in each house can override a veto. Pocket Veto: A veto taking place when Congress adjourns within 10 days of submitting a bill to the president, who simply lets it die by neither signing nor vetoing it.

3 Line-Item Veto: ability to veto some parts of a bill some state governors have it, but NOT the president Not constitutional Legislative skills Bargaining: concessions for votes, occurring infrequently Being Strategic, presidents increase chances for success by exploiting honeymoon at beginning of term Presidents may set priorities to influence Congress agenda; president is nation s key agenda builder Skills must compete with other factors that may affect Congress; they are not at the core of presidential leadership of Congress Party leadership The bonds of a party Being in the president s party creates a psychological bond between legislators and presidents, thus increasing agreement Slippage in party support Parties cannot always count on party support, especially on controversial issues Leading the party Presidents can offer party candidates support and punishment by withholding favors Presidential coattails occur when voters cast their ballots for congressional candidates of the president s party because they support the president. Races are rarely won this way Pubic support Public approval A source of presidential leadership of Congress Public approval gives the president leverage, not command; it does not guarantee success Mandates Perception that the voters strongly support the president s character and policies Mandates are infrequent, but presidents claim a mandate anyway The president and the national security policy Chief Diplomat Negotiates treaties with other countries Treaties must be ratified by 2/3 vote in the Senate Use executive agreements to take care of routine matters with other countries May negotiate for peace between other countries Lead U.S. allies in defense and economic issues Appoints ambassadors Commander-in-Chief Writers of the Constitution wanted civilian control of military Presidents often make important military decision Presidents command a standing military and nuclear arsenal unthinkable 200 years ago Helped make president more powerful because of new technology War Powers

4 Shared war powers in the Constitution Congress has the power to declare war President as commander-in-chief, can commit troops and equipment in conflicts War Powers Resolution (1973) Intended to limit the president s use of military Requires president to consult with Congress prior to using military force and withdraw forces after 60 days unless Congress declares war or grants an extension Presidents see the Resolution as unconstitutional Presidents continue to test the constitutional limits of using the military in foreign conflicts Crisis Manager The role the president plays can help or hurt presidential image With current technology, the president can act much faster than Congress to resolve a conflict Working with Congress President has lead role in foreign affairs Presidents still have to work with Congress for support and funding of foreign policies Power from the People: The Public Presidency Going Public Public support is perhaps the greatest source of influence a president has Presidential appearances are staged to get the public s attention As head of state, presidents often perform many ceremonial functions, which usually result in favorable press coverage Presidential approval Receives much effort by the White House Product of many factors: predispositions, honeymoon, rally events Changes can highlight good or bad decisions Scandal Economic conditions Expectations gap Crisis / War Use of media Reelection Decline in popularity over time Policy Support Presidents attempt to gain public support through televised messages, with little success (bully pulpit) The public may not be receptive to the president s message or misperceive it all together Mobilizing the public The president may attempt to motivate the public to contact congress A difficult task, given inattentive and apathetic public May backfire: a lack of response speaks loudly The President and the Press Presidents and media are often adversaries due to different goals

5 Media needs stories; presidents want to convey their messages to the public Many people in the White House deal with the media, but the press secretary is the main contact person Press conferences are best-known direct interaction of president and media Media do not focus on substance of policies but on the body watch News coverage of presidents has become more negative Charts Constitutional Powers of President National Security Powers - Serve as commander in chief of the armed forces - Make treaties with other nations (subject to the agreement of 2/3 of Senate) - Nominate Ambassadors (with agreement of majority of the Senate) - Receive Ambassadors of other nations, thereby conferring diplomatic recognition on other governments Legislative Powers - Present info on the state of the union to Congress - Recommend legislation to Congress - Convene both houses of Congress on extraordinary occasions - Adjourn Congress if House and Senate cannot agree on adjournment - Veto Legislation (Congress may overrule with 2/3 vote of each house) Administrative Powers - Take care that the laws be faithfully executed - Nominate officials as provided for by Congress and with the agreement of a majority of the Senate - Request written opinions of administrative officials - Fill administrative vacancies during congressional recesses Judicial Powers - Grant reprieves and pardons for federal offenses (except impeachment) - Nominate federal judges (who are confirmed by a majority of the Senate)

6 Random notes 22 nd amendment limits the presidents terms 25 th amendments lets the vice president take over if they, and the president s cabinet decide that he is disabled (the president) Presidents who have been impeached Andrew Johnson Lincoln s successor in the 1868 on charges stemming from his disagreement with radial republicans narrowly escaping conviction Bill Clinton In 1998 the house voted 2 articles of impeachment against him on party line votes, the public opposed the idea so senate voted for the president on both counts in 1999 (saved his butt basically) Remember Nixon? He would have been impeached for the Watergate scandal, except he ran away so he wouldn t die and be the first president to have to leave office and be impeached so to save himself from the embarrassment well you know the rest Impeachable offenses Bribery Treason High crimes and misdemeanors Expansion of presidential power Technology president has control over the football.explosions and stuff, also the can have more media access and therefore more access to the American people Expansion of the presidents responsibilities and political resources Mobilizing the country for war, setting precedents for president to serve as world leaders and a manager of the economy Withholding information from congress under doctrine executive privilege, also statements were signed asserting the right to disregard certain provisions or new laws America has expanded on the world stage Main role of the vice president Before mid-1970 s mostly waiting Constitution assigns minor tasks: presiding over the senate and voting in case of a tie among senators Lately: involved in policy decisions and important diplomacy, some policy central role in administration Advisor of the president Chief legislator State of union address is not in the constitution but it is basically where you get to go on your party platform and lay out all your policies and aims for the year Presidents as chief legislator Has the state of the union address which is not mentioned in the constitution but is when they take the floor on congress to talk about issues

7 Veto: the constitutional power of the president to send a bill back to congress with their reasons for rejecting it a 2/3 vote in both houses can override a veto Pocket veto: veto taking place when congress adjourns within 10 days of submitting a bill to the president who simply lets it die by neither signing it nor vetoing it As chief legislator the president wants their legislation passed so they want positive support from programs through party leadership public support and their legislative kills, there is a lot of passing or not passing bills Relationship of the president and their party Dependent on their party of legislative programs Senators helps being in the same party = bond loyalty they don t want to embarrass their president and tier party so members in the same party often agree on an issue They may have a slippage of support so they may have to convert and mobilize Constituent and president opinion conflict, congress is more likely to vote in favor for the constituent especially if the public does not agree with the president then congress doesn t want to identify with the white house too closely Leasers/congress can oppose the president And may not be (especially senators) in strong enough position to reward or discipline congress on the basis of president support Withholding favors rare- parties can oppose president and can t do much about it Congress = nomination/election is important, nomination by own efforts not party by own means of election president can t do much Presidential coattails: ballots congressional candidates are cast by voters because they support the president (elections are rarely won this way) Presidents party often lacks majority in one or both of the houses in congress At midterm elections you lose some of your party Does winning the election give the president a mandate? No, although they may claim one anyway President isn t really even representing the majority of America Winner take all system: it may look like the president won more than they did Perceptions of the mandate is weak if winning candidate did not stress policy plans in the campaign if voters also elected majorities in congress of the other policy President and mobilizing the public Want to obtain both opinion support and political action Rare for the president to mobilize the public TV radio press appearance etc. President may attempt to motivate eth public to contact congress Presidential approval ratings Presidents standing in polls easier to persuade others to support the president initiative Predisposition of many people to support the president Party identification Honeymoon time because everyone likes them because they haven t had the time to do anything wrong yet so they pass a lot of legislation in the first three months or so Change in approval level = reflect public evaluation of how the president is handling policy arenas in the economy war and foreign affairs Stands/effort on issue rather than personality (popularity)

8 Now president policies affect them (pocket book) Job related characteristics: leadership skills and integrity Public really evaluate Economy Where they Land on complex issues If they are a strong leader Duties of the president in national security Chief diplomat: negotiate treaties with other nations extends diplomatic recognition of foreign governments executive agreements heads foreign government try to read America s allies on matters of both economies and defense Senate must approve with a 2/3 vote Commander in chief: in charge of armed forces and commands the nuclear arsenal War powers act Crisis manager: make quick judgments usually on foreign affairs the president must make difficult decisions fast and can help or destroy their image Congress would take too long since the president is just one person it is so much easier to be able to just make a quick decision President and the media The president cannot reach out to the American people every day The press and the president are usually in conflict The media wants to get all the coverage that they can on everything President wants to limit the coverage Press secretary is about 1/3 of the staff to help the president get good coverage Usually coverage focuses on the most visible layer of the president s personal and official activities and provide the public with a step by step account What they do the effect present themselves more on policies and the individuals rather than substance of politics Little time for reflection analysis or comprehensive coverage Deadlines, a lot of other stories and information to get etc. Bias most politically charges on the president and the media Superficial short simplified news and themes emphasizing some things more than others Emphasize the negative Expose conflicts of interest and shady behavior of public officials Bias against presidency to keep the public interests and continuous coverage Not all factual unidentifiable sources analysis opinion and speculation Advantage typically portrays him with an aura of dignity and treats him with deference Note: white house can control environment where president meets the press Vocabulary Twenty Second Amendment: Passed in 1951, the amendment that limits presidents to two terms of office. Impeachment: The political equivalent of an indictment in criminal law, prescribed by the Constitution. The House of Representatives may impeach the president by a majority vote for "Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors."

9 Watergate: The events and scandal surrounding a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters in 1972 and the subsequent cover-up of White House involvement, leading to the eventual resignation of President Nixon under the threat of impeachment. Twenty-Fifth Amendment: Passed in 1967, the amendment permits the vice president to become acting president if both the vice president and the president's cabinet determine that the president is disabled. The amendment also outlines how a recuperated president can reclaim the job. Cabinet : A group of presidential advisers not mentioned in the Constitution, although even president has had one. Today the cabinet is composed of 14 secretaries and the attorney general. National Security Council: An office created in 1847 to coordinate the president's foreign and military policy advisers. Its formal members are the president, vice president, secretary of state, and secretary of defense, and it is managed by the president's national security assistant. Council of Economic Advisors: A three-member body appointed by the president to advice the president on economic policy. Office of Management and Budget: An office that grew out of the Bureau of the Budget, created in 1921, consisting of a handful of political appointees and hundreds of skilled professionals. The Office of Management and Budget performs both managerial and budgetary functions. Veto: The constitutional power of the president to send a bill back to Congress with reasons for rejecting it. A two-thirds vote in each house can override a veto. Pocket Veto: A veto taking place when Congress adjourns within 10 days of submitting a bill to the president, who simply lets it die by neither signing nor vetoing it. Presidential Coattails: These occur when voters cast their ballots for congressional candidates of the president's party because they support the president. Recent studies show that few races are won this way. War Powers Resolution: A law passed in 1973 in reaction to American fighting in Vietnam and Cambodia that requires presidents to consult with Congress whenever possible prior to using military force and to withdraw forces after 60 days unless Congress declares war or grants and extension. Presidents view the resolution as unconstitutional. Crisis: A sudden, unpredictable, and potential dangerous event requiring the president to play the role of crisis manager.