PS 101 Module 2.3 Presidency P rof. B ryan M cquide University of Idaho Presidential Trivia Who is the first and only President to get married in the White House? vjames Buchanan vg rover Cleveland vandrew Jackson vwilliam McKinley o Grover Cleveland married Francis Folsom on June 2, 1886. Presidential Trivia Which President s daughter held her senior prom at the White House? George W. Bush Gerald Ford Bill Clinton Jimmy Carter Harry S. Truman 1
Lecture Topic Overview Roles & powers of the Presidency Limits on Presidential Power Bureaucracy Monetary & Fiscal Policy: how much control does the President really have over the economy? Foreign Policy Roles: Head of State Head of Government U.S. is one of only a few countries that combine these roles into an allpowerful Presidency Powers Roles & Powers Appoint Supreme Court justices (w/ Senate approval) Appoint Cabinet, ambassadors, and federal judges (w/ S enate approval) Veto power (Congress may override); Line-item veto: unconstitutional Executive agreements (no need for approval) Executive orders Negotiate treaties Chief diplomat power (treaties subject to S enate approval) Pardon power Legislative proposal power ( legislative initiative ) Commander-in-chief (but only Congress has power to declare war) Limits on Presidential Power Impeachment H ouse impeaches, Senate holds trial with Chief Justice presiding. Constitution says President can be impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors O nly three impeachments in history, two trials that ended in acquittal, and one resigned before Senate trial Re-election Federalist #72: re-election is an inducement for good behavior in office Presidents need to pass their key programs quickly in their first term for the programs to work by the next election Presidents may propose legislation, but Congress can pass or defeat them 2
Presidential Mandates What are electoral mandates? Claims by Presidents after they have been elected or reelected that the American people support their agenda/campaign platform and want it enacted What is problematic with Presidents use of this term? Presidents can t really claim mandates when they received only 50% of the national vote this means half of the voters voted AGAINST their agenda! Presidents can only credibly claim a mandate when they received 60% or more of the popular vote, when a large majority of electoral votes and when they had a clear agenda that the American people showed support for in public opinion polls. This rarely occurs. Limits on Presidential Power Presidents can veto laws, but Congress can override with a 2/3rds vote in both houses Divided partisan government may limit Presidents ability to get their ideas passed (see next slide for definitions) Congress has the power to declare war and appropriate money for defense Presidents may make nominations for federal courts, Cabinet, US S upreme Court, federal agency heads, ambassadors but the US S enate must confirm them Presidents may make recess appointments, but those appointees must be confirmed in the very next session of Congress Presidents may negotiate foreign treaties, but the Senate must approve them War Powers Act of 1973 (see later slides on this) Budget Impoundment and Control Act of 1971 limits Presidents ability to take funding away from federal agencies US monetary policy is in the hands of the Federal Reserve Board Divided/Unified Partisan Gov t Unified partisan government: the situation that exists when one party controls both houses of Congress and the Presidency. (EX: now with President O bama and a Democratic majority in both houses). Unified government MAY make it easier to pass legislation, but not always! (Remember President Clinton could not get his health care plan through a Democratic Congress in 1994) Divided partisan government: the situation that exists when one party is in the White House and the other controls Congress. (EX: 2007-2008 when President Bush was President and the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress) Q uasi Divided Government : the situation which exists when the two parties have split control over Congress. The 107 th Congress (2001-2002) is an example; the Democrats controlled the S enate and the Republicans controlled the House. 3
Going Public In recent years, Presidents have used campaign tactics to build public support for their programs while in office. As a result, political scientists have now called the presidency the permanent campaign. As presidents are constantly campaigning either for their policy programs or for re-election, public opinion has become an important tool for Presidents to use in office. The going public strategy refers to the tactic used by Presidents to go on the campaign trail, making speeches all over the country and giving TV, radio, or in the case of President Obama, Internet addresses, to persuade the American people to support their agenda and pressure their representatives in Congress to vote for the President s policy ideas. However, Presidents have a limited ability to shape public opinion! There is a cycle effect with public opinion during a President s term they tend to come into office with high approval during the honeymoon period, then presidential approval tends to decrease over their terms until it increases again when they run for and win re-election. Occasionally, it will spike during foreign policy events (this is known as the rally around the flag effect). See: http://www.usatoday.com/news/graphics/presidential_approv al/flash.htm (Notice what happened to President Bush s approval ratings over his two terms) Monetary & Fiscal Policy Voters often blame Presidents for poor economic times and praise them during good times but how much control does the President REALLY have over the nation s economy? See handout in Module 2.3 Monetary & Fiscal Policy Terms Monetary policy: set by the Federal Reserve Board; Congress and the President have no power in this area! Fiscal policy: passed by Congress with the President s signature or by veto override; the Federal Reserve has no control over this (though Chairman Ben Bernake might implore Congress to pass policies the Fed favors) 4
Monetary & Fiscal Policy Unemployment Inflation Fiscal Policy (Congress & President) M onetary Policy (Federal Reserve Board) Increase government spending Cut taxes Increase the money supply Lower interest rates Decrease government spending Raise taxes Decrease the money supply Increase interest rates Foreign Policy Post WWII: Presidents have increasingly sent troops overseas without a formal declaration of war from Congress (Think of Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Panama ) Congress attempted to reign in the Presidency through the War Powers Act of 1973 1. Requires the President to report to Congress within 48 hours of sending troops into conflicts overseas. 2. The military forces must be brought home within 60 days unless Congress declares war, extends the withdrawal deadline, or approves of the mission initiated by the President. Presidents have ignored the law and Congress has yet to challenge the President over it So what should we do? Debate this on the discussion board! 5