A More Perfect Union The Three Branches of the Federal Government

A More Perfect Union The Three Branches of the Federal Government The Presidency Video copyright 1996 by Knowledge Unlimited, Inc. Teacher s Guide copyright 2000 by Knowledge Unlimited, Inc. ISBN 1-55933-068-6

SUGGESTIONS TO DISCUSSION LEADERS FOR USING THIS VIDEO To use this video most effectively, we suggest that you do the following: 1 Read through the written script. 2 Preview the video yourself, noting parts of the story you wish to explore in greater depth. 3 Prepare your groups for what they are about to see by defining terms you think they should know and by giving them any background material you think they may need. 4 Show the video through the first time without stopping. 5 Discuss the video briefly. 6 Show the video a second time (perhaps during another session). This time, use the pause button freely to stop the video and explore in greater depth the issues it raises. 7 Assign follow-up activities. Several student activities are suggested at the end of this guide.

2 The Presidency Video Script PRESIDENTS VOICES I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, so help me God. ACTOR S VOICE (Contemporary) The presidency has become too powerful. And this kind of power is corrupting our democratic traditions; indeed it is throwing our whole democratic system completely out of balance. SECOND ACTOR S VOICE (18 th Century) Who can deny but the president will be a king to all intents and purposes, and one of the most dangerous kind, too: a king elected to command a standing army. THIRD ACTOR S VOICE (Contemporary) The president today is really a pitiful giant. He seems powerful. But in fact, the problems he faces are so huge, and the limits he faces from the courts and Congress so strict, he is less able than ever before to effectively lead the nation. You just heard a dramatized version of three typical points of view about what some have called the most powerful job on the planet the president of the United States of America. The power of the presidency is as hotly debated today as it was over two hundred years ago. THE PRESIDENCY: THE EARLY YEARS And it was definitely on the minds of the 55 men who met in Philadelphia in 1787. Their mission was to create a new constitution for the new country. They were driven by the need to create a workable government. They were also driven by a fear of tyranny. The recent war of independence against the British had been a war against the tyranny of King George III.

After the war for independence, the new nation tried to operate under this early attempt at a constitution the Articles of Confederation. But under the Articles, the new nation s first government was extremely weak. By 1787, chaos, not tyranny, seemed to be the greatest danger facing the nation. George Washington summed up the situation this way: GEORGE WASHINGTON (ACTOR S VOICE) The General Government (if it can be called a government) is shaken to its foundations. In a word, it is at an end, and unless a remedy is soon applied, anarchy and confusion will ensue. So during the summer of 1787, in Philadelphia, these men began the task of creating a stronger central government by drafting a new constitution for the United States. The first chief executive was likely to be George Washington, and their great confidence in him made it easier for them to agree to a single president chosen by the entire nation, independent of Congress. In this context, they were willing to give the president substantial powers. THE PRESIDENCY: POWER OF POSITION But what exactly were those powers? FIRST ACTOR S VOICE The president shall have the power to appoint justices of the Supreme Court and other top government officials. SECOND ACTOR S VOICE The president shall direct the foreign policy of the nation, with the power to appoint ambassadors and make treaties. THIRD ACTOR S VOICE The president shall be commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the nation. But these and other powers of the presidency had their limits. The basic limits on presidential power are known as checks and balances. The checks allow each part of the government Congress, the president, the Supreme Court to check the others and keep any one branch from becoming all-powerful, thereby maintaining a balance of power in the system. 3

The limits on the president s power are clear. The president s right to appoint Supreme Court justices is limited by the duty of the Senate to approve these appointments. The Senate also has approval power over Cabinet appointments and must approve all treaties with foreign governments by a two-thirds vote. The Constitution says that the president shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed. He is to give Congress information on the state of the Union, and he is to recommend legislation to it. Of course, Congress passes all laws. And while the president can disallow, or veto, acts of Congress, his veto can be overridden by a two-thirds vot of both the House and the Senate. In the most extreme case, Congress can even remove a president from office through the impeachment process. In 1868, the Senate came within one vote of doing just that to President Andrew Johnson. PRESIDENT HARRY TRUMAN (ACTOR S VOICE) The power of the president should be used in the interests of the people, and in order to do that, the president must use whatever power the Constitution does not expressly deny him. President Harry Truman put it plainly: the president should be able to use whatever power was not specifically denied him in the Constitution. Truman s exercise of those powers launched us into the nuclear age, where a single presidential order could destroy more than half of the planet. As our nation has grown in size, as transportation and communication systems have tied together its towns and huge cities, as its corporations have become truly national, even international, in their dealings, that is, as the nation has become more interdependent and its problems more nationwide in impact, our presidents have, in fact, taken on greater and greater powers. Presidents have taken an increasing lead in dealings with Congress, to the point of seeming to dominate Congress completely. In 1933, for example, in the depth of the Great Depression, President Franklin Roosevelt went before Congress to describe a nation on the verge of total breakdown. With millions homeless and hungry, and with one in every four workers unable to find a job, the ever-optimistic Roosevelt galvanized Americans. PRESIDENT FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT This great nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. This nation is asking for action, and action now.

So began Roosevelt s famous 100 days, in which he sent Congress one proposal after another dealing with the crisis. Congress passed most of his proposed laws, at times without even discussing them. As first, the presidency was a very small-scale operation. George Washington had an unpaid staff of two and a Cabinet of four. Today, the presidency has actually become the world s largest corporation. Each of the president s fourteen Cabinet officials runs a department of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of employees. In addition, there is the president s own White House staff, and a large number of executive office departments, regulatory agencies, and the other boards and commissions. The president s many aides and his countless executive office agencies gather information, propose legislation, and lobby effectively for it in the halls of Congress. And as head of his political party, the president himself works closely with top party leaders in Congress. Each year, the president sends to Congress an annual budget, prepared by his own powerful Office of Management and Budget. This budget shapes much of what Congress can discuss and decide during the year. And it gives the executive branch responsibility for spending more than a trillion dollars each year. But it is as foreign policy leader and as commander-in-chief that modern presidents have expanded their powers most. As we ve seen, Congress does have the power to declare war. It also appropriates the money spent on defense. Yet from the beginning, presidents have asserted their right to act independently of Congress in times of military crisis. Lincoln, for example, expanded the armed forces and sent them into battle at the beginning of the Civil War, even though Congress was not even in session. PRESIDENT FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Senate and of the House of Representatives. Yesterday, December 7, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan. Roosevelt than asked for and received a congressional declaration of war. 5

In Korea, Vietnam, and a number of other, minor conflicts, presidents sent soldiers into battle without a congressional declaration of war. In the case of Vietnam, this lack of a congressional declaration of war added to popular dissatisfaction at home as the war bogged down. The U.S. defeat in Vietnam led Congress to try to assert its role in military affairs. The War Powers Act of 1973 limits the president s authority to send soldiers into conflict for more than 60 days without congressional approval. And during the 1991 Persian Gulf War, President Bush did get a congressional resolution allowing the use of force. Still, he and every other president since 1973 have maintained that the War Powers Act is unconstitutional. THE PRESIDENCY: ABUSE OF POWER PRESIDENT RICHARD NIXON I must put the interests of America first. Therefore, I shall resign the presidency effective at noon tomorrow. ACTOR S VOICE (William Seward) We elect a king for four years and give him absolute power, within certain limits, which after all he can interpret for himself. Abraham Lincoln s Secretary of State William Seward said those words over a hundred years before one of the greatest abuses of presidential power in history: the Watergate scandal. June 17 th, 1972: Several men working to re-elect President Richard Nixon were arrested for breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters in the Watergate office building in Washington, D.C. As the press began to investigate the crime, it became apparent that the Watergate break-in was only one of many abuses of power committed by President Nixon and his aides. Throughout the summer of 1973, millions of Americans watched a televised Senate investigation into the break-in. In July of 1974, the Supreme Court ordered President Nixon to turn over to investigators tapes that showed his part in the cover-up. 6

And finally, a House committee voted in favor of impeaching the president. With the threat of impeachment looming, the president went before the nation on August 8 th, 1974; the next day, he became the first president in history to resign. The questions about the presidency left by Watergate are still unresolved. FIRST ACTOR S VOICE What we have now is an imperial presidency an office that has become far too powerful for the well-being of a democracy. SECOND ACTOR S VOICE But Watergate proved that the system does work. I mean, look at the press, the public, the Supreme Court, and Congress. They were all able to check President Nixon and force him from power. The symbol of the nation, a chief executive, a party leader, an administrator with the power to unleash great destruction does this add up to too much power for any one individual? Or are the president s vast powers necessary in this complex age? The argument will, and should, continue for as long as our democracy endures. And as citizens, it s important for each of us to be involved with this critical issue. 7

STUDENT ACTIVITIES 1. Read Article II of the U.S. Constitution. In light of the issues raised in this video, do you think any part of Article II should be rewritten? Write a brief essay describing what changes, if any, you would make to Article II, and why. 2. The video quotes George Washington in 1787 warning of anarchy if the nation did not create a new government with a strong president. In 1789, Washington became the first U.S. president. Read more about Washington s first term as president. Based on your reading, write a brief essay describing and evaluating Washington s lasting effect on the presidency. 3. In the video, President Harry S. Truman is quoted as saying, The power of the president should be used in the interests of the people, and in order to do that, the president must use whatever power the Constitution does not expressly deny him. First, read more about Truman s presidency. Then write a brief essay explaining how Truman put into practice the words quoted here. Also explain whether or not you agree with these words, and why. 4. In January of 1991, Congress held a debate about the conflict in the Persian Gulf. Shortly after that debate, on January 15, U.S. forces began the brief war against Iraq. First, find and read several news accounts of the debates in Congress about the conflict in the weeks just before January 15. Then, read Article II, Section 2, and the phrases about declaring war in Article I, Section 8, of the Constitution. Hold an in-class debate on the following question: Did the president follow the Constitution properly in making the decision to go to war against Iraq? 5. The video closes with a brief account of the Watergate crisis, ending with these two quotes: What we have now is an imperial presidency an office that has become far too powerful for the well-being of a democracy. But Watergate proved that the system does work. I mean, look at the press, the public, the Supreme Court, and Congress. They were all able to check President Nixon and force him from power. Using history books and other sources, read more about the Watergate crisis. Then decide which of the two quotes above you agree with more. Write a brief essay explaining your choice. 8

6. The presidency is constantly changing with the changing times. And each president puts his own stamp on the office and alters it in subtle or notso-subtle ways. Research one of the presidents who has held the office in the last 25 years. Then write a report focusing on how this president has changed the presidency. Has he expanded or contracted presidential powers? How has his time in office altered the role and the public perceptions of the president? 7. In January 1999, President Bill Clinton became only the second president in history to be impeached. Research his impeachment and the impeachment of Andrew Johnson in 1868. Why were these men impeached? In what ways were the impeachments similar? How were they different? What happened in each case? Do you think the impeachments were justified? Why or why not? 9