Chapter Twelve

The Executive Branch

What do you consider the most important qualification for the

office of president?

Introduction

Objectives

• Students WILL………– Know:

• The difference between a prime minister and a president.

• What the qualifications are for President.

• The Presidents Terms and Salary.

• What the provisions are for filling the presidency if a President can not perform his or her duties

Did YOU Know?

• Getting elected is expensive. For example, after the presidential election of 1996 it was revealed that both parties had raised many million of dollars in campaign funds from sources in other countries. Many members o congress argued that the laws governing campaign financing needed to be reformed. The McCain-Feingold bill, a reform measure, was introduced in the Senate in 1997.

The Presidency

• On one Hand:– One of the most powerful offices in the world.– Examples:

• Kennedy and Johnson sent troops to Vietnam and Bush sent troops to Saudi Arabia.

• Nixon posed wage and price controls.

• Carter and Reagan appointed most of the federal judges on the bench today.

The Presidency

• On the other hand:– The president compared to a prime minister is

weak.• Examples:

– Carter signed a arms limitation treaty with the Soviets, but the senate would not ratify it.

– Reagan was not allowed to test anti-satellite weapons and in 1986 congress rejected his budget.

– Clintons health care plan was ignored.

– No wonder people call the U.S president is a pitiful helpless giant.

President vs. Prime Minister

• Chosen by a political party and then elected by the people.

• Presidents try to show they are outsiders of government.

• Cabinet members are chosen from outside congress.

• Presidents political party may not have majority in congress.

• Chosen by the Legislature.

• May or may not have a following.

• Cabinet members are chosen from parliament.

• Prime ministers party is always the majority.

The Evolution of the Presidency

• In 1787 the founding fathers had many concerns on where to go with the executive branch.– The delegates feared anarchy and a monarchy.

• Some argued a plural national executive.

• Hamilton argued in a five hour speech that he favored a elective monarchy.

• They went with a single person president.

Some Concerns

• He has powers over militia.

• He would be a tool of the senate.

• Reelections

Presidential Qualifications

• Formal Qualifications:– Constitutional Requirements

• (Article II Section 1)– 1. natural-born citizen– 2. at least 35 years old– 3. a resident of the U. S. for 14 years

• Unwritten Qualifications– Experience

Other Qualifications• Access to sources for raising

election campaign money.• Usually hold moderate, political

beliefs.• Similar backgrounds:

–ethnic, economic, racial, and gender.

Duties of the President • The president has enormous power and

responsibility.• Duties:

– Carries out laws/lawmaking power.– Commander in chief of the military.

• Manages the defense budget of 290 billion dollars.

– Appoints top officials• federal judges and ambassadors.

– Meets with the heads of foreign governments.

Other Duties

• Chief of State• The ceremonial head

of the United States, the symbol of all the people of the nation.

• Chief Executive• The executive power

of the United States.

• Chief Administrator: Heading one of the largest govt. machines in the world.

• Commander in chief: head of armed forces.• Chief Legislator: the main architect of its public policies.

The president sets the shape of most congressional agendas.– State of the Union: a statement given by the President to the

people and legislative branch describing what he wants done for the year.

• Chief of Party: the acknowledge leader of the political party that controls the executive branch.

• Chief Citizen: a model and representative of all citizens.

Other Duties………..

President’s Term• The Twenty-second Amendment

established term limits:– limited presidents to two-terms of four years.– This was due to Roosevelt

• He served four terms in office.– 16 years

– A president could serve in the Executive Office for 10 years.• How??????

Salary• Congress determines:

– $200,000 salary since 1969• Taxable

– 50,000 dollars a year for expenses. • Non taxable

– 100,000 dollars for travel

• Non taxable

– Benefits:• Body guards• A personal plane• Free medical and dental• Live in the White House (132 rooms, swimming pool, bowling alley, theater, tennis courts.• Maids• Retirement:

– 148,400 dollars a year.– Free office space, mail, and 96,000 dollars for staffing.– When president dies the spouse gets 20,000 dollars a year.

Presidential Succession • The Twenty-fifth Amendment

– Established the order of presidential succession. • Read page 217 (the 25th amendment)

– Also explains what happens when the vice presidency is vacant.• (Vice president, Speaker of the House, President pro tempore of

the Senate, Secretary of State, other cabinet members)

• The Twenty-fifth Amendment:– Presidential Disability – In 1967 why was the Twenty-fifth Amendment added to the Constitution?

Vice Presidency

• Head of Senate.

The Vice President’s Role • depends on what jobs the president assigns.• presidents before Eisenhower

generally ignored vice president• recently have been given more

responsibility.–Why ????????????

Z Z ZZ Z Z

Two Presidencies• Main Argument:

– There is a split between the foreign affairs presidency and the domestic presidency

– Wildavsky's Reasoning:• Foreign policy concerns drive out domestic policy Causes:

– The situation since World War II – limited time and resources to spend on policy– the speed and importance of world affairs– The usual competition against the President is limited in the foreign policy arena:– Public depends on the President– Interest groups here are small and usually have a narrow focus– Congress defers to the President– the Military is weak in terms of policy issues– "Military-industrial complex" is focused on getting contracts, which is not the same

as influencing policy– Dept. of State: follows the policies of the President

Results

• Results:– Presidents have weak record in domestic

affairs: most advances/policies are incremental and build on existing policy

– Presidents are strong in foreign affairs: they have the power to act, and room for discretion is large

Electing the President

The Electoral College SystemThe Electoral College System

Did you know Did you knowIn the presidential election of 1992, third-party candidate Ross Perot received 19.7 million popular votes. President George Bush received 39.1 million popular votes, and the winning candidate, Democrat Bill Clinton, received 44.9 million popular votes. The results in the electoral college vote, however, were very different. Ross Perot did not win a single electoral vote, while Clinton received 370 electoral votes and Bush, 168 electoral votes.

Original System of Electing the President

• Article II Section I established the electoral college.– Established that each state would elect

representatives that would vote for the president and vice president.

– Electors: • Those chosen to represent and then vote.• This vote was called the electoral vote.• No popular vote was cast back then.

The Original System

• Article II, Section 1:–Established

•Most votes: President

•Second-highest: Vice President.

Discuss

• What political problem could result from the vice president being the person with the second highest electoral vote?

Impact of Political Parties

• 1800s there was two parties:– Federalists and Democratic Republicans.– Each party would nominate its own presidential and

vice president candidates.– Parties would also nominate the electors from the states

that would cast their votes for the executive branch. – In 1800 the Democratic Republicans won a majority of

the electoral positions.– Each elector cast a vote and it ended up in a tie between

Jefferson and Burr.

The Impact of Political Parties • The election of 1800 was decided by the House of

Representatives.• To prevent a tie vote:

– Twelfth Amendment:• provided that electors cast separate ballots for president and vice

president.• Also provides that if no candidate receives a majority of the

electoral votes, the house chooses from the candidates. • The Primary Process

– Parties have primary elections to see who will run for each political party.– This creates more involvement from people. – Weeds out candidates

The Electoral College Today

• 538 electors• Each state has the same number of electors as they

do Senators and House of Representatives combined.

• To win the Presidency a candidate must win 270 electoral votes.

• Presidency is usually announced the night of the popular vote,however the electors cast their vote the Monday following the second Wednesday in December.

The Electoral College System Today

• The College uses a winner-takes-all system (except Maine and Nebraska)

• The Electoral College vote is cast in December.

Electoral College Issues • Winner Take All

– Critics say winner-take-all is unfair.

– The losing candidates votes of a state does not really count towards the nations popular vote. • Those votes may have helped in a popular

vote election.

• Third Party Candidates:

– Third-party candidates prevent major party candidates from receiving majority.

• Election By the House– House of Reps. Decides on ties.

– Each state gets to cast one vote• Small states have just as much power

as the large states.

• If the representatives cannot agree on a candidate they lose their votes.

Ideas for Reform

• List the ideas for reform.

Arguments against the current system

• Unequal weight of voters

• Losing the popular vote

• Focus on large swing states

• Favors less populous states

• Disadvantage for third parties

Arguments for the current system

• Requires a distribution of popular support to win the Presidency

• Maintains the federal character of the nation

• Enhances status of minority groups

• Encourages stability through the two-party system

• Isolation of election problems

• Maintains separation of powers

• Death or unsuitability of a candidate

The Case for the Current Presidential Nominating Process

• Main Argument: – Nelson defends the current nominating process

(1985) against its critics• He argues that the process strengthens parties

because they are forced to adapt to changes in the world and thereby stay relevant.

Nelson's Reasoning• Nelson defends the nominating process in three

areas:– 1) It strengthens parties

• party organization becomes stronger by being forced to adapt: this makes parties institutionally stronger

– 2) It facilitates the selection of skilled candidates• campaign skills are the same skills required to be an effective

president: – (a) a strategic sense of the public's disposition; (b) a talent for the

management of authority; (c) the ability to present ideas through rhetoric and symbolism; (d) mastery of bargaining, persuasion, and political gamesmanship

• 3) It legitimates the process in the eyes of the public– this legitimacy increases with time if the process is not

changed

• Nelson attacks those who claim that the nominating process has weakened the parties:– parties-in-government: split ticket voting (evidence of the

decline of parties) predates the current nominating process– parties-in-the-electorate: general party decline predates the

current process

I want to see an outline for your paper.Thesis

Topic sentencesEct.

Homework

The Cabinet

Did YOU Know?

• A liberal magazine opposed to Presidents Eisenhower's conservative politics also criticized his cabinet. It said the cabinet was made up of 8 millionaires and a plumber. In fact, the plumber was president of the plumbers union, and the millionaires were successful executives of well known businesses. Since then, of course, presidents have picked many wealthy cabinet members with business backgrounds.

Cabinet Members who became President

• John Quincy Adams Secretary of State 1817

• Martin Van Buren Secretary of State 1829

• James Buchanan Secretary of State 1845

• Herbert C. Hoover Secretary of Commerce 1921

• Thomas Jefferson Secretary of State 1789

• James Madison Secretary of State 1801

• James Monroe Secretary of State and War 1811

• William H. Taft Secretary of War 1904

Presidents Duties• One of the first things the president must do

is staff the executive branch.

• Staffing the Cabinet

• Cabinet:– Group of men and women that advise the

president on specific issues.– 14 cabinet members– Senate approves appointees.

Tradition and Custom

• The cabinet is a product of tradition and hope.

• Tradition:– Cabinet used to meet with the president and they would

make decisions together.

» The idea of this is good, why?

» This idea is also fiction, why?

The Selection of the Cabinet• President must consider …..

– whether backgrounds suit cabinet posts,– geographical balance, – satisfy interest groups, – administrative skills, – ethnic, racial, gender considerations.

• Robert Weaver: first African American Secretary.• Frances Perkins: first Woman Secretary.• Cavazos: first Hispanic Secretary

• Cabinet members are:– usually college graduates -leaders in professional fields.

The Role of the Cabinet

• Cabinet are heads of exec. Departments.• President has always determined role.

– Will they be active or inactive

• Modern presidents have turned to staff and close friends as advisors.

• “inner cabinet”– certain cabinet members influence the president’s decisions related

to their departments’ areas of interest. – Secretary of state, treasury, attorney general, and defense are included in the

inner cabinet.

Limiting the Cabinets Role

• Conflicting Loyalty

• Secrecy and Trust

Cabinets are WEAK

• Why?– Cabinet members seek to

• Defend

• Explain

• Enlarge

The Executive Office

Did YOU Know

• Presidents Clintons press secretary appeared before reporters with a paper bag over his head in 1997. Mike McCurry, Clintons press secretary, did this to get reporters into a good mood. Why? The presidents press secretary works hard to present the presidents views and he wants representatives from the media to report them as favorably as possible. Establishing a rapport with reporters is part of the press secretaries job.

Executive Office Agencies

• The Executive Office of the President (EOP):– Individuals and agencies that assist the

president first hand.

EOP• The EOP has grown rapidly for 3 reasons:

– Presidents keep adding new agencies

– Presidents want expert advice–Huge federal programs require agencies

to coordinate efforts of executive departments and agencies in working together.

Executive Office Agencies (Examples)

• Office of Management and Budget (OMB):– largest agency in EOP - prepares national budget

• National Security Council– advises, helps coordinate military and foreign policy.

• The Council of Economic Advisers:

– helps formulate economic policy.

* Presidents can add, eliminate agencies

The White House Office

• Pres. appoints w/o Senate consent.

• Has become most important part of EOP

The White House staff duties include...

–Gathering information and providing advice on issues;

–Ensuring executive departments and agencies carry out directives

–Presenting president’s views to the outside world;

–Deciding what information gets through to the president.

Key Members of the White House Staff

• Chief of Staff

• White House Counsel

• Press Secretary

• Domestic Affairs Liaison

• Public Relations Advisor–president can add or remove positions from

staff to accommodate his needs.