G E O R G E T O B A RAC K A N D B AC K

THE PRESIDENCY

THE LIVING PRESIDENTS

LOOK AT THE LIST OF PRESIDENTS

• Write something about each President that you already know about from the list beside their name

• Circle the Presidents that you have never heard of or know nothing about

• Compare with someone else when you finish

GEORGE WASHINGTON

• 1789-1797

• He was the first to hold the office, therefore, he, perhaps more than any other, was able to define the role of the President.

JAMES MADISON• 1809-1817

• Father of the Constitution

• Brilliant politician but poor Commander in Chief (is that fair?)

READ THE BIOGRAPHIES OF WASHINGTON AND MADISON

WERE THEY “GOOD’ PRESIDENTS?

FOREIGN POLICYPRESIDENT VS. CONGRESS

AMERICA’S PLAN FOR INTERACTING WITH OTHER NATIONS

• “We must have a policy to guide our relations with every country in every part of the world. No country is so remote from us that it may not someday be involved in a matter that threatens the peace…Who knows what may happen in the future? Our foreign policy must be universal. (President Harry Truman, 1946)

GOALS OF FOREIGN POLICY• Promote national

security• Establish

international trade• Avoid wars (bad for

trade)• Spread democratic

ideals around the world

FOREIGN POLICY BUREAUCRACY

• State Department

• Defense Department

• Central Intelligence Agency

• National Security Council

Leon Panetta (SecDef)

LYNDON JOHNSON (1963-1969)

• Johnson was a popular social liberal (“Great Society”), but his escalation of the Vietnam War outraged much of the nation

•“The State Department wants to solve everything with words, and the generals, with guns.”

THE CONSTITUTION IS NEBULOUS

President

• Commander in Chief• Deploys troops

• Gained immense executive power after WWII and September 11, 2001

Congress

• Can declare war• Can cut funding for

defense

• Tipped the balance of war powers in their favor after the unpopular Vietnam War

PRESIDENT APPOINTS AMBASSADORS

• Must be approved by the Senate• About 150• Only sent to

countries whose government we recognize as legitimate• (Not Cuba, N.

Korea, Bhutan, and Taiwan)

GROSS NATIONAL HAPPINESS

PRESIDENT MAKES TREATIES BUT SENATE APPROVES (AS USUAL)

•NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) – major treaty in U.S. foreign policy •Mutual defense pact between U.S. and Europe after WWII•(70% of world’s defense spending