2. The Presidency
Objectives:
• Understand the key roles of the President
• Understand the ideas behind the President’s
qualifications and term
• Trace Presidential succession
• Outline Presidential selection in the United States
• Understand the use of the Electoral college by
charting past elections
• Analyze current issues relating to the President by
discussing the recent State of the Union
• Synthesize written and audio/visual material to form
a coherent view of the American President
3. Presidential Qualifications and
Term
• Natural Born Citizen
– Jus sanguinis
– Jus Soli
• At least 35 years old
• Have lived in the US for at least 14 years
• Term 4 years
– Originally no limit on terms
– 22nd Amendment sets limit to 2 terms or a
max of 10 years
4. Presidential Characteristics
• So far all have been
– Male
– Christian
– Above 42 and more have been over 50
– Married with pets (Buchanan was the only
bachelor president)
• Most have been
– From large states
– governors
5. Salary and Benefits
• 2010 – 410,000.00 per year
• & for staff
• Travel and entertainment expenses
• White House
• Camp David
• Pension
• Lifelong security
6. Vice President
• VP becomes pres if the president dies,
resigns or is removed from office
• President of the Senate
• Usually chosen to “balance the ticket” –
get votes the president can not get
him/her self.
• It is up to the president on how much of a
factor the VP will be.
7. Presidential Succession and the
Vice Presidency
• 25th Amendment to the Constitution was added
in 1967. It deals with Presidential succession
– VP
– Speaker of the House
– President pro tempore of the Senate
– Secretary of State
– Secretary of Treasury
– Secretary of Defense
– Secretary of …
8. Vice President
• Over a dozen VPs have become
President
• Constitution gives the VP two duties
– President of the Senate
– Helps decide Presidential disability
• Today
– Take part in cabinet meeting
– Acts as a resource for the President
9. Presidential Roles
• Chief of State (Citizen)
• Chief Executive
• Chief Diplomat
• Commander in Chief
• Chief Legislator
• Chief of Party
• Chief Guardian of the Economy
10. The President as Chief of State
As the leading representative of the U.S. government, the President:
- Attends historical celebrations, dedicates new buildings and national
parks, presents awards to war heroes, and invites distinguished
Americans to the White House among other things.
-The President represents the United States in visits to other
countries.
-In addition, the chief executive greets visiting foreign officials and
often hosts formal White House dinners for them.
11. The President as Chief Executive
The President uses a variety of powers to carry out administrative duties. Federal laws give the President
authority to carry out administrative duties. Federal laws give the President authority to prevent or end a
national emergency.
The President may issue executive orders—directions, proclamations, or other statements that have the
force of laws. They require no action by Congress. One of the most famous executive orders was the
Emancipation Proclamation issued by Abraham Lincoln in 1863, during the Civil War. It declared freedom
for all slaves in the areas then under Confederate control.
The President nominates Cabinet members, Supreme Court justices, and other high federal officials. All
such top appointments require Senate approval.
The President can issue reprieves and pardons for crimes against the United States, except in impeachment.
A reprieve delays the penalty for a crime. A pardon frees the offender from a sentence or the possibility of a
sentence. The Constitution allows the President to grant reprieves and pardons.
1. Give at least five powers the President has as Chief Executive.
2. Give three examples of these powers specifically by the three Presidents listed above.
12. The President as Foreign Policy Director
Chief Diplomat
The Constitution gives the President power to appoint ambassadors, make treaties, and receive
foreign diplomats.
The President also proposes legislation dealing with foreign countries. Treaties and
ambassadors appointed by the President must be approved by the Senate. The President may
make executive agreements with foreign leaders. Such agreements resemble treaties but do
not and therefore need legislative branch approval.
Some Presidents have played a key role in settling disputes between foreign nations. For
example, Theodore Roosevelt won the Nobel Peace Prize for helping end the Russo-Japanese
War, and Woodrow Wilson helped work out the peace treaty that ended World War I.
1. Give at least three powers the President has as Foreign Policy Director.
2. Give one example of these powers specifically to the one President above.
13. The President as Commander in Chief
The President’s main duties as commander of the nation’s armed services are to defend the
country during wartime and to keep it strong during peacetime.
The chief executive appoints all the nation’s highest military officers and helps determine the
size of the armed forces. Only the President can decide whether to use nuclear weapons.
Only Congress can declare war. But Presidents have sent troops into conflicts that were equal
to war though none was declared.
Congress generally allows the President to exercise broad powers in wartime. During World
War II, Franklin D. Roosevelt created many emergency agencies, took control of factories, and
even imprisoned American citizens of Japanese descent.
1. Give at least three powers the President has as Commander in Chief.
2. Give two examples of these powers specifically the two Presidents above.
14. The President as Legislative Leader
The President greatly influences the development of many laws passed by Congress. At the
beginning of each session of Congress, the President delivers a State of the Union Address to
the lawmakers. In this message, the President discusses the major problems facing the nation
and recommends a legislative program to solve them
The Constitution allows the President to veto any bill passed by Congress.
1. Give at three examples the President has as the Legislative leader?
2. Has our President recently used any of these powers today in the news? If yes list and explain if not you
are wrong and must think again.
15. The President as Party Head
As leader of a political party, the President helps form the party’s position on all political
candidates’ important issues
A strong party makes it easier to pass the President’s legislative program. However, Presidents
cannot always control members of their party in Congress. Senators and representatives are
usually loyal to the people in their state and local district. They may vote against a bill favored
by the President if it meets with opposition at home.
1.Give at three examples the President has as the Party Head?
2.Has our President recently used any of these powers today in the news? If yes list and explain if not you are
wrong and must think again.
16. Chief Guardian of the Economy
The President keeps a wat ch
over American j obs and
businesses t hrough meet ings
wit h cabinet of f icials and
business of f icials
17. The President as Chief Citizen
Chief of State
• The President is the moral leader for all
Americans
• The President needs to do what's best for
the whole nation not just special interests
18. Expressed Presidential Powers
• Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces
• Appoints the heads of executive departments
• Makes treaties (Executive Agreement)
• Appoints ambassadors
• Appoint Federal Court Justices
• Gives a State of the Union Address
• Calls Congress into special session
• Meets w/ heads of states
• Ensures that laws are executed
• Pardon people
• Commission military officers
19. Presidential Selection
• Political Parties have presidential
primaries
– An election in which voters of each party
choose delegate for the national convention
– Rules differ from state to state
– Run from January to June in an election year
– New Hampshire and Iowa are the first two
– A candidate must win the support of more
than half of the party’s delegate in order to get
that parties nomination
20. Primaries
• Cost time and money
• Inter party “fight among candidates
• Democratic way of choosing candidates
21. The National Convention
• Political parties hold their national
convention every four years
– They adopt the party’s platform
– The pick the party’s candidates
– The unite behind these candidates to beat the
opposing party
23. Election Day
• The first Tuesday after the first Monday in November…..Why?
• ". . . For much of our history, America was a predominantly agrarian society. Law
makers therefore took into account that November was perhaps the most convenient
month for farmers and rural workers to be able to travel to the polls. The fall harvest
was over, (remember that spring was planting time and summer was taken up with
working the fields and tending the crops) but in the majority of the nation the weather
was still mild enough to permit travel over unimproved roads.
• Why Tuesday? Since most residents of rural America had to travel a significant
distance to the county seat in order to vote, Monday was not considered reasonable
since many people would need to begin travel on Sunday. This would, of course,
have conflicted with Church services and Sunday worship.
• Why the first Tuesday after the first Monday? Lawmakers wanted to prevent election
day from falling on the first of November for two reasons. First, November 1st is All
Saints Day, a Holy Day of Obligation for Roman Catholics. Second, most merchants
were in the habit of doing their books from the preceding month on the 1st.
Apparently, Congress was worried that the economic success or failure of the
previous month might prove an undue influence on the vote!"
24. The Campaign
• During the Summer of a Presidential
election year
• Travel throughout the country
• Hitting the key states
• Debates are held
25. – President Selection
• 3 years before a Presidential election potential candidates are
“testing the water”, polling, and traveling around the country
deciding if they might want to run and if determining if they can win
• At some point before January of an election year they “throw their
hat into the ring”
• January to June the State hold Primary elections (elections within
their own party; Dems v. Dems & Repubs v. Repubs
• National Convention held in late summer of election year. Each
party chooses nominee and running mate, announces platform, and
unites behind their candidate
• Late summer through October - The Presidential Campaign;
Debates, speeches, advertisements, travel
• Nov – Election Day…The first…
• The winner is unofficially declared? Why?
• The Electoral College!!!
