The document discusses the organization and roles of the Executive Branch of the US government. It describes the President's roles as chief executive, commander-in-chief, chief diplomat, and legislative and judicial leader. It also outlines the three main branches of the Executive Branch: the Executive Office including White House staff, executive departments like Education, and independent agencies like NASA. The document then discusses the powers of the President and debates whether the President has too much power or if protections are needed against abuse of power. It analyzes three examples of Presidential power - the Louisiana Purchase, Truman taking control of steel mills during the Korean War, and Nixon's executive privilege claim during the Watergate scandal.

1. The Executive Branch
Essential Question: What are the three branches
of government and what do they do?

2. The Roles of the President
● Chief Executive
● Commander in Chief
● Chief Diplomat
● Legislative Leader
● Judicial Powers
● Other roles created by tradition:
– Party leader
– Chief of State: speaks for the whole nation,
expressing the values and goals of the
American people

3. The Organization of the Executive
Branch – Part 1
● The Executive Office
– White House staff (like the West Wing!)
● Chief of Staff, advisors, press secretary,
speechwriters, office workers, legal experts,
researchers
– Vice President
● Joe Biden!
– Special advisory groups
● Office of Management and Budget (OMB),
National Security Council (NSC)

4. The Organization of the Executive
Branch – Part 2
● Executive Departments
– Largest part of the executive branch
– “nuts and bolts” of carrying out nation's laws
and running government programs
– The Cabinet (executive department
leadership)
● Ex. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan

6. The Organization of the Executive
Branch – Part 3
● Independent Agencies
– Executive agencies
● NASA, EPA
– Regulatory Commissions
● Federal Communications Commission (FCC,)
Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
– Government corporations: earns a profit but
provides a public service
● U.S. Postal service

7. Presidents and Power
● Is too much power in the hands of the
President?
● Freedom to Take Action
– Executive agreements
– Doesn't need Senate approval to talk to
representatives from other countries
– Executive privilege: right to keep some
information secret from Congress and the
Courts
● Safety and security reasons

8. Presidents and Power
● When should the President's power be limited?
● Seeking a Balance
– President can take decisive action without
talking to the other branches
– Protections against the abuse of power

9. Using Presidential Power
● Three historical examples of a time when the
President used their power
● After each scenario, we're going to take a poll:
– Was the President right to take that action?

10. Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase
● Opportunity to buy a huge area of land – the
Louisiana Purchase for $15 million from
Napoleon
● Doubled the size of the United States
● Constitution didn't say that the President or
Congress could buy new territory
● According to Madison (his Secretary of State),
the purchase fell under the power to make
treaties
● Later, Senate ratified the treaty and agreed to
pay France

11. Truman and the Steel Mills
● 1952, during the Korean War
● Steelworkers were going to strike
● Needed steel to produce weapons for soldiers in Korea
● Executive order placing the Secretary of Commerce in
control of the mills
● Does the President have the right to take control over
private property?
● Truman said he was acting as Commander in Chief to
protect the troops
● Supreme Court later ruled that the President had no power
to take over private property, even in a national emergency

12. Nixon and Watergate
● 1974, Nixon and his staff were accused of
covering up a White House scandal – a break
in to the DNC Headquarters in D.C.
● Aim of the break in: to find and take the
Democrats' campaign plans
● Reporters discovered that the burglars were
White House staff and the WH had tried to
cover up the crime

13. Nixon and Watergate
● Nixon had taped all of his WH conversations,
so the investigators wanted the tapes!
● Nixon refused to hand them over, claiming
executive privilege
● Supreme Court ordered Nixon to turn them over
because executive privilege is not an unlimited
power (especially not to cover up crimes!)
● Nixon resigned before the full House could
impeach him
● http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHnmriyXYeg