Chapter 13

2. • The President is chief of state, chief executive, chief
administrator, chief diplomat, commander in chief,
chief legislator, party chief, and chief citizen.
• The President both reigns and rules at the same time.
• He has to play all of his roles simultaneously.
THE PRESIDENTS ROLES

4. FORMAL QUALIFICATIONS

5. • Race and gender: In the past, white males had an
advantage
• Other informal qualifications are wealth, religion,
background, marital status, and military service.
INFORMAL QUALIFICATIONS

8. Would you make a good
President?

9. EXECUTIVE COMMAND

10. • The president can be elected to
a four year term.
• After that they can be re-elected
to another four year term.
• The max length for a president
to serve is ten years long.
• Up until 1951 president could
serve as many terms as they
wanted.
• The president makes roughly
400,000 dollars a year. They
provide them with a 50,000
dollar expense allowance.
THE PRESIDENTS TERM AND PAY

11. 1. Vice President
2. Speaker of the House
3. President pro tempore of the Senate
4. Secretary of State
5. Secretary of Treasury
6. Secretary of Defense
7. Attorney General
8. Secretary of the Interior
9. Secretary of Agriculture
10. Secretary of Commerce
11. Secretary of Labor
12. Secretary of Health and Human Services
13. Secretary of Housing and Urban development
14. Secretary of Transportation
15. Secretary of Energy
16. Secretary of Education
17. Secretary of Veterans Affairs
18. Secretary of Homeland Security
PRESIDENTIAL SUCCESSION

12. The Presidential Succession act of 1947 made the previous list in affect.
There has been no time in history where anyone other then the Vice President
has succeeded the President.
PRESIDENTIAL SUCCESSION

14. ALL IN DAYS WORK!

15. • Section 3 and 4 of the 25th
amendment fill the gap by stating
two ways the vice president can
become the acting President.
• The two ways are:
• 1. The President informs
Congress in writing that he is
incapable of his powers.
• 2. The Vice President and
majority of the cabinet inform
Congress in writing inform
congress that the President is so
incapacitated.
PRESIDENTIAL DISABILITY

16. • It assigns the position two duties: (1) to preside over the Senate and (2) to
help decide the question of presidential disability.
• People that served as Vice President feel that it is a “laid back job.”
• Presidents choose Vice President who would help them win by balancing
the ticket.
IMPORTANCE OF THE VICE
PRESIDENT

17. • The vice presidency has been
vacant 18 times thus far: nine times
by succession to the presidency
twice by resignation, and seven
times by death.
• The 25th Amendment dealt with
this matter that went into affect in
1973.
VICE PRESIDENTIAL VACANCY

18. Electoral college: a group of people chosen from each state to formally select
the President and Vice President.
Flaws arose when parties began to form and in 1800 when there was a tie for
Presidency the 12th Amendment was produced which separates the election
of the President and Vice President.
THE RISE OF PARTIES

19. The Constitution says nothing about presidential
nominations, the convention system has been built
entirely by the two major parties.
Once a place is chosen the committee issues its “call”
and informs each State how many delegates it may send.
The # of delegates is determined by the number of
electoral votes that State receives.
THE ROLE OF CONVENTIONS

20. A Presidential Primary is an election in which a party’s voters
• 1)choose some or all of a State party organization’s delegates to their
party’s extent
• 2)express a preference among various contenders for their party’s
presidential nomination.
First appeared in the early 1900’s.
These primaries vary greatly from state to state.
PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES

21. Some were winner-take-all: when the candidate who won
the preference vote automatically wins the support of all
delegates.
The Democrats have a proportional representation rule
which is any candidate that wins at least 15 percent of
the votes get the corresponding share of the primary
vote.
Critics believe each major party should hold one primary
instead of numerous smaller ones.
PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARIES
(CONT.)

22. • National Convention: the meetings at which the delegates vote to pick
their presidential and vice-presidential candidates.
Three major goals:
• 1)naming the candidates
• 2)bring the various functions and leading personalities together
• 3)adopting the party’s platform (basic principles, stands on certain
matters, and objectives for the campaign and beyond)
THE NATIONAL CONVENTION

23. 1. The first day is spent organizing and speeches,
including the keynote address
2. The second day the presentation and adoption of
committee reports are done
3. The third day the nomination of the party’s
candidate for presidency is chosen
4. The final day the nomination of vice presidency is
chosen
THE FOUR DAYS

24. People with substantial and well-
known political experience
Governors have the best chance
Protestant
Come from larger states
Pleasant and healthy appearance
good speaking abilities
male
WHO IS NOMINATED

25. Electors chosen are
expected to automatically
vote for their party’s
candidate.
Electors are chosen by
popular vote in each State
on the Tuesday after the
first Monday in November.
Maine and Nebraska are
chosen on a winner-take-all
basis.
Majority is needed to win,
270 of 538.
THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE

26. 1)The winner of the popular
vote is not guaranteed
presidency.
2)Electors are not required to
vote in accord with the popular
vote.
3)Any election might have to be
decided in the House of Reps.
FLAWS IN THE ELECTORAL
COLLEGE

27. • The district plan is an idea in which the electors would be
chosen in each state the same way as members of
Congress would be.
• The proportional plan is when each presidential
candidate would receive the same share of a State’s
electoral vote as he or she received in the State’s popular
vote.
Direct popular test would be ridding of the entire electoral
college system, this is the most widespread idea.
PROPOSED REFORMS

28. 1) it is a well known process and it is impossible to know if any of these other
plans will have defects.
2) it usually identifies a winner quickly and certainly (for the exception of the
2000 election)
3) only 2 elections have ever had to go to the House of Reps.
SUPPORT OF THE ELECTORAL
COLLEGE