1. Chapters 8 & 9
The Presidency

2. 8-1
President and
Vice-President

3. Qualifications for President
Formal:
• Natural born citizen of U.S.
• 35 years old
• resident of US for 14 years before taking
office

4. Qualifications for President
Informal:
• Government experience
• Money – ability to raise
• Political beliefs – moderate
• Personal characteristics –
generally male married WASPs

5. Succession
1. Vice-President
2. Speaker
3. President Pro-Tempore
4. Secretary of State
5. Cabinet secretaries, in
order that department
were first created

6. Vice President’s Role
According to Constitution:
• Preside over Senate and vote in case of a tie
• Helps decide if the president is disabled and
acts as president should that happen
Actual:
• Whatever the president assigns

7. 8-2
Electing the President

8. Electoral College
Originally:
• Electors voted for two candidates of their
party.
• Candidate with highest vote was president;
the other was vice president
1804 – 12th Amendment
• President and VP voted for separately
1820’s
• States began putting presidential candidates
on ballot; electors chosen by popular vote

9. Electoral College
Why?
• It was a compromise between
those who wanted the
legislature to choose the
president, and those who
wanted popular vote.

10. Electoral College
How does it work?
• When you vote for a presidential
candidate on the ballot, you are
actually voting for electors.
• The electors’ names may or may not
be on the ballot.
• The electors meet in December in the
state capital to officially cast their
votes.

11. Electoral College
In case of a tie:
• Election goes to House of
Representatives.
• Each state gets one vote (no matter
what their population).
• If the representatives are unable to
agree on a candidate, they lose their
vote.

12. Electoral College
Issues:
• “Winner takes all” system.
– Margin of victory does not matter.
• Winner of popular vote may not win electoral
vote.
– This has happened four times.
– Happens when the loser has a larger margin
of victory in the states he wins, thus gaining
popular votes, but does not win in enough
states to have sufficient electoral votes.

13. 2004 Elections Map

14. 2 004 Elections Cartogram

15. Electoral College
Issues:
• “Faithless electors”
– An elector is not legally obliged to
vote for his party.
– Occasionally an elector defects.

16. Electoral College
Arguments against:
• Candidate can win the popular vote but
lose the election.
• If there is a tie, the election is decided
unfairly, because populous states have
the same vote as small states.
• It favors republicans, who predominate
in less populous states.

17. Electoral College
Arguments for:
• With popular elections, candidates would
focus on areas with high concentrations
of population.
• With the electoral college, a candidate
must win a large number of states to
win.
• Popular elections would erode
federalism; they would take away states’
rights.

18. Quotes from Famous
Inaugural Speeches
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
- Franklin D. Roosevelt, during Great Depression
“ask not what your country can do for you –
ask what you can do for your country.”
- John F. Kennedy

19. 8-3
The Cabinet

20. Two Main Jobs
1) Advise the President
2) Administer large bureaucracies

21. Selection
• Nominees often selected before
president-elect takes office.
• Nominees must be approved by the
Senate. Generally they are approved.
• Nominees names are often deliberately
“leaked” to the press to gauge Congress’
and the public’s response.

22. Selection Considerations
• Background in field of the department
• Satisfy interest groups
• High level administrative skills and
experience
• Geographic balance in cabinet
• Race and gender balance in cabinet
• They need to be willing to take the job

23. Role of Cabinet
• Usually meet with the president once
per week or less.
• “Inner cabinet” – Secretaries of state,
defense, treasury and attorney
general.
• They may compete with or not agree
with each other on policy.
• They may have conflicting loyalties –
president, department, interest groups.

24. Names
• Secretary of War
Secretary of Defense
• Secretary of State
Secretary of Foreign
Affairs??

25. 8-4
Executive Office

26. Selection
• Usually longtime supporters
of president
• Do not require senate
confirmation

27. Reputation
Secretaries and top advisors may be:
• Highly respected
– Henry Kissinger won Nobel Prize
• Loved or hated
– Donald Rumsfeld left office
• Celebrities or unknowns

28. Chapter 9
Presidential Leadership

29. 9-1
Presidential Powers

30. Presidential Powers
in Constitution
• Commander-in-Chief
• Appoints executive department heads
• Conducts foreign policy
• Appoints federal judges
• May pardon people convicted of federal
crimes or reduce prison sentences or fines
• Makes sure Congress’ laws are “faithfully
executed”
• Delivers annual State of the Union address
• May call Congress into special session

31. Limits on
Presidential Powers
• Congress – overrides of vetoes
• Courts – judicial review
• Bureaucracy – may be unintentional
• Public Opinion – may prevent reelection

32. 9-2
Roles of the President