Origins of the Presidency

Origins of the Presidency

• Founders distrusted executives

– Much more faith in legislatures

• Royal governors, the experience of the colonies with executive power Appointees of the King

– Powers of appointment, military command, expenditure, and pardon as well as with large powers in connection with the powers of lawmaking”

– Disdained and distrusted by colonists

– After the American Revolution, state constitutions limited the powers of governors.

Declaration of Independence:Wrongs of Britain, King, and Royal Governors

• protected British soldiers “by a mock Trial, from Punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States

• Suspended our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves (governors) invested with Power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

• taken away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments

• erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harass our People, and eat out their substance.

So, after independence:

• Articles of Confederation had no chief executive

• The constitutions of most states created very weak governorships

• BUT

• Problems with the Articles showed the need for a stronger national government, including an executive

George Washington and the American Presidency

• Washington made the Presidency possible

• Established many current practices

– Insisted on being addressed as “Mr. President”

– Voluntarily left office after two terms

– Claimed executive had “inherent powers” to conduct foreign affairs

22nd Amendment (1951)

• No Person shall be elected to the office more than twice,

• and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elecdted President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.

Presidential Succession

• Article II, Section 1 provides that:

• In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President … until the disability be removed, or a President elected.

• In 1841Upon the death of President William Henry Harrison in 1841, John Tyler became the first person to succeed to the presidency.

Article 2, Section 1, continued

• The Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what officer shall then act as President

• Presidential Succession Act of 1792 (later changed)

– Next in line was President pro tempore of the Senate

– And then the Speaker of the House

Amendment 25 (1967)

• Passed after the death of John Kennedy

• Section 1: In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

• Section 2: Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress

• Amendment 25 also contains a section that allows the VP and a majority of the Cabinet (or some other body determined by Congress) to deem a president unable to fulfill his duties

• President can also voluntarily relinquish duties

– 1985, Reagan made G.H.W. Bush acting president during Reagan’s eight-hour surgery

– VP Cheney acting president in 2002 while Pres. Bush underwent a colonoscopy

President’s Major Constitutional Powers

• Appointment

• Make Treaties

• Veto

• Pardons

• Commander in Chief

Appointment

• Article II, Section 2

• “he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, sahll appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States.”

• Presidents appoint about 3,000 federal officials

• About 1,000 of those require senate approval

• Federal agencies divided into political appointees and careerists

Running the Government:The Chief Executive

• As Chief Executive, the president presides over the administration of government.

– Constitution: “take care that the laws be faithfully executed”

– Today, federal bureaucracy spends $2.5 trillion a year and numbers more than 4 million employees.

– Presidents appoint 500 high-level positions and 2,500 lesser jobs.

Make Treaties

• President is in charge of relationships with other countries

• Appoints ambassadors to represent U.S. to those countries

• Negotiates treaties with other countries

– Trade to lower tariffs between countries

– Mutual defense

– Mutual reductions of nuclear weapons

– U.N. treaties on emission of industrial pollution

Veto

• Article I, Section 7:

• Every bill . . . Shall be presented to the President

• If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall entger the Objections ar large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it. If after such Reconsideration two-thirds of the House shall agree to pass it Bill . . . It shall be sent to the other House, and if approved by two thirds of that House, it shall become a Law.

Veto

• Presidents may veto any bill passed by Congress

– E.g., Funding for embryonic stem cell research

– Requires 2/3 vote of BOTH House and Senate to override a veto

• President may sign a bill

– It becomes law

Recent Presidential Vetoes

• Ford – 48 vetoes, 12 overrides

• Carter – 13 vetoes, 2 overrides

• Reagan -- 39 vetoes, 9 overrides

• George H.W. Bush -- 29 vetoes, 1 override

• Clinton -- 36 vetoes, 2 overrides

• George W. Bush – 2 vetoes, 0 override

Pocket Veto

• President may neither sign nor veto a bill

– Article 1, Section 7: "...If any Bill shall not be returned by the President within ten Days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the Same shall be a Law, in like Manner as if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their Adjournment prevent its Return, in which Case it shall not be a Law. "

• After 10 days

– A. If Congress is in session it becomes law

– B. If congress has adjourned, it is vetoed – called a pocket veto

Recent Pocket Vetoes

• Ford – 18

• Carter – 18

• Reagan -- 39

• George H.W. Bush -- 15

• Clinton -- 1

• George W. Bush – 0

Pardons

• Article II, Section 2

• “he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

• Absolute power of pardon for anyone convicted of a FEDERAL crime.

• Pardon power used sparingly

• Standard practice is a president exercises it only during the last few days of his term – clearing away any questionable or problematic cases so the new president will not have to deal with them

Commander-in-Chief

• Article II, Section 2

• The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States

• BUT

• Article I, Section 8: Congress shall have the Power. . . To declare War

Commander In Chief

• War Powers

– Shared War Powers in Constitution

• Congress has the power to declare war.

• President, as Commander-in-Chief, can commit troops and equipment in conflicts

– War Powers Resolution (1973)

• Intended to limit the president’s use of the military

• Requires president to consult with Congress prior to using military force and withdraw forces after 60 days unless Congress declares war or grants and extension

• Presidents see the Resolution as unconstitutional

– Presidents continue to test the constitutional limits of using the military in foreign conflicts.

Growth Beyond Formal (Constitutional) Powers

• Presidential power grows due to:

– National and international crises

• The Congress is a slow and deliberative body

• The Executive can act quickly

– America’s rise to a global power

– The increased size of the federal government

– The growing speed of transportation and communication

Establishing the President’s Authority: The First Presidents

• President Washington’s precedents

– Established the primacy of the national government

– Held regular meetings with his advisers (establishing the Cabinet system)

– Asserted the prominence of the chief executive’s role in foreign affairs

– Claimed inherent power of the presidency

• Powers that can be derived or inferred from what is formally described in the Constitution

Incremental Expansion of Presidential Powers: 1809-1933

• Most presidents from Madison to Hoover failed to exercise the powers of the presidency in any significant manner

• Andrew Jackson was the first president to act as strong national leader.

– Made extensive use of veto power

– Reasserted the supremacy of the national government (and the presidency) by facing down South Carolina’s nullification of a federal tariff law

Expansion of Presidential Powers: Abraham Lincoln

• Lincoln argued that the inherent powers of his office allowed him to circumvent the constitution in a time of war or national crisis in order to make sure the laws of the U.S. were faithfully executed

– Suspended the write of habeas corpus

– Expanded the size of U.S. army above Congress’s mandates

– Ordered a blockade of southern ports (initiating war without congressional approval)

– Closed the U.S. mails to treasonable mailings

The Period of Weak Presidents

James Polk

Zachary TaylorMillard Fillmore Franklin PierceJames Buchanan

Abraham Lincoln

Andrew JohnsonUlysses GrantRutherford Hayes

William McKinley

Theodore Roosevelt

William Taft

Woodrow Wilson

Warren HardingCalvin CoolidgeHerbert Hoover

The Narrow View of Presidential Power

• William Howard Taft:

• “The president can exercise no power which cannot be . . . traced to some specific grant of power . . . in the constitution.”

Teddy’s Roosevelt’s Stewardship Theory

• “I decline to adopt the view that what was imperatively necessary for the nation could not be done by the president unless he could find some specific authorization to do it. My belief was that it was not only his right but his duty to do anything that the needs of the nation demanded, unless such action was forbidden by the Constitution.”

Woodrow Wilson

• Scholar (political scientist), President of Princeton University, Governor of New Jersey, President from 1913-1921

• President during World War I

• Negotiated and tried hard to have the Senate approve the League of Nations

• Most experts agree also produced our first de facto woman president

The Growth of the Modern Presidency

• The Great Depression

• The rise of mass communication (radio)

• World War II and America becoming a World Leader

The Modern PresidencyPublic Expectations / Presidential Roles

• Symbolic Presidency

– Head of State AND Head of Government

• Manager of Crises

• Policy Leadership

• Manager of the Economy

• Leader of the Free World

• And also

– Party leader

– Manager of the federal bureaucracy

Presidential Resources

• The Presidential institution

• Negotiating skills

• Public opinion

The Presidential Institution

• Early Presidents had limited staff assistance

• Brownlow Commission in the 1940s:

– “The President needs help.”

• Led to the creation of The Executive Office of the President

The Executive Office of the President

• EOP

– Establishment created in 1939 to help the president oversee the executive branch bureaucracy

– Most important members:

• National Security Council

• Council of Economic Advisors

• Office of Management and Budget

• Office of the Vice President

• U.S. Trade Representative

National Security Council

Traditionally consists of the president, vice president, secretary of state, and secretary of defense

The White House Staff

• Personal assistants to the president, including senior aides, their deputies, assistants with professional duties, and clerical and administrative aides

– Chief of Staff

• Size increased over time

• Current White House has 435 staffers

The Cabinet

• Made up of cabinet secretaries and Attorney General

• Begun by Washington as a way for president to stay informed of programs and issues

• Since FDR has substantially declined in importance, though still referred to in the media

Presidential Resource:Negotiating Skills

• President Lyndon Johnson:

– “Without constant attention from the administration, most legislation moves through the congressional process at the speed of a glacier”

• Presidents must be the chief lobbyist for their legislative programs

Presidential Resource:Public Opinion

• Presidential Honeymoon period

• Communication skills

– President’s “going public”

• Popularity with the public

Presidential Popularity

• President has the best chances of convincing Congress to follow his policy lead when his public opinion ratings are high

• Presidential popularity, however, follows a cyclical pattern

– Highest level of approval at the beginning of their terms

– Each action the president takes is divisive (some will approve, others will not)

– Disapproval tends to have a cumulative effect so in general approval wanes over time

– Since Lyndon Johnson’s presidency, only four presidents have left office with approval ratings of more than 50%

Presidential Power:Has it gone too far?

• The Expansion of Power

– Presidents may develop new roles for and expand power of the office.

• Perspectives on Presidential Power

– During the 1950’s and 1960’s people favored a powerful president.

– By the 1970’s, presidential power was checked and distrusted by the public.

Presidential Power:Where are the Checks and Balances?

• President Nixon:

– Authorized wiretaps to control leaks without any judicial warrant or review by Congress

• President George W. Bush

– Patriot Act authorizes government agencies to wiretap, investigate financial and health records

– Issue is not whether government needs to do this to fight terrorism, but can the executive branch do this alone – without judicial or congressional review?

The Patriot Act (Again)

• Eliminates checks and balances

• The executive branch alone may carry out searches and wiretaps at the request of a foreign government,

• Or extradite American citizens to foreign countries for trial

• Both without any review by an American judge

• Alexander Hamilton:

– a policy that allows "confinement of the person, by secretly hurrying him to jail, where his sufferings are unknown or forgotten" is a "dangerous engine of arbitrary government."

• All president get frustrated by the slow action of Congress

– They want to get things done

• Every president is tempted to increase the power of the office

• From time to time, the Congress pushes back

– War Powers Act

– Possible reduction in budget for Iraq War

Other Presidency Issues

• The Vice President

• First Ladies

• Executive Privilege

• Immunity While in Office

Vice Presidents

• All presidential candidates claim they selected as their vice presidential running mate “the person best qualified to take over as president”

• A far more important concern to presidential candidates is “balancing the ticket”

• GW Bush – no Washington experience, so selects Dick Cheney

• Jack Kennedy, young and inexperienced, selected Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson

• Richard Nixon, Californian, selects southern governor Spiro Agnew