Chapter 12: The Presidency

Chapter 12

The President

Chapter Summary

Who Can Become President?

The constitutional requirements for becoming president are that a person isa natural born citizen, 35 years oldand at least a fourteen-year resident of the United States. The informal requirements suggest the president is likely to be an older, white, Protestant male.

The Process of Becoming President

The voters do not directly vote for president and vice president but instead vote for electors, who compose the Electoral College and cast the official vote for president. On a few occasions, the Electoral College has failed to elect a president, and the House of Representatives was compelled to make the decision. The Twelfth Amendment, adopted in 1804, clarified one aspect of this process by separating the election of the president and vice president.

The Many Roles of the President

The Constitution established five major roles or functions for the president. These are chief of state, chief executive, commander in chief of the armed forces, chief diplomat, and chief legislator. The chief of state role is dismissed by some as simply symbolic, but in times of crisis, such as the Great Depression and 9/11, it has provided the support and reassurance that the American people badly needed. The chief executive function requires the president, as the head of the executive branch, to see that the laws are faithfully executed. The federal bureaucracy assists the president in carrying out his executive responsibilities. Finally, as chief executive, the president has appointive power to fill some of the most important positions in government. See Table 12-1for a list of these positions. Under his executive power, the president can grant reprieves and pardons for all federal crimes, except in cases of impeachment.

The president as commander in chief of the armed forces represents civilian control of the military. Presidents have probably exercised more authority in this role than any other, from Washington to Lincoln, from Truman to the Bushes. All presidents have not exercised this power in a prudent fashion, which led Congress in 1973 to attempt to gain more control over military actions with the War Powers Resolution. In spite of this resolution, the powers of the president as commander in chief are still extensive. The role of chief diplomat gives the president the power to recognize foreign governments, to make treaties with the approval of the Senate, and to conduct United States foreign policy in general. Presidents have greatly expanded their power in foreign policy through the use of executive agreements, which, unlike treaties, do not require Senate approval.

The president’s power as chief legislator can be found in the constitutional requirement that he provide an annual State of the Union message. This constitutional obligation has gradually evolved into an expectation that the president will present Congress with proposals for legislation. In addition, the president as chief legislator will work to ensure that his programs are enacted into law by Congress. Another aspect of the president’s role as chief legislator is the power he possesses to veto legislation passed by Congress. The president’s veto power was created as an “all or nothing” proposition, in which he was forced to make a decision between accepting an entire piece of legislation and signing it into law or vetoing the legislation in its entirety. See Table 12-2 for the use of the veto by the presidents from Washington to Bush. In the 1990’s Congress expanded the veto to allow the president to veto specific line-itemsin spending bills without rejecting the entire bill. The Supreme Court ruled this expansion of presidential power to be unconstitutional. The president also possesses powers that are inherent in the office of the presidency as well as those powers that are given to him by statutes enacted by Congress.

The President as Party Chief and Superpolitician

Although the Constitution mentions nothing about political leadership, the president is head of his political party. A major tool of the president as party leader is patronage. The president must be concerned about three different constituencies as he leads his party. These constituencies are the public in general, the members of the political parties, and the Washington community. How successful the president is with these constituencies is measured by his approval rating. George W. Bush presents a veritable case study in the significance, and the inconsistency, of public opinion. While his public approval ratings after 9/11 were the highest ever recorded, by the time he ran for reelection they dipped to approximately fifty percent and in his second term they have plummeted to less than forty percent. See Figure 12-1for a look at the approval ratings of modern presidents.

Special Uses of Presidential Power

There are a number of powers and privileges available only to the president. The president is able to employ emergency powers to respond to situations of crisis, as was demonstrated by Abraham Lincoln in the Civil War and Franklin Roosevelt during World War II. The Supreme Court recognized these powers in United States v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corporation(1936). The president also has the power to issue executive orders, which have the force of law. These executive orders are published in the Federal Register. In recent years executive orders were used to classify government information as secret and to establish military tribunals for suspected terrorists. Finally, the president possesses the power of executive privilege, the ability of the president and other executive officials to withhold information from legislative committees. This concept was recognized as legitimate by the Supreme Court in the case of United States v. Nixon (1974). Even though the Court acknowledged the legitimacy of executive privilege, it refused to find in favor of Nixon’s argument that executive privilege justified the withholding of tapes of White House conversations from Congress and the courts. Bill Clinton was unsuccessful in his invocation of executive privilege during the investigation of his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. George W. Bush has also used executive privilege as a means of shielding Homeland Security DirectorTomRidge, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Vice President Dick Cheney.

Abuses of Executive Power and Impeachment

The Constitution empowered the House of Representatives to impeach and the Senate to remove the president, vice president, and other civil officials fortreason, bribery and other high crimes and misdemeanors. What is an impeachable offense? Gerald Ford once said that an impeachable offense was whatever a majority of the House of Representatives, at a particular point in time, said it was. At first glance this seems to be a ludicrous definition. On closer examination it is seen that Ford was exactly right. If the House is ready to brand a presidential action as impeachable, it will. If the House wants to turn a blind eye to the president’s action, it will. Impeachment is one of the most frequently misunderstood concepts in American government. Think of it in three stages. First, the House votes to bring charges against the president. At this point the president has been impeached. However, impeachment is not the end of the process, but rather the beginning. The next step is to hold a trial of the President of the United States on the floor of the Senate. The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presides over this trial. After the trial the Senate votes on whether to actually remove the president. It takes a two-thirds vote to remove the president from office.

Although two presidents have been impeached, no president has been removed from office. President Andrew Johnson was impeachedin 1868 for his failure to faithfully execute laws which he believed to be unconstitutional. The Senate failed to remove him by one vote. In 1974 the House Judiciary Committee recommended impeachment charges against President Nixon for obstruction of justice and violation of the Constitution. He resigned the presidency before the full House of Representatives had the opportunity to vote on his impeachment. In 1998 the House of Representatives impeached President Bill Clinton for obstruction of justice and perjury as he attempted to hide the details of his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. After the Senate conducted the trial of President Clinton, the vote revealed that the necessary two-thirds were lacking to remove Clinton from office.

The Executive Organization

At the beginning of Franklin Roosevelt’s tenure as president, the number of presidential staff totaled thirty-seven. Today the staff is over six hundred people. The president’s cabinet began with four officials. Today there are fourteen department secretaries and the attorney general. Modern presidents do not use the cabinet as an advisory group, but prefer to rely on informal advisers, sometimes called the kitchen cabinet. In 1939, President Franklin Roosevelt issued an executive ordercreating the Executive Office of the President (EOP). The EOP consists of nine staff agencies that assist the president in carrying out various duties. One of the most important agencies in the EOP is the White House Office, which includes most of the key personnel and advisers to the president. In recent presidencies, the chief of staff is in charge of coordinating the White House Office. The Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) was created in 1946 to advise the president on economic matters. In 1970 President Nixon created the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which prepares the federal budget and advises the president on management techniques. The National Security Council (NSC) brings together the president’s foreign policy and military advisers.

The Vice Presidency

Although the vice president stands on the brink of becoming the most important individual in the United States government, the Constitution only gives the vice president the duty to preside over the Senate and to vote in case of a tie. Traditionally candidates for vice president have been selected for political reasons rather than based on a careful consideration of whether they would make good presidents. However, eight times throughout our history the vicepresident has ascended to the highest office in the land with the death of the president. Each time this happened there was no established process to replace the vice president until the next election. In 1967the Twenty-Fifth Amendment to the Constitution provided a mechanism for the replacement of the vice president. Congress would advise and consent to the new vice president. The first use of the process occurred with the resignation of Richard Nixon’s vice president, Spiro Agnew. Congress confirmed Gerald Ford as the new vice president. When President Nixon resigned the next year, Ford selected, and Congress confirmed,Nelson Rockefeller to become vice president. See Table 12-3for the line of succession to the presidency. Finally, the Twenty-Fifth Amendment also addresses the situation in which the president is incapable of discharging the duties of the office and the vice president is required to step in as acting president.

Key Terms

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Chapter 12: The Presidency

cabinet

chief diplomat

chief executive

chief legislator

chief of staff

commander in chief

emergency power

executive agreement

Executive Office of the President (EOP)

executive order

executive privilege

impeachment

line-item veto

National Security Council (NSC)

Office of Management and Budget OMB)

Twenty-Fifth Amendment

Washington Community

White House Office

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Chapter 12: The Presidency

Other Resources

A number of valuable supplements are available to students using the Schmidt, Shelley, and Bardes text. The full list of the supplements is in the preface to this study guide. Ask your instructor how to obtain these resources. One supplement is highlighted here, the INFOTRAC Online Library.

INFOTRAC EXERCISES

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“Clinton’s Misuse of Executive Privilege”

The premise of this article is that President Clinton and members of his administration repeatedly abused executive privilege during the Lewinsky scandal in 1999.

Study Questions

  1. How is executive privilege defined by the courts?
  2. What specific examples of executive privilege did the article outline?
  3. What is the author’s conclusion about Clinton’s use of executive privilege?

Practice Exam

(Answers appear at the end of this chapter.)

Fill-in-the-BlankSupply the missing word(s) or term(s) to complete the sentence.

  1. The ______Amendment clarified aspects of Electoral College voting.
  2. The president decorating war heroes is an example of his role as chief ______.
  3. The president is constitutionally bound to enforce the acts of Congress, the judgements of federal courts, and treaties in his role as ______.
  4. The constitution gives the president the power to grant ______and ______for offenses against the United States except in cases of impeachment.
  5. Presidential power in foreign affairs is greatly enhanced by the use of ______made between the president and other heads of state.
  6. Powers given to the president by law are called ______.
  7. The formal indictment of the president for wrong doing by the House of Representatives is called ______.
  8. The presidential advisory group composed of the secretaries of the executive departments is called the ______.
  9. The official responsible for coordinating the White House Office is the ______.
  10. The only formal duty of the vice president found in the Constitution is to preside over the ______.

True/FalseCircle the appropriate letter to indicate if the statement is true or false.

TF1.A presidential candidate cannot win the Electoral College vote without getting a majority of the popular vote.

TF2.In most democratic governments, the role of chief of state is given to someone other than the chief executive.

TF3.The president’s extensive appointment powers allow him to control and run the federal bureaucracy to suit his desires.

TF4.The president may grant reprieves and pardons for all offenses against the United States except in cases of contempt of court.

TF5.The president has the sole power to recognize or refuse to recognize foreign governments.

T F6.Executive agreements made by the president and the heads of other governments must be ratified by the Senate.

TF7.The presidential veto is an effective legislative tool because Congress rarely can override it.

TF8.Emergency powers are the most common example of inherent powers exercised by the president.

TF9.An executive order has the force of law.

TF10.Most presidents have relied heavily on their cabinet members for advice in decision making.

Multiple ChoiceCircle the correct response.

  1. The most common occupation of presidents has been as a
  1. teacher.
  2. lawyer.
  3. businessman.
  4. farmer.
  5. doctor.
  1. In the event that no candidate receives a majority of the Electoral College votes, the president is selected by the
  1. Senate from the two candidates receiving the highest electoral votes.
  2. Senate from any candidates receiving electoral votes.
  3. Congress from any person they choose to elect.
  4. House of Representatives choosing from the highest three candidates receiving electoral votes.
  5. Supreme Court.
  1. The activity most typical of the Chief of State role is
  1. developing military strategy.
  2. offering the State of the Union Address.
  3. negotiating treaties with foreign governments.
  4. receiving visiting chiefs of state at the White House.
  5. granting a pardon.
  1. The president can remove all of the following from office except
  1. federal judges.
  2. the heads of cabinet departments.
  3. individuals within the executive Office of the President.
  4. the Director of E.P.A.
  5. political appointees.
  1. The effect of the constitutional requirement that the president “shall be the Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy ” is to
  1. require the president to be a commissioned officer.
  2. distort the lines of authority within the command structure of the armed forces.
  3. require the president to take instruction at one of the service academies.
  4. place the armed forces under civilian, rather than military, control.
  5. cause conflicts with the Secretary of Defense.

  1. The role in which the president has probably exercised more authority than in any other role is as
  1. chief administrator.
  2. chief of his party.
  3. Commander-in-Chief.
  4. chief legislator.
  5. chief diplomat.
  1. The activity typical of the role of chief diplomat is
  1. vetoing foreign policy legislation.
  2. delivering the State of the Union address.
  3. meeting with state governors to discuss federal aid.
  4. declaring war.
  5. negotiating treaties with foreign governments.
  1. A typical activity associated with the role of chief legislator is
  1. recognizing representatives from foreign governments.
  2. negotiating treaties with foreign governments.
  3. meeting with state party leaders to discuss campaign strategy.
  4. offering the annual State of the Union address.
  5. decorating war heroes.
  1. The only requirement of a president in issuing an executive order is that the executive order must
  1. pertain to legislatively authorized items.
  2. deal with only military matters.
  3. deal only with the Executive Office of the President.
  4. be designated as an emergency by Congress.
  5. be published in the Federal Register.
  1. Executive privilege
  1. means that no member of the executive branch can be prosecuted for any act while they are performing their job.
  2. is the concept that has been applied to the president’s use of a pocket veto during a session of Congress.
  3. protects the president and his cabinet from impeachment proceedings.
  4. involves the ability of the president to withhold certain information from Congress and/or the courts.
  5. has been ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.
  1. The last president impeached by the House of Representatives was
  1. Lyndon Johnson.
  2. Andrew Johnson.
  3. Richard Nixon.
  4. Bill Clinton.
  5. George W. Bush.
  1. The agency that includes most of the key personal and political advisers to the president is in the
  1. Cabinet.
  2. Congress.
  3. White House Office.
  4. National Security Council.
  5. Office of Management and Budget.

  1. Which statement is correct concerning the vice president’s job?
  1. The Constitution gives several important powers to the vice president.
  2. The Constitution makes the vice president the number one advisor to the president.
  3. Earlier vice presidents had more to do than our recent vice presidents did.
  4. The vice president is in charge of emergency situations.
  5. The Constitution does not give much power to the vice president.
  1. The Constitutional amendment establishing procedures for presidential succession and disability is the
  1. Twelfth Amendment.
  2. Twenty-Fourth Amendment.
  3. Twenty-Fifth Amendment.
  4. Twenty-Seventh Amendment.
  5. Twenty-Eighth Amendment.
  1. The question of who shall be president if both the president and vice president die is answered by the
  1. Twenty-Fifth Amendment.
  2. Twenty-Fourth Amendment.
  3. Succession Act of 1947.
  4. Twelfth Amendment.
  5. Twenty-Seventh Amendment.
  1. The only President to use the line-item veto was
  1. Reagan.
  2. George Herbert Walker Bush.
  3. Clinton.
  4. Nixon.
  5. George W. Bush.
  1. The constituency that measures the presidential performance on a daily basis is the
  1. party constituency.
  2. Congress.
  3. Washington community.
  4. media in rural areas.
  5. Internet.
  1. The style of presidential leadership has changed since World War II because of
  1. stronger political parties.
  2. constitutional amendments.
  3. the influence of television.
  4. post modernity.
  5. the influence of television and the president “going public.”
  1. The emergency powers of the president were recognized in
  1. U.S. v. Curtiss-Wright Export Corp.
  2. Youngstown Steel and Tube Co. v. Sawyer.
  3. U.S. v. Nixon.
  4. Train v. City of New York.
  5. the Federal Register.

  1. Which of the following is not in the Executive Office of the President (EOP)?
  1. White House Office Staff
  2. Office of the Vice President
  3. Council of Economic Advisers
  4. Office of Management and Budget
  5. Attorney General

Short Essay QuestionsBriefly address the major concepts raised by the following questions.