THE PRESIDENCY

Chapter 8

O’Connor and Sabato

American Government:

Continuity and Change

THE PRESIDENCY

In this chapter we will cover…

• The Roots of the Office of President of the United States

• The Constitutional Powers of the President

• The Development of Presidential Power

• The Presidential Establishment

• The Role of the President in the Legislative Process: The President as Policy Maker

• The President and Public Opinion

THE PRESIDENCY

• Can any one person perform the duties of president to the general satisfaction of Americans?

• Is the job too large and too complex for any one person to succeed?

• In this section, we will examine the office of the president, the men who have occupied it, and the public expectations of the office to determine the answers to these questions and more.

•The Roots of the Office of President of the United States

• American colonists distrusted the King to the point that their Articles of Confederation largely neglected the need for an executive.

• With the failure of the Articles, the Framers saw the need for an executive office that would be strong enough to govern, but not so strong that it could abuse power.

• The majority of the Framers agreed that the executive power should be vested in a single person to be called the president.

The Constitutional Convention

Qualifications for Office

• The Constitution requires that the president must be:

– thirty-five years old

– fourteen years a U.S. resident

– a natural-born citizen

Terms of Office

• The length of the president's term was quite controversial.

• Four, seven, and eleven-year terms were suggested at the Convention and several of the Framers suggested a limit of one or two terms.

• The Twenty-Second Amendment now limits presidents to two four-year terms or a total of ten years in office.

Removal of a President

• Removal is the ultimate check on the president.

• The House conducts the investigation and drafts Articles of Impeachment for “treason, bribery, or high crimes and misdemeanors.”

• The Senate tries the case with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court presiding.

• If two-thirds of the Senate votes for the Articles, the president is removed from office.

• Only two presidents have been impeached: Andrew Johnson and William Jefferson Clinton. Neither were removed from office.

Succession

• Through 2001, seven presidents have died in office (plus Nixon’s resignation).

• If the president is unable to perform his duties, the vice president then becomes responsible for the office.

• Congress passed the Presidential Succession Act of 1947 that stated the order of succession after the Vice President:

– Speaker of the House

– President Pro Tempore of the Senate

– Secretary of State, Treasury, Defense, and other Cabinet heads in order of the creation of their department

• The Twenty-Fifth Amendment (1967) lays out succession and allows the president to appoint a new vice president if the post is vacant.

The Vice President

• The VP’s primary job is to assume office if the president dies or is incapacitated.

• His/her only formal duty is to preside over the Senate or to break tie votes in the Senate.

• Historically, the office has had little power and often VPs have low profiles.

– “They know who Amy is, but they don’t know me.”

• VP Walter Mondale.

• A vice president is chosen for a number of reasons:

– geographical balance

– to bring the party back together at the convention

– achieve a social and cultural balance on the ticket

– VPs can also be used to overcome candidate shortcomings

•The Constitutional
Powers of the President

• Article II is quite short and details few powers for the president.

• The president received certain enumerated powers in the Constitution; however, the first line of Article II may be the most important grant of power to the president.

• It states “the executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.”

• The executive power clause has been the basis for allowing the president to exceed the list of enumerated powers in Article II.

•Development of
Presidential Power

• All presidents have had similar formal parameters of checks and balances via the Constitution.

• The power and success of the presidency is dependent upon:

– the personality of the person holding the office

– the informal powers of the presidency

– the goals of the officeholder

– the timing of events…events often shape a presidency (for example, crises often lead to an expansion of presidential powers)

The Growth of the Modern Presidency

• In the twentieth century, the presidency has become ever more powerful.

• The modern presidency began with FDR, who was elected to four terms during two huge national crises:

– The Great Depression

– World War II

• FDR also personalized the presidency with his use of radio “fireside chats” with Americans at home.

• The modern president

– leads a large government

– plays an active and leading role in foreign and domestic policy

– plays a strong legislative role

– uses technology to get “close to Americans”

•The Presidential Establishment

• Today, the president has numerous advisors to help make policy and fulfill the duties of chief executive:

– The Cabinet

– The Executive Office of the President (EOP)

– White House Staff

– The First Lady

The Cabinet

• The Cabinet is not mentioned in the Constitution and is formulated by each president as he/she sees fit.

• The Cabinet consists of the heads of the major bureaucratic departments (State, Defense, Treasury, etc.).

• Congress exercises some control over the bureaucracy -- through advice and consent and budget controls.

The Executive Office
of the President (EOP)

• The EOP was established by FDR and is a very important inner circle of advisors to the president.

• The EOP is staffed by persons responsible to the president alone.

• The EOP includes such important offices as the National Security Council, the Council of Economic Advisors, and the Office of Management and Budget.

White House Staff

• The people most directly responsible to the president are the White House staff such as personal assistants, senior aides, administrative personnel, and more.

• There is no Senate confirmation and their power comes solely from their personal relationship with the president.

• The White House staff reached a height of 583 members in 1972, but has gotten smaller since and is generally around 400.

•The Role of the President in the Legislative Process:
The President as Policy Maker

• FDR claimed the leadership and agenda-setting power for the president and got it.

• FDR shifted the president’s powers from that of simply executing policy to making it.

• However, presidents have a hard time getting Congress to pass their programs especially during periods of divided government.

•The President and Public Opinion

• Bill Clinton spoke to the public in a variety of media configurations about 550 times a year.

• Ronald Reagan averaged 320 appearances a year.

• Harry Truman—only 88 time a year.

• “Going Public”: the act of going over the heads of Congress members to gain direct support from the people.

Continuity and Change

• The presidency is a peculiar institution. Some have argued that the job is too big for one person and that we expect far too much from one person.

• Presidents do have a difficult set of jobs. They are a symbol of the country and a ceremonial leader as well as the nation’s chief executive.

• We know more about our presidents than ever before. We know

– what kind of underwear they prefer

– what they eat

– who they dated in high school

– how much their haircuts cost. Has knowing so much made us lose respect for the office? Perhaps we need to know less about our presidents so that they may do more.