THE PRESIDENCY
Chapter 8
OConnor 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 Nixons 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 VPs 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 dont 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 presidents 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
Trumanonly 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 nations 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.