1- The President

I) Roles of the President

A) Official Roles in the Constitution
a) chief executive
(i) ensure government programs are carried out and laws are enforced
b) commander in chief
(i) order troops into action or call them home
c) foreign policy leader
(i) design the nation’s plan with dealing with other countries
(ii) direct the activities of ambassadors
(iii) receive foreign ambassadors and negotiate treaties
d) chief agenda setter
(i) the president is expected to give a ‘State of the Union’ speech to Congress every
year, and often the speech includes various programs the president wants enacted
into law
B) Unofficial Roles
a) chief of state
(i) the symbolic figurehead of the United States
1 includes representing the country at foreign events (like a funeral), or in
hosting a dinner with a foreign country
b) party leader
(i) leader of the political party
c) chief citizen
(i) since the president and vice president are the only two nationwide elected
positions, they are usually held to a higher standard than common citizens
1 they are expected to be models of good citizenship and keep a high standard
of personal behavior
II) Formal Characteristics of the Presidency
A) Written Qualifications
a) at least 35 years old
b) lived in the country for 14 years
c) natural born US citizen
(i) includes anyone born of a US citizen or citizens (anywhere) or anyone born
within the US, in a US territory, or on a military base
B) Term of Office
a) originally set at 4 year terms with the ability to run and win as often as a person
wanted
(i) after George Washington only ran twice, it set an unofficial precedent of 2 terms
1 in 1940, Franklin D. Roosevelt ran for a 3rd term and won, arguing the country
needed experienced leadership in the face of WWII
2 he won again in 1944, but died in 1945
(ii) in 1947, Congress proposed an Amendment (22) that limited the president to 2
terms and no more than 10 years in office
1 a vice president could take over after 2 years, then be elected twice
C) Election to Office
 a) president is selected by the electoral college
(i) the number for each state is determined by the number of representatives and
senators for each state
1 435 representatives + 100 senators + 3 electors for Washington DC = 538
(ii) in 48 states, electors are chosen by political parties, and whoever wins the
majority for the state overall gets all the electoral votes
1 this is how overall a candidate can have more votes, but lose the electorate
 candidate A wins 80% of Texas (22 million people), gaining 36 electoral
votes
 candidate B wins 51% of California (20 million people), and gains 55
electoral votes
 candidate B wins, but candidate A got 2 million more votes
(iii) in Maine and Nebraska, electors are chosen for each district, so electoral
numbers can be split based on which districts each candidate won
D) Succession
a) the 25th Amendment made a clear line of succession for the presidency
(i) this does not just mean death, but any sort of disability that would prevent the
president from carrying out his duties
III) Unwritten Qualifications for the Presidency
A) Backgrounds
a) many presidents share common characteristics
(i) all have been white men except for Barack Obama
(ii) all have been proclaimed Christian
1 only one Catholic (John F. Kennedy)
(iii) ¾ have been in the military at some point
B) Personal Qualities
a) people who have run for president have mostly been well liked by a majority of
people
(i) the only exception to this was the election of Donald Trump, who was merely
disliked less than Hillary Clinton
1 typically presidents enter at their highest point of popularity- President
Trump’s polls started at 45%, compared to President Obama’s starting
numbers at 68%
2- The Powers of the Presidency

I) Executive Powers
A) Appointment and Removal Powers
a) the president appoints various people to serve in the Executive Branch
(i) these people usually work for the president, and can be hired and fired like normal
jobs
b) the president also nominates people for positions in federal (and Supreme) courts
(i) these must be approved by Congress
(ii) the president cannot remove them once they are confirmed- they work for life
unless they retire or are impeached
c) today, the president appoints about 3000 people total
B) Executive Orders
a) the president may issue direct orders to members of the Executive Branch
establishing new rules or instructing how to carry out certain laws
(i) most of the time they are used to explain the president’s interpretation of a law
b) these orders have the force of law, but can be overridden by a Congressional law or
by a federal judge determining the order to be unconstitutional
(i) this happened most recently with President Trump’s travel ban order based on the
religion of the country where people were coming from
C) Executive Privilege
a) the president can refuse to turn over information to Congress or to a court
(i) this is meant to protect national security (can’t release classified documents)
1 this was claimed by Nixon during the Watergate scandal, but the Supreme
Court overruled Executive Privilege in this case
II) Diplomatic and Military Powers
A) Diplomatic Powers
a) as lead diplomat, the president can negotiate treaties with other countries
(i) this is limited by Congress, who must approve the treaty in the Senate
b) the president can enter into an executive agreement
(i) not quite as binding as a treaty, but it does basically the same job and doesn’t
require the approval of the Senate
c) the president also can recognize a new country
(i) called diplomatic recognition
(ii) because of the US’s power across the world, recognizing a country is a huge step
in the new country surviving the first few years
B) Military Powers
a) as commander in chief, the president directs military forces around the world
(i) usually this is done through the Secretary of Defense, who is the highest ranking
member of the military (outside of the president)
1 usually this person has significant experience in the military
b) though Congress alone has the power to declare war, the president has often (over
200 times) sent troops to fight without a formal declaration
(i) this has been limited after Vietnam, but he still has some ability to deploy troops
III) Legislative and Judicial Powers
A) Legislative Powers
 a) the president uses the State of the Union to propose new legislation to Congress
(i) he can also use a member of Congress to propose his ideas
b) primarily, the president has veto power over new laws
(i) this can be overridden by a 2/3 vote in Congress
B) Judicial Powers
a) can control the courts by appointing his supporters to lifetime positions
b) can also grant clemency (mercy) to someone convicted of a crime, as long as the
crime is federal
(i) cannot pardon people guilty of state or local crimes
IV) Informal Powers
A) Media
a) most times, the president is followed around by a large group of media personnel
(i) they can then address issues immediately instead of called a press conference
(ii) those who are particularly likeable tend to be very skilled in using the media to
make themselves look at their best
1 Reagan, Kennedy, and Obama were all very good with the press
B) Party Leader
a) as party leader, members of the president’s party are expected to follow his lead
(i) it is very embarrassing for a president to fail a bill because members of his party
rebel
(ii) loyal supporters can expect support from the president when they are up for
reelection
1 if the president isn’t popular, though, they might not want the support
V) Checks on the President’s Powers
A) Formal Checks
a) judicial review
(i) laws signed or executive orders given can be struck down by federal courts
b) advice and consent
(i) the Senate can prevent judicial nominees from being approved
B) Informal Checks
a) media
(i) by keeping the public informed of the day to day operations, the media provides a
check on the president- he doesn’t want his poll numbers to go down
1 public approval means the president has power
VI) Changes in Presidential Power
A) The First 100 Years
a) mostly, presidents followed the letter of the Constitution and allowed Congress to
retain most of the power
(i) Andrew Jackson was the exception
1 he believed the president was the one true representative of the people, and
used his power of the veto to get rid of laws he simply didn’t like
 he also used this as a way to get Congress to do what he wanted
B) Expanding Power
a) during and after the Civil War, presidential power greatly expanded
(i) Lincoln took on great powers during the war, citing his responsibility to protect
the Constitution, which he believed was in danger
 1 he was fully ready to give up those powers as the war ended, but was killed
b) using Lincoln’s argument of protecting the Constitution, Theodore Roosevelt used the
presidency as a “bully pulpit” to shape public opinion as he wanted
(i) he was popular and likeable, and used popular support to force Congress to pass
legislation he wanted
1 he especially wanted to limit the power of big business
c) the Great Depression expanded presidential powers most of all
(i) the emergency of so many people starving and losing their homes led to Franklin
Roosevelt creating a series of programs (Social Security, Medicare, etc)
1 these programs are now expected in American society
C) Presidential Power and the Media
a) as technology has advanced, presidents have adjusted to use especially TV and
internet to reach the people directly
(i) the media can either make a plan look great or terrible, and presidents usually try
to get them on their side
1 they often hire people from the media to write speeches and prepared
statements to make sure nothing gets twisted or makes them look bad
 intense media scrutiny can greatly weaken presidential power
3- The President’s Administration

I) Executive Office of the President

A) Formation of the EOP
a) when Teddy Roosevelt expanded government’s role, his office staff also expanded
b) the staff expanded again during the Great Depression
c) the country became a world power after WWII, and because of the threats that come
with it (and the nuclear age), the staff had to grow immensely to handle the amount of
new incoming information on a daily basis
(i) members of the EOP are the top people in government that help the president
form policy
1 these people are nominated by the president and approved by the Senate
B) The White House Office
a) the heart of the EOP
(i) these are the key staffers closest to the president and do not require Senate
approval
1 the number of people depends on the president
(ii) the top person here is the chief of staff
1 their responsibilities depend on the president
 currently President Trump is on his third chief of staff Mick Mulvaney
(iii) the press secretary handles interaction with the press and president
1 this person usually has daily meetings with the press to keep them informed of
day to day operations and opinions
 President Trump does not currently have a press secretary after the last
two were fired
(iv)other members include various staffers and secretaries that handle information
and give important pieces to the president
C) National Security Council
a) probably the most important part of the EOP
(i) made of the top military, foreign affairs, and intelligence officials in the country
1 coordinate plans and information and chaired by the president
(ii) meetings also include the vice president, various members of the Cabinet, and the
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
1 the JCS is the heads of each branch of the armed forces
b) the NSC was created in 1947 at the beginning of the Cold War
D) Council of Economic Advisers
a) designed to give advice about the economy in order to build an economic policy
E) Office of Management and Budget
a) designed to help develop the federal budget and oversee the Executive Branch’s use
of the budget
(i) largest part of the EOP, and most of the members don’t change when a new
president comes in
II) The Vice President
A) Early Years
a) in the early 1800s, vice presidents carried out the duties assigned by the Constitution
(i) act as President of the Senate
 1 break ties and ensure senators follow procedures
(ii) count electoral votes in presidential elections
(iii) serve as president if he can’t do the job
b) in the first few elections, the vice president was simply the man who got second place
in the election
(i) after 1804, the law was changed so a vice president had his name on the ballot
along with the president
1 sometimes, vice presidents are chosen to help get a person elected
 Hillary Clinton’s running mate was incredibly boring, but was from
Virginia and was popular there, so she won the state
B) The Modern Vice Presidency
a) today, vice presidents are put in charge of certain assignments given by the president,
so they have their own staffs to help
III) The Cabinet
A) History
a) the Constitution does not include the word ‘Cabinet’, but George Washington chose a
group of people to help him run the government, setting the precedent
b) Cabinet members are responsible for carrying out laws and programs within the
Executive Branch
(i) these members act as the advisory council to the president
1 members should be qualified, but often are nominated to the position as a
reward for service, so sometimes unqualified people are named
 the Senate doesn’t have to confirm them, but if they are part of the same
party, it is very likely they will
c) some presidents chose people of varying political leanings to be in their Cabinet so
they will get multiple perspectives
(i) George Washington and Abraham Lincoln are two examples
B) Today
a) there are 16 Cabinet positions including the vice president