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The President of the United

States
AKA: POTUS

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Learning Targets
1.

I can describe the qualifications

to be president and the eight
roles the president plays.

2.

I can describe the role of the Vice

President and explain presidential
succession.

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Animaniacs: Presidents

https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=Vvy0wRLD5s8

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Journal #1: What do you think
the president does all day?

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8 roles of POTUS
1.

Chief of State
Ceremonial head
of government
Symbol of the
People

3.

Chief
Administrator
Employs 2.8 million
civilians

4.
2.

Chief Executive
Executive Power
broad
Limited by checks
and balances

Chief Diplomat
Main architect of
foreign policy
Nations chief
spokesman to world

+8 roles of POTUS
5.

7.

6.

8.

Commander-inChief
head of military
Dominant in military
and foreign affairs
Chief Legislator
Main author of public
policy
Shapes congressional
agenda

Chief of Party
Leads party that controls
executive branch
Role not mentioned in
Constitution
Chief Citizen
Representative of all
people
Champions public over
private interests
Role not mentioned in

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Formal Qualifications
3

of them. Who can

name them?

Natural-born
At

citizen of the US

least 35 years old

Resident

at least 14 years

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Term Limits
Constitution

didnt set term limits

George

Washington set custom/precedent

for 2 terms

FDR

broke the custom when elected to 4

terms (1932-1944)

22nd

Amendment (1951): limits Presidents to

no more than 2 full elected terms in office
If

succeeds to the office after the middle of a term,

can still seek 2 full terms
No President can serve more than 10 years in
office

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Controversy
Against:
Some

argued that
this unfairly limits the
right of the people to
choose their
President

Some

say it weakens
a Presidents
influence at the end
of the second term

For:
Supporters

say it
protects against abuse
of executive power

Others:
Some

argue for a single

six-year term, which
would free the President
from worrying about
reelection

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Benefits
Congress

sets the Presidents annual

salary
Salary

cant be changed while a President is in

office
Current

salary (set in 2001) is $400,000 a year

plus $50,000 a year for expenses

President

cant receive any other pay from the

government or the States while in office

Other

benefits: living in the White House;

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March 17, 2014 Obama

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March 19, 2014 Biden

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Worksheet Activity: Blue Page
President
Mark

Trumans schedule

each activity on the list according to which of the

Presidents eight roles it fulfills. More than one can
apply.

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Presidential Succession
25th

Amendment
(1967): the VP formally
assumes the office of
president

VP

has succeeded the

President 9 times in US
History (starting in
1841)

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Order of Succession
Presidential

Succession Act of
1947 sets the order
The

presiding
officers of Congress,
followed by the head
so the cabinet
departments in the
order that they were
created.

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Presidential Disability
For

several years, there were no provisions for

deciding if a President was too disabled to
continue in office.
President

Wilson had a stroke in 1919 and was too ill to meet

with his cabinet for 7 months

25th

Amendment says the VP becomes Acting

President if:
President

informs Congress in writing that he cant carry out the

powers or duties of the office, OR
The VP and the majority of the members of the Cabinet inform
Congress in writing that the President is incapacitated

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The Vice Presidency
Formal

Duties of the VP:

Constitution

gives 2 formal duties:

Preside over the Senate
Help decide if the President is
disabled

Historically,

the VP has had low

statuschosen to balance the
ticket to help the President get

+The Vice Presidency Today

Recent

VPs have had

more political
experience and
influence

Joe

Biden brought years

of foreign policy
experience to his office

Dick

Cheney is widely
viewed as the most
influential VP in history
(had served as Chief of
Staff, Secretary of
Defense)

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First Lady
NOT

an official/elected
position

Hostess

of the White House

has a staff to coordinate
social/ceremonial events of
the White House

Advisor

to the President

Fashion

trendsetters

Jacqueline

Kennedy, Nancy

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First Lady cont.
Social

Activism chooses 1 or 2
causes to champion during her
husbands presidency.
Nancy

Reagan Just Say No drug awareness

campaign
Barbara Bush promoted literacy
Hillary Clinton sought to reform the healthcare
system
Laura Bush supported womens rights
groups/encouraged childhood literacy
Michelle

Obama supporting military

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Best/Worst Presidents
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x155w3a_biography-the-best-andworst-u-s-presidents_shortfilms

According

to Biography.com

On

your own paper: list the 10

best, 5 worst Presidents in
American history.

For

each one, list two reasons

they were chosen for their
positions.

For

each one, write if you agree or

+
Who should be president?
In

groups of three or four, come up with a set of

qualifications for someone to be president

Part 2 Powers

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Gaining
Power
In

the
cartoon,
who is
giving the
President
increased
powers?

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Constitutional Powers
Article

2 gives power to:

Command

the armed forces

Make treaties
Approve or veto acts of Congress
Send or receive diplomats
Take care that the Laws be faithfully
executed
The

presidency has been called the

most powerful office in the world

+Why has Presidential Power

grown over time?
Quicker

decisions

Compared

to Congress, the executive branch is a

unified office with one leader

Citizens

have looked to the presidency for

leadership
As

the role of the federal government has

grown/country endured wars and other major crisis

Congress

has delegated authority to the

executive branch
To

carry out the many laws passed by the

legislative branch

+Opposing Views
How much power should the President have?
Framers

of the Constitution

needed a stronger leader, but afraid he would

become a king

Theodore

Roosevelt: stewardship theory

President should do whatever he could to help the

public, using whatever powers he claimed

William

H Taft: All executive power had to be

based clearly on the Constitution

Critics:

Imperial Presidency because

presidents often take actions without consulting
Congress

Supporters:

the President needs to act more

+Executive Powers
A.

The Ordinance Power

Issue

B.

Executive Orders that have the effect of law

The Appointment Power

The

president appoints about 3,000 of the 2.7 million federal

workers; appointments must be approved by a majority of the
Senate.

C.

The Removal Power

Constitution

doesnt say how appointed officials should be

removed; 1962 Supreme Court ruled that the removal power
was a key part of the Presidents authority to execute laws

D.

Executive Privilege

Presidents

have refused to reveal certain information to

Congress or the federal courts; Congress has never officially
recognized the right of executive privilege

+Executive Privilege
United

States v. Nixon
(1974) Court ruled
unanimously that the
President could claim
executive privilege in
matters involving national
security.
BUT:

the Court ruled that

executive privilege
cannot be used to
prevent evidence from
being heard in a criminal
proceeding, as that would

+Legislative Powers
As

Party Chief, the President can

greatly influence Congress

President

sends messages to
Congress to suggest legislation

Three
State

major messages a year:

of the Union
Presidents budget message
The Annual Economic Report

+Legislative Powers: Veto

Power
When

Congress (both houses) pass a bill, the

President can
Sign

the bill into law

Veto the bill
Allow the bill to become law by not acting upon it within ten
days
Exercise a pocket veto at the end of a congressional session
by not acting on the bill before Congress adjourns in under
ten days
Congress
Hard

can override with 2/3rds majority:

to get enough votes in each house to override the veto

Threat of a veto can defeat the bill or cause changes to be
made

+ Do you think the veto gives

the President too much
authority?

Legislative Powers:
Signing Statements

describe how a new law should be enforced

OR points out problems the President sees
with the law
Presidents

may issue signing statements when

signing a bill into law

President

George W. Bush issued a record

number of signing statements
Claimed

the power to refuse to enforce certain

provisions of a law or to interpret it as he saw fit
Critics saw this as an attempt to veto bills without
exercising a formal veto

+Legislative Powers: Line-Item

Veto

Currently: President can either accept all of a bill

or reject all of it
Line-Item

Veto: Allows President to reject parts

of the bill but sign others into law.

Supreme

Court has ruled that the line-item veto

power can only be given to the President by a
constitutional amendment
Supporters:

this would cut down on wasteful federal

spending
Opponents: shift too much power from the legislative

+Judicial Powers
Pardon:

legal forgiveness of a crime

Must

be accepted for it to go into effect and is seen as an

admission of guilt by the person to whom it is given
President Ford pardoned former President Nixon in 1974
before Nixon had been tried for the Watergate Scandal
Clemency:

power of mercy or leniency

Commutation:

reduce a fine or length of a

sentence imposed by a court

Amnesty:

blanket pardon offered to a group of

violators
Benjamin

Harrison in 1893 pardoned all Mormons who had

violated polygamy laws
Jimmy Carter in 1977 pardoned all Vietnam War draft evaders

Best/Worst Presidents
http://www.hulu.com/watch/537193

Homework:
Green Pages of Packet- United
States v. Nixon
3 pages total

Part 3 Foreign Policy

Foreign Policy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqIh3N7_xGk

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1. Make Treaties
Same

legal status as an act of Congress

must

not conflict with any part of the

Constitution

Remember:

a 2/3 majority of the Senate

must approve all treaties before they go
into effect.
Senate

has an important role in shaping US

foreign policy.
The Senate can reject a treaty in 1920 the

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2. Executive Agreement
President

can
make these
without Senate
approval

Not

part of
American law:
future presidents
not bound by
these agreements

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3. Power of Recognition
President

recognizes the legal status of

other nations on behalf of the US.

Send

diplomatic representatives

US

recognizes some nations whose

conduct it does not agree with

Expel

foreign diplomats or recalling US

diplomats from a foreign country is a
strong expression of disapproval,
sometimes a step toward war

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Commander in Chief
1.

Making undeclared war

US pres. Have sent armed forces into

combat abroad without a declaration of
war
John Adams had the US Navy fight French
warships in 1798
Ronald Reagan ordered the invasion of
Grenada in 1983 to block a military coup
George H. W. Bush ordered the ouster of
Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega in
1989

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Commander-in-Chief
2.

Congressional Resolutions

Congress

has not declared war since

WW2
BUT:

Congress has passed eight joint

resolutions authorizing the President to
use military force abroad, such as:
In

1955, Congress let President Eisenhower

position the US Navy to block Chinese
aggression toward Taiwan.
The Iraq Resolution of 2002 authorized the
use of force against Iraq.

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Commander-in-Chief
3.

War Powers Resolution of 1973

President

can only commit military forces to

combat only
If

Congress has declared war, OR

Congress has authorized military action, OR
An attack on the nation or its armed forces has taken
place. In this case, Congress must be notified within 48
hours and can end the commitment of troops at any time.
Vietnam

War: LBJ and Nixon used the war-making

power during the undeclared war, which was widely
viewed as a failure at the time

Still

debate over whether this resolution is

constitutional or not

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17.1 Foreign Affairs and
Diplomacy
How

is foreign policy made and

conducted?
Foreign

policy is made by the President

with the advice of the Secretary of State
and the State Department

Carried

out by US Ambassadors and other

diplomats

Conducted

by Americas stands on issues

such as international trade, human rights,
and international conflicts.

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Isolationism to Internationalism
Foreign

policy = any stands and actions a

nation takes in every aspect of its relationship
with other countries, including diplomatic,
military, and economic

Examples:
Treaties
Alliances
Foreign

aid
US policies on international trade, immigration, human
rights and the environment
For

nearly 150 years US foreign relations were

based on isolationism but from the 1940s on,
the US has played a major role in world

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State Department
Current:

John Kerry

First

executive department
created by Congress

Divided

into bureaus that

deal with specific
geographic regions/issues

major foreign policy goals:

Protecting

America
Advancing Democracy
Protecting American values
Supporting diplomatic officials

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Ambassadors and Embassies
US

has embassies in
more than 180
countries
Diplomatic

Immunity in
host country
The Iran Hostage Crisis
(1979)
Iranian

students
violated diplomatic
immunity/international
law by seizing the
American embassy in
Tehran and holding 52
Americans hostage for
444 days

Released

after Reagan

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Travel Documents

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Foreign Aid and Alliances
How

does the United States

cooperate with other nations?
1.

Economic/military aid to other

countries
Marshall Plan (aid to Europe post WW2)
Today: military/economic to Asia, the
Middle East, Latin America
2. Belongs to a number of regional
security alliances pledged to mutual
defense.
NATO, etc

HOMEWORK:
PEACH paper in your packetAmerican Foreign Policy
Overview

UN

Declaration of Rights

Pick 5 of those how is the US following or not?

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US Foreign Policy Timeline
Activity
Part

Worksheet instructions

Part

1:
2:

Groups of 3-4, transfer this info into a larger piece of paper