Transcript The Executive Branch - Valhalla High School

The Executive Branch
Purpose of Executive Branch:
• Carry out (“execute”) the laws
• Consists of President, cabinet, bureaucracy
So you wanna be President? Are you…
• 35 years old
• natural-born citizen
• 14-year resident of the U.S.
Roles of the President
1. Chief Executive
- Carry out, enforce, execute the laws
- administrator of fed bureaucracy (executive
departments)
- appoint officials and choose cabinet members
2. Chief Diplomat
- conducts
foreign policy
and advises
ambassadors
- makes treaties
and trade
agreements with
other nations
3. Commander
in Chief of
Armed Forces
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In charge of the armed forces
Decides when/where to use and send them
Secretary of Defense is in Executive Dept
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the top
military commander under the Pres
• (US military is run by civilian leaders)
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4. Chief legislator
recommends laws
signs laws into effect
has veto power
presents his agenda to
Congress during annual
state of the union address
5. Chief
of State
• Ceremonial head of govt
6. Judicial Powers
• appoints Supreme Ct justices
• grants pardons
7. Party Head
• Helps members of party get elected
• Make campaign speeches for re-election
• In charge of
fund-raising
George
Washington’s
Precedents
• Cabinet
• Two-terms
• “No entangling
alliances”
• Location of D.C.
• Peaceful transition of
power
The Executive Bureaucracy
• The Cabinet, selected by President
• Carries out laws as well as policies of the
administration
• No provision for the cabinet - as it is now
constituted -in the Constitution
Today’s Executive Departments
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State
Treasury
Defense
Justice
Interior
Agriculture
Commerce
Homeland
Security
• Labor
• Health and
Human Services
• Housing and
Urban Dvlpmnt
• Transportation
• Energy
• Education
• Veterans Affairs
Independent Agencies, sample of 200
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EPA
CIA
FBI
FCC
EEOC
NLRB
NTSB
NRC
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USPS
NASA
FTC
FDIC
Federal land management
agencies
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USFS – United States Forest Service (in USDA)
NPS – National Park Service
BLM – Bureau of Land Management
US Fish and Wildlife Service
• In New York: DEC – Dept of Env Conserv.
• (Federalism)
Presidential Term Limits
• Article II, Section 1: The executive Power shall be vested
in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold
his Office during the Term of four Years...
• George Washington - set two-term precedent
• FDR led nation through 3 terms - elected to 4th
• 1951, Amendment 22, Section 1: No person shall be
elected to the office of the President more than twice, and
no person who has held the office of President, or acted as
President, for more than two years of a term to which some
other person was elected President shall be elected to the
office of the President more than once...
“No Entangling Alliances”
Foreign policy of neutrality
In his first annual address to Congress in 1790, George
Washington said "Observe good faith and justice toward all
nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all . . . The
nation which indulges toward another an habitual hatred or
an habitual fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave
to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is
sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest . . .
it is our true policy to steer clear of
permanent alliances with any portion of the
foreign world."
Location of the nation’s capital
• Philadelphia, the wartime capital, was the leading contender.
The powerful Virginia delegation wanted a location on the
Potomac, with numerous other alternatives suggested.
Characteristically, the solution was found in a compromise.
Alexander Hamilton was floating a scheme for the new
Federal government to assume the war debts of the
individual states. Having hosted most of the war, Northern
states had larger debts than their Southern cousins. Southern
states were understandably reluctant to take on debts they
didn't see as their own. The compromise came with the
Southern states agreeing to assume the debts, and the
Northern delegations allowing a capital in the south.
• The city was of course named Washington, and placed in a
federal District of Columbia. The Constitution specifies a 10
mile square parcel, placed under direct control of the
Congress. George Washington selected the site, a few miles
up river from his home at Mt. Vernon.
Election of the President
• Electoral College
The Electoral College
• Hamilton’s idea - to distance the whim of the
common people from the office of President.
• Voters cast ballots for electors
• Electors cast votes for President and VP
• # of electors per state = Senators + Reps
• Census - every 10 yrs
• Today - electors pledge in advance to vote for
their party.
Amendment XXIII - Presidential Electors for the
District of Columbia
[Ratified March 29, 1961]
Section 1 The District constituting the seat of
Government of the United States shall appoint in such
manner as the Congress may direct: A number of electors
of President and Vice President equal to the whole
number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to
which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but
in no event more than the least populous State; they
shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but
they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election
of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed
by a State; and they shall meet in the District and
perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of
amendment.
Some Interesting Presidential
Elections
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1800
1824
1876
1888
2000
Under the original rules of the Electoral College, as
established by the Constitution, electors cast separate
votes for President and Vice-president. Whoever received
a majority of electoral votes would be the President and
the runner-up would become the Vice-President.
However, a problem arose in the election of 1800 when
Thomas Jefferson and his running mate Aaron Burr each
received 73 electoral votes. When no candidate receives a
clear majority of electoral votes, the Constitution
specifies that the House of Representatives shall choose
the President. It took the House thirty-six ballots to
finally select Thomas Jefferson as the third President of
the United States. To avoid a repeat of such problems,
the 12th Amendment to the Constitution provided for
presidential and vice-presidential candidates to run as a
team, not individually.
The presidential election of 1824 is notable not
only because the outcome was decided by the
House of Representatives but also because the
candidate who won the popular vote--Andrew
Jackson--had failed to win a majority of electoral
votes. The House ultimately selected his
opponent, John Quincy Adams, to be the
President. The results enraged Jackson's
supporters and he was elected President by a
wide margin four years later.
In two other instances, once in 1876 and again in 1888,
the candidate who lost the popular vote won a majority of
electoral votes and was elected President.
Political cartoon showing
Hayes prevailing in disputed
Election.
N.Y.Daily Graphic Feb. 26,
1877
from N.Y. Daily Graphic
June 26, 1877 “Alas, the
Woes of Childhood.”
>> Sammy Tilden-- "BooHoo! Ruthy Hayes's got
my presidency, and won't
give it to me."
1888 Election
In 2000, the outcome of the presidential election
was in doubt for several weeks because of
disputed ballots in the state of Florida. The
state's twenty-five electoral votes, ultimately
awarded to George W. Bush, proved to be
decisive. If the state of Florida had not been able
to certify its electoral votes for either candidate,
the winner of the election may have been
determined in the United States House of
Representatives. It is unclear exactly what role
the House would have played under such a
scenario, but the entire saga put the role of the
Electoral College on center stage. Since the
election, several calls have been issued to
significantly reform or do away with the Electoral
College.
Impeachment
• Article II, Section 4: The President,
Vice President and all Civil Officers of
the United States, shall be removed
from Office on Impeachment for and
Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or
other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
Impeachment of a President
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Has happened twice:
1. Andrew Johnson
2. William Jefferson Clinton
(Nixon resigned before impeachment
proceedings)
Andrew Johnson,
during Reconstruction
William Jefferson Clinton
Richard M. Nixon; resigned
before impeachment, 1974
U.S. Political Parties
The Political Spectrum
Democrats
radical/liberal
Republicans
Liberalism
conservative
Anarchy, Communism, Democracy, Republic, Monarchy, Dictatorship
King Louis XIV
Karl Marx,
John Locke
Robespierre,
Bill Clinton
Rousseau
Common people
Equality, communal
property, welfare
No govt or big govt
Future, idealistic
George W. Bush
Limited govt
Elites, rich, well-born
Capitalism,
private property
Centralized govt
Past, tradition, military
History of U.S. Parties
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Age/Era
Federalist:
Jackson:
Civil War:
New Deal:
Parties
Federalist Democratic-Republican
Whig
Democratic
Republican
Democratic
Republican
Democratic
Third Parties
• 1896, Populism
• 1992, Ross Perot
• 2000, Green Party, Ralph Nader
• Never Win
• Bring up important issues that usually get
addressed later by the major parties
Presidential Succession
 The Vice President
 Speaker of the House
 President pro tempore of the Senate
 Secretary of State
 Secretary of the Treasury
 Secretary of Defense
 Attorney General
 Secretary of the Interior
 Secretary of Agriculture
 Secretary of Commerce
 Secretary of Labor
 Secretary of Health and Human Services
 etc.
Some
Significant
Presidents...
Theodore
Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
John F. Kennedy
The First Lady
Eleanor Roosevelt
Nancy Reagan
Hillary Clinton