Transcript The President of the United States.

THE PRESIDENT OF
THE UNITED STATES.
History and Powers
Presidential Qualifications
• A natural born citizen (can be born abroad of parents who are
American citizens)
• 35 yrs. Old
• A resident of the United States for at least 14 years
• What do you look for??
Presidential Powers
■ Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces
■ Grant Pardons and Reprieves
■ Convene Congress in Special Sessions
■ Take care that the laws of the land are “faithfully executed”
■ Constitutionally Required to give the State of the Union Address
(sets presidential legislative agenda)
■ Appoint officials to lesser offices
■ Appoint ambassadors, judges, and high officials (Senatorial
Courtesy)
■ Make Treaties (Pending whose approval?)
■ Sign legislation into law and veto power
■ Where are these found in the Constitution??
■ REMEMBER: HEAD of the PARTY!!
The American Presidency
■ The popularly elected President is a uniquely American concept.
– Who is the other executive when we speak of democratic
countries?
■ New trend is for politicians to distance themselves from the
“Washington Mess”
– Advantages of being a part of the “Mess’”
Gridlock
■ Efficient government is a corrupt government.
■ Gridlock is caused by divided government but unified government
is a myth (why is the U.S. not overtly partisan?).
– Split Ticket Voting
Read Federalist#70
■ We will go over the questions and discuss after
History of the Presidency
■ Many ideas for an executive in the U.S. prior to 1787.
– The Articles of Confederation suffered from a decentralized
government with no executive.
■ In Federalist 70, Alexander Hamilton suggest an “elected monarch
(much like the British model).”
– People feared a president with military control.
– “tool of the Senate”
– Reelection fears
– Washington as the example (22nd Amendment)
■ “Make him too weak, the Legislature will usurp his power. Make
Him too strong and he will usurp on the legislature.”
Why the Electoral College?
■ They did not want the legislature to choose the Presidency.
■ Direct popular vote would give too much weight to strong states
(Guaranteed 3 votes for small states).
■ People would not know the candidates well enough to make a good
decision.
■ The electoral college is a winner take-all
– “faithless electors”
– Bush v. Gore 2000
– Promotes a 2 Party system of Government
– Trump v. Clinton 2016
The First Presidents
■ First 5 were Founders or revolutionaries.
■ Early founders denounced factions (aka parties) but ultimately
organized under them.
– Madison said this was inevitable in Fed. 10
■ Early Presidents did not practice strong power, their cabinets often did.
– For instance, Alexander Hamilton and the Treasury Department
– Washington only vetoed twice and Jefferson and Adams never did.
Jackson the Rebel
■ He was elected as a military hero (War of 1812)
– He was a man’s man
■ “Old Hickory”
■ He appealed to the common people
– Voting rights
■ He shot down Congress’ attempt to reauthorize the Second Bank
of the United States
■ Vetoed 12 Bills in total
■ After Jackson’s 2nd term, Congress reemerged.
■ Jackson=Spoils System (Patronage)
Presidential Succession and
Disability
■ 25th Amendment-VP takes over if the President dies (made it official)
– Know the Ford example!
– New President selects new V.P. with majority approval in both
Houses of Congress .
■ The 25th Amendment also provides for presidential disability. If the
president is unable to perform the duties of his office, the vice
president may become "acting president" under one of the following
conditions:
– The president informs Congress of the inability to perform the
duties of president.
– The vice president and a majority of the cabinet inform
Congress, in writing, that the president is disabled and unable to
perform those duties.
■ VP has NO Term limit!!! VP has a lot of appeal-important!
Impeachment Process
■ House impeaches first (2/3rds)
■ Senate Has the Trial with the Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court presiding over it.
■ Officially impeached if the Senate also confirms with a 2/3rds
vote.
Ideal President Assignment
■ Draw your ideal candidate complete with a picture,
background story, religion, and demographic information... do
this by analyzing historical trends
■ Rubric:
– Colorful (5)
– Creative (5)
– Includes a Biography Page (5)
– Explains why you chose those characteristics for your
candidate (5)