WELCOME TO ELECTION DAY! Your task is to exercise your greatest right as an American citizen: Vote for the next President of the U.S. The Candidates are:  Candidate 1 Married his fifth cousin. He consults with astrologists. Has two mistresses. He chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis a day.  Candidate 2 Kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon, used opium in college and drinks a quart of brandy every evening.  Candidate 3 A decorated war hero, a vegetarian, doesn’t smoke, drinks an occasional beer and hasn’t had any illicit affairs.

MEET THE CANDIDATES! Married his fifth cousin. He consults with astrologists. Has two mistresses. He chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis a day. Who is candidate # 1? Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32 nd President of the U.S. who was elected four times to office.

MEET THE CANDIDATES! Kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon, used opium in college and drinks a quart of brandy every evening. Who is candidate # 2? Sir Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of England during WWII. Refused to surrender to the Germans and kept the war effort going until the U.S. entered WWII.

MEET THE CANDIDATES! A decorated war hero, a vegetarian, doesn’t smoke, drinks an occasional beer and hasn’t had any illicit affairs. Who is candidate # 3? Adolf Hitler, Chancellor and then Führer of Germany. He was responsible for the killing of 11 to 14 million people, 6 million who were Jewish.

MEET THE CANDIDATES! The Point: People will manipulate you. To the masses, words are not as powerful as images. You have to read and be informed.

CHAPTER 13: PRESIDENTIAL ROLES Presidential Roles: Various aspects of being President of the U.S. Chief Administrator Chief Executive Chief Diplomat Chief of State Commander in Chief Assignment: Complete the handout, The President’s Job Description. On the back of your handout, answer the following prompt: Identify and explain which presidential role you feel is most important and why. Chief Legislator

CHAPTER 13: THE PRESIDENCY Presidential Succession If a president dies, resigns, or is removed from office, then the vice- president succeeds into office and becomes the president. The constitution did not clearly spell out what to do in some specific instances of presidential disability, so the 25 th Amendment was created in Some events that occurred: Eisenhower had a heart attack and stroke Garfield lingered for 80 days before dying from an assassin’s bullet Wilson suffered a stroke and was an invalid for his 2 nd term Reagan was injured during an assassination attempt

CHAPTER 13: THE PRESIDENCY 25 th Amendment This amendment provides that the vice-president will become president if: 1.The president informs congress that he is unable to perform his duties, or 2.The vice-president and a majority of the cabinet inform congress that the president is incapacitated. If the incapacity is resolved, then the president can come back by notifying congress. The 25 th has been invoked 3 times: Reagan transferred power when he went in for surgery. Bush transferred power twice during his two terms for surgery. The purpose of the 25 th is to ensure continuity of governmental leadership.

1.Vice President10. Secretary of Commerce 2.Speaker of the House11. Secretary of Labor 3.Pres. pro temp of the Senate12. Secretary of H&HS 4.Secretary of the State13. Secretary of HUD 5.Secretary of Treasury14. Secretary of Transportation 6.Secretary of Defense15. Secretary of Energy 7.Attorney General16. Secretary of Education 8.Secretary of the Interior17. Secretary of VA 9.Secretary of Agriculture18. Secretary of Homeland Sec. Presidential Succession Act of 1947 This federal law provides for clear lines of succession in the event that the vice-president is unable to succeed into the presidency.

CHAPTER 13: THE PRESIDENCY Vice-President Importance of the Office: 1.Succeed into office should something happen to the President 2.Preside over the U.S. Senate 3.Help decide the question of Presidential disability Impact on election: Vice-President can balance the ticket with the President to help get him/her elected. Vice-Presidential Vacancy: Should there be a vacancy in the office, then the President selects a replacement that must be approved by a majority of Congress.

CHAPTER 13: PRESIDENTIAL SELECTION Presidential Selection The Framers struggled with how to select the president. They knew they did not want the presidency selected by Congress or direct elections by the people. They came up with the Electoral College. Each state would have presidential electors equal to the number of representatives and senators that state has in Congress. For example, Florida has 29 votes in the Electoral College (we have 27 Representatives in the House and 2 Senators in the U.S. Senate). Each Today, a candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.

CHAPTER 13: PRESIDENTIAL SELECTION Presidential Selection Electoral College – each State has electors that equal its representation in Congress. For example, Florida has 29 members in Congress (27 in the House and 2 in the Senate), so it has 29 electors. In Wyoming, there are three members in Congress (1 in the House and 2 in the Senate), so they have 3 electors. Problems with the Electoral College: 1.The popular vote winner doesn’t always win the electoral vote. (Bush v. Gore in 2000) 2.Electors can in theory vote for whoever they want, 3.If a candidate doesn’t get the required 270 electoral votes, the House of Representatives decides who shall become president.

2000: Al Gore had over half a million votes more than George W. Bush, with 50,992,335 votes to Bush's 50,455,156. But after recount controversy in Florida and a U.S. Supreme Court ruling, Bush was awarded the state by 537 popular votes. Because the winner takes all in electoral votes, this means that the candidate who wins the state’s popular vote also wins all of the state’s electoral votes. Bush became president with 271 electoral votes.  Presidential Trivia

Alternatives to the Electoral College National Popular Vote Plan Direct Popular Election Proportional Plan District Plan DPE – eliminates the Electoral College, simply add up who wins and loses nationwide. NPV – requires States to simply award Electoral votes based on who wins the direct popular vote. DP – each State would choose its electors like it does for the House. Then, each elector would vote as each district voted. PP – each candidate would receive a share of each State’s electoral vote equal to his/her share of the State’s popular vote.

1.Identify the five States with the highest electoral votes. Lowest five? 2.How many electoral votes does our state have? Explain why we gain electoral votes every 10 years. 3.It takes 270 electoral votes to win the Presidency. What is the fewest # of States a candidate can win the Presidency with?