The President

Qualifications  Formal:  natural-born citizen of the United States  35 years old  Resident of the United State for 14 years  Informal:  Experience of government (senators and governors most common)  Personal wealth (public funding vs. private funding)  Political beliefs (moderate)

Term  George Washington example:  President for two terms  Each term is for 4 years  Lasted until Franklin Roosevelt (4 terms)  22 nd amendment: officially limits the president to two terms (8 years)

Salary and Benefits  Salary:  $400,000 taxable  $100,000 non taxable travel allowance  $50,000 expense account  Benefits  Air Force One (x2)  Helicopters, limousines  Free medical, dental and health care  White House (132 rooms—swimming pool, bowling alley, private movie theater, and tennis courts)  Government pays for state dinners  Pension—$148,400

Vice-President  Two Duties:  Presides over the Senate. Votes only in a tie.  25 th Amendment: decides if the President is disabled.  14 Vice Presidents have become presidents  9 have succeed the president upon death or resignation

John TylerMillard Fillmore Andrew JohnsonChester Arthur Theodore Roosevelt Calvin Coolidge Harry TrumanLyndon Johnson Gerald Ford

Informal Responsibilities  Before the 1950s, the Vice President was largely ignored by the President  Hubert Humphrey (Lyndon B. Johnson’s VP): “The only authority the VP has is what the President gives him.”  Modern examples:  VP participates in policy meetings  Special assignments (speeches, own projects)  Members of the National Security Council  Bush/Cheney: “When you’re talking to Cheney, you’re talking to me. When Cheney’s talking, it’s me talking”. – George W. Bush

Presidential Succession  8 Presidents have died in office (4 assassinated, 4 natural)  25 th Amendment: first applied in 1973  VP Spiro Agnew resigned  Richard Nixon nominate Gerald Ford (congress approved)  Less than a year later Nixon resigns  Ford becomes President  Ford nominates Nelson Rockefeller to be VP (congress approved)

William Henry Harrison Zachary Taylor Abraham Lincoln James A. Garfield William McKinley Warren G. Harding Franklin Roosevelt John Kennedy Pneumonia Gastroenteritis Assassinated Heart Failure Stroke Assassinated

Presidential Succession (continued)  Vice President  Speaker of the House  President Pro Tempore of the Senate  Secretary of the 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  Secretary of Housing and Urban Development  Secretary of Transportation  Secretary of Energy  Secretary of Education  Secretary of Veterans Affairs  Secretary of Homeland Security

Presidential Disability  Woodrow Wilson had a stroke in office—wife took over much of his duties  Dwight Eisenhower had a heart attack—assistants ran the executive branch  25 th Amendment says VP takes over in one of two ways:  President tells Congress he can’t perform his duties  The VP and majority of the cabinet informs Congress the President is disabled  If there is a power struggle between President and VP, Congress has 21 days to settle dispute  2/3 vote of Congress to side with VP or President takes office again