1. President as an Establishment

2. Executive Branch Largest Branch of the Government. President
White House Staff
Cabinet
Lower Level Bureaucracy

3. Vice President Constitutional Anomaly
According to the Constitution what are the two responsibilities of the Vice President?
Take over if the President dies or is impeached
Cast a tie breaking vote in the Senate

4. White House Staff Chief Advisors to the president
As well as anyone else in the White House
Closest Friends and Advisors to the President are on the White House Staff
Don’t have to be approved

5. Cabinet
Traditional, but informal designation for the heads of all the major federal government departments.
Not Constitutional.
Must be approved
Used merely for a Party Building tool not an advisement tool
Lincoln went with Geographic Organization
Clinton diverse organization
Leads to two observations you need to know
Cabinet members do not listen directly to the President . They use their own judgment and expertise
GOING NATIVE
They are not the number one advising group to the president

6. 2 Positions you MUST KNOW
Attorney General (Loretta Lynch)
Leader of the Department of Justice
Solicitor General (Ian Heath Gershengorn0) 
America’s Lawyer

7. Executive Office of the President
Created by FDR in 1939
Permanent Agencies that perform defined management tasks for the president,
OMB- Office of Management and Budget
CEA- Council of Economic Advisors
NSC- National Security Council

8. OMB The Most important and largest EOP agency is…..
Office of Management and Budget
Its Role is preparing the National Budget Report
The OMB sets the terms of discourse (of the budget) for agencies as well as congress
The Director of the OMB is now one of the most powerful officials in Washington

9. Budget Process President Proposes OMB writes the Budget
Interest Groups and Agencies lobby for money to the OMB
CBO examines the budget and suggests revisions to the House
House introduces it and then it takes the normal steps of how a Bill becomes a law

10. President as Policy Maker
“It is the duty of the President to propose and it is the privilege of the Congress to dispose”
FDR

11. Setting the Agenda
Starting with FDR, Presidents would send a legislative packet to Congress and try to set their agenda
Agenda Setting
A policy agenda is a set of issues, problems, or subjects that gets attention of or is viewed by people involved in policy making

12. Main tool in Agenda Setting
The Media
Why does the president have an advantage over Congress in gaining media coverage?
President speaks with a single voice, while Congress has many voices
President represents the nation, while Congress represents states and districts
The president is the national leader to the country
President is more powerful than any member of congress

13. Lobbying Congress
President must successfully lobby congress to pass his agenda
Patronage-Jobs, Grants, and favors in exchange for support
Party- Party Discipline and Campaign Stops
Style and Force of Personality
Leadership
Persuasion

14. Policy Making through Regulation
Major Policy changes can be made through Executive Orders
Office of Homeland Security was established via an Executive Order
Used an Executive Order which radically changed the Presidential Records Act
Obama has used Executive Orders to completely change how we interrogate our Enemy Combats

15. Policy through the Budget
Economic Policy starts and ends with the Budget
President was given power of interjecting his views on the Budget during FDR’s presidency
Congress still plays an important role in the Budget
The lesson of 1998 – the year of the balanced budget- was that Congress, OMB, and the President all had to work together

16. Budget Process President Proposes OMB writes the Budget
Interest Groups and Agencies lobby for money to the OMB
CBO examines the budget and suggests revisions to the House
House introduces it and then it takes the normal steps of how a Bill becomes a law

17. Public Opinion The President’s Biggest Ally or Biggest Enemy
President has a much easier time passing legislation when his popularity polls are up
“Going to the Public”
Going Over Congress and straight to the People and allow the People to put pressure on Congress

18. Approval Ratings