1. The Constitution
Who has the institutional framework for foreign and defense policy?
The Federal Government
The Constitution divides powers between the President and Congress

2. Presidential Powers
What powers does the president have in Foreign Policy?
Head of State
Appointing and receiving ambassadors
Signing Treaties
Representing the U.S. Abroad
Wage War
Negotiate Treaties

3. Power: President vs. Secretary of State
Times when the President wielded more power than the Secretary of State
Franklin D. Roosevelt
John F. Kennedy
Richard Nixon
Times when the Secretary of State wielded more power than the President
George Marshall/Dean Acheson (Truman)
John Foster Dulles (Eisenhower)
Henry Kissinger (Ford)
Warren Christopher (Clinton)

4. Reasons the President should have power in Foreign Policy
Need an accurate and comprehensive knowledge of the world
Steady Systematic adherence to the same view
Uniform sensibility to the national character
Decision, secrecy, and dispatch

5. How Foreign Policy Works
In the beginning, the Secretary of State handled everything
Since WWII, the President plays a large role in directing foreign policy
Foreign policy today is influenced by many agencies, including:

6. Government agencies influencing foreign policy
Department of State
Department of Defense (responsible for military bases and advisors)
Central Intelligence Agency (officers overseas)
Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Labor
FBI and DEA agents abroad
Agency for International Development
US Information Agency (runs libraries, radio stations, educational programs)

7. The Department of National Intelligence
Director: Dan Coats
In charge of seventeen agencies
CIA
FBI
State Dept Bureau of Intelligence
Dept of Energy Office of Intelligence
Dept of Treasury Office of Intelligence
National Security Agency (monitors and deciphers)
National Reconnaissance Office (spying)

8. Who coordinates foreign policy?
National Security Council
Chaired by the President, includes VP and Secretaries of Defense and State
NSC Staff--chaired by the NSA Adviser
Adviser is appointed by the President without Senate confirmation
This allows him/her to give advice independent of Dept of State and Dept of Defense

9. Congress Congressional Leadership Congressional Oversight
While the president usually takes the lead on foreign policy, Congress can develop and implement policy too
NASA and National Defense Education Act
Congressional Oversight
Since the 1960s Congress has used oversight more often
Investigate policies like Iran-Contra
Controversial weapons systems

10. Non-Constitutional concepts which influence Foreign Policy
The President is powerful but not omnipotent. He must still deal with domestic constraints and international pressures
Treaty and Executive Agreements
War Powers Act 1973
Media

11. Treaties and Executive Agreements
Constitution gives the president power to negotiate treaties and the Senate the power to approve them
Only rejected 22 treaties in history
Test Ban Treaty of 1999
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2012
How does the president avoid the senate role in treaties?
Executive Agreements
All the force of a treaty but it is only valid during the President’s term

12. War Powers Act 1973 What was the point of the War Powers Act?
Was designed to reassert congressional war powers
The Last Declared war was WWII (2)
The WPA was an attempt by Congress to prevent future foreign interventions without out their approval

13. News Media Press can check the foreign policy powers
Investigate policies, expose scandals and affect public opinions
Most Importantly, the media can place an issue on the public radar screen