1. The Executive Branch

2. Presidential Succession

3. What is presidential succession?
The plan by which a vacancy in the presidency is filled

4. 25th Amendment (1967) The vice president takes over if the president
Dies
Resigns
Is removed from office
Becomes disabled

5. Presidential Disability
The VP takes over if
President tells Congress he can’t do his job
VP and Cabinet tell Congress Pres. Can’t do job
The disability provision has been used twice:
Reagan transferred power to VP George Bush for 8 hours after assassination attempt while in surgery
George W. Bush transferred power to VP Dick Cheney for 2 hours during a minor surgical procedure.

6. Presidential Succession Act 1947
Congress sets the order of succession if the VP is unable to serve VP
Speaker of the House
President Pro Tempore of the Senate
Secretary of State
Secretary of the Treasury
The rest of the cabinet heads in order of creation of the cabinet (15 cabinets or departments in all)

7. Presidential Elections

8. Original Plan
At the Constitutional Convention, delegates debated how the president would be chosen
Congress
People
Political Experts (electors)
Decided to let people vote for electors who then choose the president
Indirect election of the president

9. Original Plan Why did the delegates decide on this method?
Congress choosing would give them too much power
People were not smart enough
Electors serve as a “check” on the people

10. Testing the Waters
When: 1 to 2 years prior to the presidential election!!
Purpose: To test the appeal of the candidate among voters
Get your name and face out there!!
Begin to raise money
2008 Presidential Election raised and spent over $1 billion

11. Primaries and Caucuses
When
January – June of election year
Purpose
Candidates complete against members of their own party for their party’s nomination
Pick the best candidate to defeat the other party

12. Primaries
Voters go to polling place and cast a ballot for a candidate

13. Caucuses
People get together at a meeting and decide who they want to support as their party’s candidate

14. First Caucus
Iowa Caucus: (Mon. Jan. 16th, 2012)

15. First Primary
New Hampshire Primary: (Tues. Jan. 24, 2012)

16. Importance of Iowa and New Hampshire
Give first indication of which candidate could win in the general election
Could “make-or-break” a campaign

17. Super Tuesday
Day when many states (20+) hold primaries and caucuses

18. National Convention When Purpose Other happenings Late summer (August)
A meeting to officially nominate each party’s presidential candidate
Other happenings
VP candidate introduced
Write and approve
Party Platform

19. 2012 Republican National Convention Minneapolis, MN

20. 2012 Democratic National Convention

21. The Race to the Finish When: Late Summer – November
Purpose: Candidates campaign for votes
Advertisements
Debates
Phone / mail contacts
Door-to-door appeals (canvassing)
Town Hall meetings, picnics, etc.
Spend lots of money!!!!!!

22. The General Election When:
1st Tuesday after the 1st Monday in November, every four years
What:
People vote for electors
Must be registered to vote!
Called the popular vote

23. Electoral College
The group that selects the winner of the presidential election
It is made up of 538 presidential electors
A presidential candidate must win the majority of electoral votes to become president (magic # is 270)
2012: Obama 332 to Romney 206
2008: Obama 365 to McCain 173
2000: Bush 271 to Gore 267

24. Electoral College “Winner Take All” System
The winner of a state’s popular votes gets ALL of the state’s electoral votes.
Even if you win by 1 vote!!!!
Electors for the losing candidate do nothing.
How is the number of electoral votes per state determined?
# of senators + # of representatives
Washington DC gets 3 electoral votes
(Amendment 23 – 1961)

25. Electoral College 2012 Results

26. Electors Cast Ballots Electors vote in December
They cast separate ballots
for president and VP
Amendment 12
Electors vote for the
candidate they pledged
to support

27. Electors Cast Ballots
Electors did not always have to cast a ballot for their pledged candidate
This was the check on the popular vote (people’s vote)
Today, most electors DO cast a ballot for their pledged candidate
Some states require electors to do this BY LAW
SO it is fairly safe to say that today, the winner in November will be president

28. Counting Electoral Votes
When: January 3rd
How
The President of the Senate (VP) counts the votes
No one with 270 electoral votes??
House picks president
Senate picks VP

29. Step 9: Inauguration
Both the President and VP take the oath of office on January 20th at noon.

30. Indirect Election
The American people do not directly elect the president and vice president
Voters elect electors who then choose the president and VP
We have and indirect process for selecting the president and VP

31. Flaws with the Electoral College

32. Electoral College dictates where and how candidates campaign

33. All electors are not required to vote as pledged
A third party candidate won’t win but could affect outcome

34. The winner of the popular vote is not always guaranteed
the presidency
2000
Bush defeats Gore and becomes president
Bush lost the popular election by 500,0o0 votes but beat Gore in the electoral votes 271 to 267
Florida: Bush wins by 543 votes

35. Electoral College Game
Divide into pairs; decide who will be the Republican candidate and the Democratic candidate
If there is an odd number, someone can be a third party
For each state, take turns rolling the dice; the person who rolls the highest number wins the state
If you tie, roll again until there is a winner
Color in each state you win; keep a running total on the side of the map as to the number of electoral votes each candidate has
First candidate to gain 270 electoral votes is the winner!