1. The Presidency

2. Overview Qualifications & Demographics Presidential Roles
Organization of the Executive Branch
Presidential Power

3. Qualifications Article II, Section 1: Natural Born Citizen
35 years old
14 year resident of U.S.

4. Presidential Roles Chief Executive oversee federal bureaucracy
administer and execute the law

5. Presidential Roles
Chief of State: largely ceremonial or symbolic functions where President represents the country as a whole

6. Presidential Roles Commander in Chief
Civilian control of Armed forces.

7. Presidential Roles Chief Diplomat negotiate and sign treaties
appoint diplomats
receive foreign officials
negotiate and sign executive agreements

8. Presidential Roles Chief Legislator recommend legislation to Congress
set legislative agenda
veto power

9. Presidential Roles
Chief of Party

10. Checks on the President
Commander in Chief
Congress declares war
Congress controls budget
War Powers Act (1973)
48 hour alert to Congress
troops stay for 60 days pending Congressional approval
With no approval, troops must be withdrawn

11. Checks on the President
Chief Executive
Senate must approve presidential appointments
Civil Service protection for most appointees
Congress controls the budget

12. Checks on the President
Chief Diplomat
Senate confirmation of ambassadors
Senate confirmation of treaties
Chief Legislator
President does not have seat in Congress
Congress can override veto

13. Checks on the President
Party Chief
term limit and “lame duck” status
loose organization of American parties makes it difficult to “lead”

15. 15 Departments

16. e.g., WHO, CEA, NSC, OMB

17. e.g., CIA, EPA, NASA, NRC, Peace Corps

18. Presidential Powers Two types of presidential powers: Formal Informal
those determined by the statute and the Constitution
Informal
those based on tradition, personal traits, political and sociological realities

19. Powers of the President
Formal Powers
Appointment
Treaties and Foreign Policy
Veto/Sign Legislation

20. Powers of the President
Special Executive Powers
Executive Orders
A rule or regulation issued by the president that has the effect of law.
They can
enforce legislative statutes
enforce the Constitution or treaties
establish or modify rules and practices of executive administrative agencies
Published in The Federal Register
EO by disposition (FDR to Obama)

21. Presidential Powers Formal Powers include: Executive Privilege
ability to withhold information from Congress or to refuse to recognize Congressional subpoena

22. Presidential Power Informal Powers: Access to Media
use of mass media allows president to reach public in a way that no other institution or politician in government can

23. Presidential Power Informal Powers (cont’d) Persuasion
Bargain with members of Congress and bureaucracy
Success depends on variety of factors, including:
personal communication skills
partisan divide in Congress
public approval ratings

24. Powers of the President
Executive Privilege
The right of executive officials to withhold information from or to refuse to appear before a legislative committee
Emergency Powers
An inherent power exercised by the president during a period of national crisis

25. Powers of the President
Informal Powers
Persuasion
Personal communication skills
Partisan divide in Congress
Place in term
Public Opinion ratings

26. Powers of the President
Source: Wall Street Journal

28. Electing the President
Longest campaign election of any elected office in US, probably the world
Unique electoral system in US
Three stages

29. Primary Season
To win presidency, candidates generally need to secure nomination of major party
Since the 1972 presidential election, both parties have relied on party primary elections to solve this

30. Primary Season
Primary Elections run from late January through June in the year preceding the general election (2008 calendar here)
Elections come in 2 types:
closed (must be party member to vote)
open (open to all registered voters)
(state by state summaries available here)

31. Primary Season
The aim in these elections is to win delegates to the party conventions
Each party allocates a set number of delegates to each state, based on the number of registered party members of that party in the state

32. Primary Season
In addition, the Democratic party has 796 “superdelegates” who are party leaders and who are not pledged to vote for any particular candidate prior to the convention (NJ has 18 of these)
The Republicans have 123 unpledged party leaders who are at the convention with voting rights

33. Primary Season
The two major parties use different systems for allocating delegates though
Republicans generally use “winner-take-all” format
the candidate that wins the primary gets all that state’s delegates [2008 totals for Republican primaries here]
Democrats use “proportional” rep
candidates are allocated delegates based on the percentage of the vote received [2008 totals for Democratic primaries here]

34. Nominating Convention
Held late summer (usually the last two weeks of August through early September)
Nominate president, vice-president, and adopt party platform
Democratic Convention (8/25-28) Republican Convention (9/1-4)

35. General Election Campaign
Generally runs from end of convention through the election
Election is held the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November

36. General Election
To be elected president, candidate must receive a majority of votes cast in the Electoral College

38. 270 votes needed to be president
General Election
Formula for allocating seats is:
# of Reps + # of Sen = E.C.V
= 535
D.C. gets 3 (23rd Amendment) so
538/2 = =
270 votes needed to be president

39. General Election
Aim is to win enough states so that the electoral college vote is over 270
This means it is possible for a candidate to win more popular votes and still lose the election (1824, 1876, 1888, 2000)

40. Electoral College
Members of the Electoral College vote in each state (they do not collectively assemble)
Cast ballots on the 1st Monday after the 2nd Wednesday in December.

41. Electoral College If no candidate received 270 votes, then:
House of Representatives elects president
take top 3 vote getters
each states gets 1 vote
Senate elects vice president
take top 2 vote getters
each senator gets 1 vote

42. Vice Presidency
Same requirements as president, except cannot be from same state as the president (12th Amendment)
President of the Senate
Other responsibilities as designated by the President

43. Removal and Succession
Election
Impeachment
Resignation
Death
Illness

44. Removal Illness: 25th Amendment President informs Congress
If President unable to inform Congress, then VP does it, with majority vote of cabinet
If dispute over whether President is able to return to office, 2/3rds vote of Congress decides whether VP stays or not

45. Succession Succession Act of 1947 Pres VP Speaker of the House
President pro tempore of Senate
Cabinet Secretaries chronologically arranged by creation of department