The Presidency: Requirements and Roles. Demographic Characteristics of U.S. Presidents 100% male 99%...

The Presidency:

Requirements and Roles

Demographic Characteristics of U.S.

Presidents

• 100% male• 99% White• 97% Protestant

• 77% college educated

• 62% lawyers• 0.5% born into

poverty

Constitutional Qualifications: The President & Vice President

• Must be at least 35 years old

• Must have lived in the United States for 14 years

• Must be a natural born citizen

Constitutional Terms of Office: The President & Vice President

• President and the Vice-president serve 4 year terms (Article II)

• President and VP can serve up to 2 terms or 10 years (22nd Amendment)

Presidential Succession

• The Vice-president takes office if the President dies, resigns or is removed (Article II, clarified in 25th Amendment)

• VP has succeeded President 9 times • Presidential Succession Act of 1947 - specifies the

order of presidential succession following the VP

Presidential Succession Act of 1947

Presidential Succession:

1. Vice President

2. Speaker of the House

3. President pro tempore of the Senate

4. Secretary of State

5. Secretary of the Treasury

6. - 18. Etc., etc.

Presidential Benefits• $400,000 tax-free

salary• $50,000/year expense

account• $100,000/year travel

expenses• Best health care• The White House,

132-room mansion• Staff of 400-500

More Presidential Benefits

• Secret Service protection

• Camp David country estate

• Air Force One personal airplane

• Marine One personal helicopter

• Fleet of automobilesLBJ takes oath of office aboard Air Force One after JFK assassination

Presidential Roles

Chief of State

Queen Elizabeth and President Reagan, 1983President Kennedy speaks at Berlin Wall, 1963

The President is the ceremonial head of the government

Chief Executive

The President is charged with “executing the laws” and is the leader of the executive

branch that includes the cabinet and the federal bureaucracy

Commander-in-Chief

President Bush serves Thanksgiving turkey to US troops in Iraq

President Obama met 18 fallen soldiers killed in Afghanistan at Dover Air Force Base

The President is the leader of the U.S. armed forces.

Chief Legislator

President Obam delivers the State of the Union Address to Congress, 2011

President Roosevelt signs into law the Social Security Act, 1935

The President often sets the public policy agenda for the country by

suggesting or insisting Congress enact legislation.

Party LeaderThe President is

the acknowledged leader of his

political party.

Crisis Manager

The President is expected to lead the nation in times of crisis and

tragedy

Presidential Quotations

President Harry S. TrumanPresident Harry S. Truman

"I sit here all day trying to persuade people to do the things they ought to have the sense to do without my persuading them. That's all the powers of the President amount to."

"I sit here all day trying to persuade people to do the things they ought to have the sense to do without my persuading them. That's all the powers of the President amount to."

Truman, 33rd President, 1945-53

President John F. KennedyPresident John F. Kennedy

“No easy problem ever comes to the President of the United States. If they are easy to solve, somebody else has solved them.”

“No easy problem ever comes to the President of the United States. If they are easy to solve, somebody else has solved them.”

President Kennedy’s nationally televised address during the Cuban Missile Crisis,

October, 1962

President Lyndon B. JohnsonPresident Lyndon B. Johnson

“The presidency has made every man who occupied it, no matter how small, bigger than he was; and no matter how big, not big enough for its demands.”

“The presidency has made every man who occupied it, no matter how small, bigger than he was; and no matter how big, not big enough for its demands.”

President Johnson, 36th President, 1963-69

President Richard M. NixonPresident Richard M. Nixon

"Under the doctrine of the separation of powers, the manner in which the president personally exercises his assigned executive powers is not subject to questioning by another branch of government."

"Under the doctrine of the separation of powers, the manner in which the president personally exercises his assigned executive powers is not subject to questioning by another branch of government."

In the aftermath of the Watergate scandal, President Nixon departs the White House

after his resignation, Aug., 1974

President George W. BushPresident George W. Bush

“To those of you who received honors, awards, and distinctions, I say 'Well done.' And to the C students, I say 'You, too, can be president of the United States.'”President George W. Bush, speaking at Yale University's 300th commencement ceremony

“To those of you who received honors, awards, and distinctions, I say 'Well done.' And to the C students, I say 'You, too, can be president of the United States.'”President George W. Bush, speaking at Yale University's 300th commencement ceremony

President Bush, 43rd President, 2001-present