Chapter 8 – The Presidency

Origins and Rules

How does this cartoon illustrate Nixon’s comment that “Those on the right can do what only those on the left can only talk about”?

• How does the following cartoon illustrate Nixon’s comment “Those on the right can do what only those on the left can only talk about.”

Origins• Royal Governor Powers

– Appointment, military command, expenditure, pardon, law-making

• After 1776– Most states lessen power of the office of Governor– New York was exception – popular election– James Wilson-Philadelphia

• Suggest single more powerful president and:• Veto power• Independent of legislature• Popularly Elected

Presidential Qualifications• Age 35• 14 Years residency• Natural born citizen

– Diplomats were often out of country• Two terms standard established by Washington

– Fear of constitutional monarch– 22nd Amendment – due to FDR four term election

• 2 – 4 year terms• Vice President can serve for 10 years• Ratified 1951

• Ben Franklin supported impeachment– Without, assassination would be more prevalent

Impeachment• Treason, Bribery, or other High Crimes and

Misdemeanors

• House impeaches w/simple majority

• Senate convicts by two-thirds vote• Executive Privilege invoked first by Washington

– Watergate - Court rules E.P. cannot be exercised• Must comply with court order for evidence in a crime• U.S. v Nixon (1974)• President Bush exercises after the firing of 8 US attorneys

and again in Valerie Plame, CIA leak investigation – Carl Rove, Harriet Miers, White House Deputies issued supoenas

25th Amendment

• Followed 1947 Presidential Succession Act – See Table 8.2

• Assured continuation of Act• New V.P. appointed by President w/Senate

Approval• Incapacitation of President

– V.P. appointed as President– President Bush makes Dick Cheney President

Temporarily in 2002• Underwent colonoscopy

Powers of the President• Appointment (Powerful Policy-making tool)

– Advice and Consent of Senate– 3,000 of which 1,000 w/Senate confirmation– Appointment of Judges has lasting influence

• Bush and Clinton attempt to change to ‘look like America’

• Clinton first to not receive 97% approval of nominees– Effect relationship with Senate and perception by public

• Convene Congress– State of the Union Address– Extraordinary Circumstances – Treaties

• Requires Senate Approval – Federalist #77

Powers of the President (cont’d)• Make Treaties and Receive Ambassadors

– Senate 2/3 vote of approval– Recognize existence of other nations– 70% approved - 13 rejected

• Treaty of Versailles– End WWI and create League of Nations– Opposed by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge– Recognize U.S. as World Power

– Amend – Carter turned over Panama Canal– Un-sign – Bush withdrew support of International

Criminal Court (to prosecute war crimes, genocide)

Powers of the President (cont’d)

• Trade Agreements– Congressional ‘fast track’ authority

• Bar amendments

• Up or down vote within 90 days

• Executive Agreements– Used since Washington was President– Secret arrangements w/nations w/o Senate Appvl.– Used more frequently than treaties

Executive Orders and Signing Statements

• 1978 Presidential Records Act to ‘need to know basis’

• Reagan, Bush, Clinton and Obama– E.O. on stem cell research and freedom of

conscience provision in Hyde Amendment, and federal funding of Planned Parenthood

• Youngstown Sheet and Tube V. Sawyer– Truman seized mills, mines and factories– Crucial to continue war efforts in Korean War

Powers of the President (cont’d)

• Veto Power and Threat of Veto–Ben Franklin feared abuse of veto to

extort money–2/3 vote to overturn as remedy–Line item veto first used by U.S. Grant

• Clinton v. City of New York–Balanced Budget Act of 1997

»Provision to forgive $2.6 billion in taxes levied against Medicaid providers by the State of New York.

–Ruled unconstitutional by Supreme Court

Powers of the President (cont’d)

• Pardoning Power– Before or after conviction– Used for general amnesty

• 10,000 Draft dodgers who fled U.S.during Viet Nam conflict pardoned by Carter

Commander in Chief

• “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” has been used to wage war

Vice President• Carries more responsibility than in the past

– Dick Cheney considered most powerful V.P.– Walter Mondale (Jimmy Carter’s V.P.) was first to

have more than just ceremonial duties

• Chosen as running mate for political reasons– Balances out the ticket politically or geographically– John McCain chooses Palin to appeal to social

conservatives and women– Obama choses Biden to make up for his

inexperience in foreign policy– John Kerry choses John Edwards from the South

First Ladies• Informal advisors to the president• Behind the scenes role, but often very

influential– Edith B.G. Wilson, Abigail Adams and Nancy Reagan and

Rosalynn Carter• Closest Advisors

• Some take a more public role – more visible– Eleanor Roosevelt – columnist, lecturer, delegate to the

U.N.– Hillary Clinton – crafted healthcare legislation– Michele Obama – active in pushing for healthcare

legislation– Laura Bush – spoke out in behalf of women in the Middle

East

Executive Office of the President

• Established by FDR• Mini-bureaucracy that advances president’s policy

preferences• National Security Council (NSC), Council of

Economic Advisors (CEA), Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Office of V.P.– NSC – Pres., V.P., Secys of State and Defense, head of

the Joint Chiefs of Staff and director of the CIA– Bush created Office of Faith-Based and Community

Initiatives

White House Staff• Not subject to Senate confirmation• Whitehouse Counsel, Lobbyist to Congress, Policy

Strategists, Communications Staff • Chief of Staff – Rahm Emmanuel replaced by

William Daily (Secy of Commerce under Clinton) Well respected in Business Community– 2nd most powerful person in Washington– Gatekeeper function– Manages the president’s schedule– Usually a past politician– Protect president from mistakes (Donald Regan - Iran

Contra Affair)

Presidential Leadership Style• Separates the mediocre from the great• Use of the Media to stay connected to the people

and gain support – not press conferences– FDR fireside chats– Clinton – Larry King Live on CNN– Bush gave important speeches to military– Obama on David Letterman

• State of the Union Address– Bully Pulpit

• Power to Persuade– Crucial according to Richard Neustadt

Public Perception• High approval ratings – usually at the beginning of

term (honeymoon period)– President carries more clout

• Bush after 9/11 and the U.S. Patriot Act• Obama and Healthcare Legislation, LBJ and Great

Society• Help win congressional and gubernatorial contests• Can even push policies unpopular with the public• Clinton able to survive scandals after 1996 DNC

• Low approval ratings– Members of Congress distance themselves– Make favored policies difficult to implement– 2008 election – referendum on Bush and Iraq War– Obama did little campaigning in 2010 election

How does a crisis provide opportunity for a president?Give an example

What is meant by different times call for different leaders?

Expansion and Development of Presidential Power

• Crises• Washington

– Whiskey Rebellion – Cabinet System– Foreign Affairs – Negotiator– Inherent Powers – Sovereignty

• Neutrality• Diplomatic Relations

Expansion and Development of Presidential Power

• Andrew Jackson– 1st Strong National Leader– 11 New States– Common Man– Political Appointments as Rewards– First to make use of veto power – South Carolina’s nullification attempt of tariff law• Lincoln - Ignoring Congress– Suspension of writ of habeas corpus– Expanded Army– Blockage of Southern Ports– Closed U.S. Mail to treasonable correspondence

Expansion and Development of Presidential Power under FDR

• Great Depression equal to War• EOP established 1939

– (NSC, CEA, OMB)• Duties defined by Congress

• White House Staff

President as Policymaker• Policymaker

– FDR as legislator and Contract with America– Divided government makes legislative duties

nearly impossible– Patronage– Executive Agreements

• Truman – Ended segregation of military• LBJ – affirmative action – executive order 11246• Reagan, Clinton, G.W. Bush, Obama

– Stem Cell Research– Abortion Counseling– Freedom of Conscience

Presidential Leadership

• State of the Union Address to draw public attention

• Leadership Style– Shape national destiny (Lincoln and FDR)– “Stage” or “fitting honor” to cap one’s career

• Richard Neustadt– “the power to persuade”– Important to start rating the president immediately– The Great Initiator – clerkship and decisionmaker

Presidential Personality• James David Barber, The Presidential Character• Character, Style, and World View are main

determinants of whether a president will:– Adapt positively to challengers -or -– Retreat negatively to challenges

• Predict by looking into president’s past– Childhood – Character grows out of relating to peers,

siblings and parents– Adolescence – World View - observing others– Early Adulthood – Style developed from first successes

• How something is done is profoundly important• Grasps that style and hangs on to it

• Character– Self esteem is prime resource

• Derived from either sense of achievement or • Affection from others

• Style– Habitual way of performing– Rhetoric, Relationships, Homework

• World View effects what president pays attention to:– Social Causality– Human Nature– Central Moral Conflicts

Presidential Character

Achieve ResultsHigh Self EsteemValues high productivityDifficulty w/ Irrational Political Behavior

Orientation toward DutyGuardian of ‘Right and Proper Way’Emphasize Civic Virtue

Power-seekingIntense EffortLow emotional rewardCompulsiveAggressivePerfectionistVague Self Image

Achieve love as reward‘Other’ directed compliantLow Self EsteemSuperficial OptimismLikely to be disappointed

Active Passive

PositiveNegative

Positive Negative

Active

ADAPTIVE: self-confident; flexible; creates opportunities for action; enjoys the exercise of power, does not take himself too seriously; optimistic; emphasizes the "rational mastery" of his environment; power used as a means to achieve beneficial results. Thomas Jefferson, F. D. Roosevelt, H. Truman, J. F. Kennedy, G. Ford, G. W. Bush(?)

COMPULSIVE: power as a means to self-realization; expends great energy on tasks but derives little joy; preoccupied with whether he is failing or succeeding; low self-esteem; inclined to rigidity and pessimism; highly driven; problem managing aggression. John Adams, W. Wilson, H. Hoover, A. Lincoln, L. B. Johnson, R. Nixon,

Passive

COMPLIANT: seek to be loved; easily manipulated; low self-esteem is overcome by ingratiating personality; reacts rather than initiates; superficially optimistic. James Madison, W. H. Taft, W. Harding, R. Reagan,Bill Clinton

WITHDRAWN: responds to a sense of duty; avoid power; low self-esteem compensated by service to others; responds rather than initiates; avoids conflict and uncertainty. emphasizes principles and procedures and an aversion to politicking. George Washington, C. Coolidge, D. Eisenhower

Power of the Situation• Level of public support• Party balance in Congress• Supreme Court• Expectations and Needs• Climate of Expectations – recurring themes

– Reassurance to ease anxiety– Progress and action– Sense of legitimacy

• Master politician that appears to be above politics• Proof of fitfulness – presidential• Religiosity – defender of faith