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Presidential Character The Imperial Presidency

Presidential Character

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Presidential Character. The Imperial Presidency. What is an Imperial Presidency?. Phrase became popular in the 1960’s Presidencies that get “out of control” in regards to power and influence Presidencies that have exceeded constitutional limits. Arguments: Imperial Presidency is Increasing. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Page 1: Presidential Character

Presidential Character

The Imperial Presidency

Page 2: Presidential Character

What is an Imperial Presidency?

• Phrase became popular in the 1960’s• Presidencies that get “out of control” in

regards to power and influence• Presidencies that have exceeded

constitutional limits

Page 3: Presidential Character

Arguments: Imperial Presidency is Increasing

• Staffing increased resulting in appts based on personal loyalty to the president, not subject to outside approval– Creates a “royal court” (Nixon, Reagan)

• New advisory bodies developed around the presidency, many of which complemented (critics suggest rivaled) the main cabinet departments– Office of Management and Budget, National Security Council

• The Senate does not "advise and consent" to appts to the Executive Office of the President (with only a handful of exceptions), as it does with cabinet appts. – They are independent and not accountable

• The Presidency relies on powers that exceed the Constitution– foreign policy and war powers often questioned– Presidential secrecy also questioned

Page 4: Presidential Character

Arguments: Imperial Presidency is Not Increasing

• The Executive Office of the President makes up only a very small part of the federal bureaucracy and the Pres has little influence over appts of most members of the federal bureaucracy

• The number of people within the EOP is tiny and there is no institutional continuity at all

• The organization and functioning of most of the Federal government is determined by federal law and the President has little power to reorganize most of the federal government

Page 5: Presidential Character

Is the president’s power really growing? – NO!

• Growth in the size and complexity of the federal bureaucracy• A battery of post-Nixon controls on executive power, including

transparency rules and "watchdog bureaucracies“– CBO

• More willingness to and protection of “whistle blowers”• Changes in technologies/media that amplify the effect of

official dissent, and increase the capacity of opponents to mobilize against executive action

• Declining public trust in federal authority• Declining executive discretion over the use of federal funds,

which are increasingly committed to mandatory programs– More than half the budget

Page 6: Presidential Character

Dwight Eisenhower

• Orderly, military style• Delegated authority to

trained specialists

Page 7: Presidential Character

John Kennedy

• Bold, articulate, amusing leader

• Improviser who bypassed traditional lines of authority

Page 8: Presidential Character

Lyndon Johnson

• Master legislative strategist

• Tended to micromanage

Page 9: Presidential Character

Richard Nixon

• Expertise in foreign policy

• Disliked personal confrontation

• Tried to centralize power in the White House

Page 10: Presidential Character

Gerald Ford

• Discussion-oriented and genial

• Decision structures not always coherent or utilized

Page 11: Presidential Character

Jimmy Carter

• Washington outsider• Tried to micromanage

Page 12: Presidential Character

Ronald Reagan

• Set policy priorities then gave staff wide latitude

• Leader of public opinion

Page 13: Presidential Character

George H.W. Bush

• Hands-on manager• Considerable

Washington experience

Page 14: Presidential Character

Bill Clinton

• Good communicator• Pursued liberal/centrist

policies

Page 15: Presidential Character

George W. Bush

• Tightly ran White House• Agenda became

dominated by foreign affairs post-9/11