The Executive Branch

Hats of the President

Chief Citizen Role Model __________________

Chief of State _________ or head of our

______________ ________________ roles

Commander in Chief ________________ of the

_____________

Chief Diplomat __________ with _____________ _______________ (agreements with

other countries) “_________________” nations

The President’s Term

Qualifications: _______ Years old. ________ ________ citizen. ______ years resident ___year term

Party Chief

Head of his/her

____________________

Chief Legislator

______________________

Chief Administrator

____________ advisors ________ the White House

Chief Executive

__________ of the__________________

__________________

Economic Chief

________________

limit of ___terms ( Amendment) OR up to 10 years in office

The President’s Salary:

Since 1969 it was $200,000 per year.In 2001 a raise was given. The salary is now $____,_____.

Presidential Succession:

1. _________________ ( ____ Amendment)2. ________________ (rest of order determined by Congress)3. President _____________of the Senate4. Secretary of _________5. Secretary of the __________6. Secretary of __________7. Attorney General8. Secretary of the Interior9. Secretary of Agriculture10. Secretary of Commerce11. Secretary of Labor12. Secretary of Health and Human Services13. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development14. Secretary of Transportation15. Secretary of Energy16. Secretary of Education17. Secretary of Veterans Affairs18. Secretary of Homeland Security

The Roles of the President

Match the lettered descriptions of ten roles that American people expect their president to perform with the numbered statements and quotations. Write the letter of the role in the space provided.

a. Chief of State- serves as the ceremonial head of government at public functionsb. Chief Executive- oversees the operation of government agencies; appoints Cabinet members, agency

heads, and other officials; sees that laws are properly enforcedc. Commander-in-Chief- heads the military branchesd. Chief Diplomat- represents the country in foreign affairse. Chief Legislator- initiates possible legislation and works with Congress to achieve the administration’s

goalsf. Chief of Party- heads chosen political partyg. Chief Citizen- represents the wishes of the general publich. President of the West- acts as spokesman for the Free Worldi. Economic Chief- engineers economic controls to maintain a stable economy

______ 1. “…George W. Bush lives by a simple code. The military needs hardware? Send it to them. U.S. allies are hesitant to engage? Go it alone. Iraq, Iran, and North Korea are rogue nations encouraging terrorism? Condemn them as an ‘axis of evil.”

______2. “What I’d really like to do is go down in history as the president who made Americans believe in themselves again.” –Ronald Reagan

______3. “Many Americans identified with him as the symbol of their own aspirations both for their country and for themselves…More were captivated by his chic, his wit, his glamour. About all, John F. Kennedy appealed to a sense of upward mobility, individual and national.

______4. “Unlike previous presidents, he proposed laws regulating the economy and pushed them through Congress—a ban on railroad rebates to big shippers, railroad rate regulation, inspection of meatpacking plants, the Food and Drugs Act. And he promoted conservation as no other president had, establishing many new national parks and national monuments.”

______5. “The White House’ in FDR’s time, meant fewer than one hundred people. Even late in the Eisenhower administration, “the Executive Office of the President,’ complete with the Council on Economic Advisers and their staff, with the Office of Defense Mobilization and the NSC staff as well as the Bureau of the Budget and the President’s own assistants and helpers, totaled only some twelve hundred. By the second Nixon administration, ‘the White House’ meant well over five thousand people.”

______6. “…Clinton said that the United States had to lead on Bosnia, for humanitarian reasons if no other… So the president took a number of decisions: to become directly involved in humanitarian action (this led to U.S. airdrops of food in Muslim-held areas of Bosnia.)…”

______7. [According to James A. Baker III,] “We had seven and a half years of sustained noninflationary growth; we took six million poor Americans off the tax rolls; it was the longest peacetime expansion in the history of this country. Why? Because of supply-side economics. People say, ‘Well, yes, instead of tax and spend, it was borrow and spend.’ My answer to them is, Baloney!”

______8. In 1803, for pennies of the acre, Thomas Jefferson tripled the size of the American nation with the purchase of Louisiana from the French. “Whilst the property and sovereignty of the Mississippi and its waters secure an independent outlet for the produce of the Western States, and an uncontrolled navigation through their whole course, free from collision with our powers and the dangers to our peace from that source, the fertility of the country, its climate

and extent, promise in due season important aids to our Treasury, an ample provision for our posterity, and a wide spread for the blessings of freedom and equal laws.”

______9. In 1964, Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson made several supportive phone calls to the home as well as posed with him in White House Oval office photos to be used for postcard political mailings, of the young Democratic congressional hopeful John A. Young, inspired to serve in politics by the youthful example of John F. Kennedy, who was running a reform campaign against an entrenched well-financed incumbent Republican candidate in Allegheny Pennsylvania. Like other presidents before him, Johnson hoped to sweep the young candidate of his party into office on the coattails of his presidency.

Directions: Your mission is to write a help-wanted advertisement seeking a new president. Your ad must incorporate at least SIX of the qualifications listed below. You must pick what SPECIFIC qualifications you think a president should have (i.e. age 40-55, graduated from college, etc.)

Qualifications—you assign the specifics1. age2. marital status3. religion4. education5. gender 6. occupation7. personal appearance8. residence (location)

9. wealth10. personality11. race/ethnic background12. mental/physical fitness13. political experience14. other…

The Electoral CollegeWhat? A group of electors chosen by each state and Washington D.C. that formally selects the President and Vice-President

Why? Historically intended to be a safeguard against an “unqualified” person getting elected. The Electoral College was established by the founding fathers as a compromise between election of the president by Congress and election by popular vote

How? 1. State Popular Vote: votes that candidates receive from people in that state.

Example--

Help Wanted: ReceptionistSeeking a mature, personable, well-groomed individual. Five years plus experience a must. Word processing and fax skills necessary. Fortune 500 company, $30,000/year, excellent benefits.

2. Plurality/Winner Take All System: whoever wins a majority of that state's vote (even if it’s by one) wins ALL of that state's electoral vote. (Exception: Maine & Nebraska)

3. Electoral Votes:

a. Each state has at least 3 (Wyoming) and up to 55 (California). Illinois has 20. It is based on the state population (# of Representatives to the House) plus the 2 Senators per state.

b. The candidate needs at least 270 of a possible 538 to win the election.

c. The political parties in each state generally choose the electors. These electors meet at their state capital in December and vote for the President. Congress counts the electoral votes on January 6.

4. National Popular Vote: The number of votes each candidate gets from the entire country. (This number really does not matter when it comes to winning the election.)

"Winner takes all" Format - The candidate with the most popular votes could lose. This has happened four times: 1824, 1876, 1888, and most recently in 2000.

HERE'S HOW (A sample of the 2000 Election)

Florida Bush = 2,912,790 votes = 25 electoral votes (won by 537 votes)

Gore = 2,912,253 votes = 0 electoral votes

Illinois Bush = 2,019,421 votes = 0 electoral votes

Gore = 2,589,026 votes = 22 electoral votes (won by 569,605 votes)

Popular Vote Gore wins by 569,068 Electoral Vote Bush wins by 3

The Constitution does not require the electors to vote for the candidate favored by their state.

The election COULD be determined in the House of Representatives if no candidate gets a majority of the electoral votes (last in 1824).

Two possibilities can happen here:

Illinois=19 Representatives

I. 15 for Kerry II. 10 for Kerry

5 for Bush 10 for Bush

=1 state vote for Kerry =NO state vote!

EXAMPLE - 2004 General Election Results

Bush 51.0% of the national vote = 286 electoral votesKerry 48.0% of the national vote = 252 electoral votes

Nader 01.0% of the national vote = 0 electoral votes

Candidates spend more time in big states with large #'s of electoral votes. The Electoral College serves as a "rubber stamp" of the election, which defeats its original purpose.

The Electoral College Worksheet

Read pgs. 220-223, 464-470

1. Define the following terms:

A. State Presidential Primaries

B. National Conventions

C. Electoral College

2. Place these terms in their correct chronological order. Include the time of year these events take place.

General Election Day State Presidential Primaries

National Conventions State Conventions Electoral College Meets Approximately what time of year?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

3. Summarize the proposed reforms of the Electoral College. Which one do you think is the best alternative?

4. Do you think we should reform the Electoral College system? Explain your answer.

USE THE MAP TO ANSWER THE FOLLOWING …

a) Identify the 12 states with the largest number of electoral votes.

b) How many electoral votes do they have combined?

c) Is this more or less than the amount needed to win the election?

d) How many electoral votes are needed to win the presidency?

e) Look at Illinois. How much impact does it have in presidential election?

Presidential Trivia

1. Who was the first president to live in the White House?

2. A man named Richard Lawrence tried to assassinate this president, but fortunately both of his guns misfired, this president then chased Lawrence hitting him with his cane. Name the president.

3. Did Gorge Washington really wear false teeth made of wood?

4. Which president was so overweight that opponents sometimes referred to him as “His Rotundity”?

5. Which president fought a duel to defend the honor of his wife?

6. Who was the first Catholic to become president?

7. Which presidential candidate (1993) served in the Third Fleet in the south Pacific during WWII and almost lost his life when on December 18,1944, a typhoon struck and killed 800 men?

8. Who was the tallest president?

9. Which four presidents have had state capitals named in their honor?

10.Who was the first president to appoint a woman to the Supreme Court?

11.Which president was related by blood or marriage to at least 11 other presidents?

12.Which president - to - be delivered a nominating speech for another presidential candidate which was so bad the audience shouted “get off the stage”?

13.Why do presidents use so many different pens when they sign official documents?

14.Which president kept live bears in the White House?

15.Which president while he was in office gambled away in a single hand of poker an entire set of White House china dating back to the administration of Benjamin Harrison?

16.Which president played first base for Yale University?

17.Which president was so large that when he moved into the White House, he had to have a bathtub built that was so big it could accommodate four average-sized men?

18.How many presidents have been lawyers?

19.Who was the first president to be photographed?

20.Which vice president (who later became president) was drunk when he took office?

21.Which president was shot by John Hinkely Jr.?

22.Who was the first president to be born in a hospital?

23.Which president served the shortest term -about one month-in office?

24.Who was the first president to be divorced?

25.Who was the first person to become president by way of the 25th amendment?

26.Which future president ran away from home at 15, journeying from Texas to California where he found work as a grape picker and auto mechanic?

27.How many presidents have been assassinated? Name them.

28.Have any of the presidents ever been arrested while they were in office?

29.Who was the first president to ride in an automobile to his inauguration?

30.How many presidents did not go to college?

Name:____________________

Executive Branch Study Guide

1. Roles of the president:Chief CitizenChief of StateCommander in ChiefChief DiplomatParty ChiefChief LegislatorChief AdministratorChief ExecutiveEconomic ChiefWhat is the main role of the president?

2. Qualifications to become president (according to the Constitution):a.b.c.

3. List some informal qualifications to become president:a.b.c.d.e.f.g.

4. Amendments to know:

12th Amendment:

22nd Amendment

25th Amendment

5. List the duties/roles of the following people/departments:

Secretary of State

Secretary of Defense

National Security Council

6. List the steps to the White House:a.b.c.d.e.f.g.h.

7. How many total years can a president serve? ______________

8. How many electoral votes does Illinois have? ______________

9. How many electoral votes are needed to win? _____________

10. What are some arguments that can be used against the Electoral College System?

11. Explain the “winner-take-all” feature of the Electoral College.

12. What happened with the popular vote vs. the electoral vote in the 2000 election?

13. Why are modern presidents called “imperial”? Give an example.

14. What are the powers of presidency? What are the limits?

15. Who influences the cabinet?

16. What is the role of the cabinet?

17. Who appoints cabinet members? Who approves those cabinet appointments?

18. Describe federal bureaucracy. What role does it play?

19. Who appoints Supreme Court Justices? Who checks the appointment?

20. Who is next in line for the presidency after the Vice President?

21. Which event is a party’s presidential candidate officially chosen at?

22. How does the president exercise influence over policy-making?

23. According to the Constitution, who can officially declare war?

24. What powers does the president have as Commander-in-Chief?

25. Who approves the president’s federal budget?

26. What is a line item veto? Can presidents use this power?

27. Know the following people:Position What did they do?

Denis McDonough

Chuck Hagel

John Kerry

Eric Holder