The Executive BranchThe Executive Branch

Purpose of Executive Branch:

• Carry out (“execute”) the laws

• Consists of President, cabinet, bureaucracy

So you wanna be President? Are you…

• 35 years old

• natural-born citizen

• 14-year resident of the U.S.

Roles of the President

1. Chief Executive1. Chief Executive

- Carry out, enforce, execute the laws- Carry out, enforce, execute the laws

- administrator of fed bureaucracy (executive - administrator of fed bureaucracy (executive departments)departments)

- appoint officials and choose cabinet members- appoint officials and choose cabinet members

2. Chief Diplomat

- conducts foreign policy and advises ambassadors

- makes treaties and trade agreements with other nations

3. Commander in Chief of

Armed Forces• In charge of the armed forces

• Decides when/where to use and send them

• Secretary of Defense is in Executive Dept

• Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the top military commander under the Pres

• (US military is run by civilian leaders)

4. Chief legislator• recommends laws• signs laws into effect• has veto power• presents his agenda to

Congress during annual state of the union address

5. Chief of State

• Ceremonial head of govt

6. Judicial Powers

• appoints Supreme Ct justices• grants pardons

7. Party Head• Helps members of party get elected

• Make campaign speeches for re-election

• In charge of

fund-raising

George Washington’s

Precedents• Cabinet• Two-terms• “No entangling

alliances”• Location of D.C.• Peaceful transition of

power

The Executive Bureaucracy

• The Cabinet, selected by President• Carries out laws as well as policies of the administration• No provision for the cabinet - as it is now constituted -in

the Constitution

Today’s Executive Departments• State• Treasury• Defense• Justice• Interior• Agriculture• Commerce• Homeland Security

• Labor• Health and Human

Services• Housing and Urban

Dvlpmnt• Transportation• Energy• Education• Veterans Affairs

Independent Agencies, sample of 200

• EPA• CIA• FBI• FCC• EEOC• NLRB• NTSB• NRC

• USPS

• NASA

• FTC

• FDIC

Federal land management agencies

• 1. USFS – United States Forest Service (in USDA)

• 2. NPS – National Park Service

• 3. BLM – Bureau of Land Management

• 4. US Fish and Wildlife Service

• In New York: DEC – Dept of Env Conserv.

• (Federalism)

Presidential Term Limits• Article II, Section 1: The executive Power shall be vested

in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four Years...

• George Washington - set two-term precedent

• FDR led nation through 3 terms - elected to 4th

• 1951, Amendment 22, Section 1: No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once...

“No Entangling Alliances”• Foreign policy of neutrality

• In his first annual address to Congress in 1790, George Washington said "Observe good faith and justice toward all nations. Cultivate peace and harmony with all . . . The nation which indulges toward another an habitual hatred or an habitual fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest . . . it is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world."

Location of the nation’s capital• Philadelphia, the wartime capital, was the leading

contender. The powerful Virginia delegation wanted a location on the Potomac, with numerous other alternatives suggested. Characteristically, the solution was found in a compromise. Alexander Hamilton was floating a scheme for the new Federal government to assume the war debts of the individual states. Having hosted most of the war, Northern states had larger debts than their Southern cousins. Southern states were understandably reluctant to take on debts they didn't see as their own. The compromise came with the Southern states agreeing to assume the debts, and the Northern delegations allowing a capital in the south.

• The city was of course named Washington, and placed in a federal District of Columbia. The Constitution specifies a 10 mile square parcel, placed under direct control of the Congress. George Washington selected the site, a few miles up river from his home at Mt. Vernon.

Election of the President

• Electoral College

The Electoral College

• Hamilton’s idea - to distance the whim of the common people from the office of President.

• Voters cast ballots for electors

• Electors cast votes for President and VP

• # of electors per state = Senators + Reps

• Census - every 10 yrs

• Today - electors pledge in advance to vote for their party.

Amendment XXIII - Presidential Electors for the District of Columbia [Ratified March 29, 1961] Section 1 The District constituting the seat of Government of the United States shall appoint in such manner as the Congress may direct: A number of electors of President and Vice President equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives in Congress to which the District would be entitled if it were a State, but in no event more than the least populous State; they shall be in addition to those appointed by the States, but they shall be considered, for the purposes of the election of President and Vice President, to be electors appointed by a State; and they shall meet in the District and perform such duties as provided by the twelfth article of amendment.

Some Interesting Presidential Elections

• 1800

• 1824

• 1876

• 1888

• 2000

Under the original rules of the Electoral College, as established by the Constitution, electors cast separate votes for President and Vice-president. Whoever received a majority of electoral votes would be the President and the runner-up would become the Vice-President. However, a problem arose in the election of 1800 when Thomas Jefferson and his running mate Aaron Burr each received 73 electoral votes. When no candidate receives a clear majority of electoral votes, the Constitution specifies that the House of Representatives shall choose the President. It took the House thirty-six ballots to finally select Thomas Jefferson as the third President of the United States. To avoid a repeat of such problems, the 12th Amendment to the Constitution provided for presidential and vice-presidential candidates to run as a team, not individually.

The presidential election of 1824 is notable not only because the outcome was decided by the House of Representatives but also because the candidate who won the popular vote--Andrew Jackson--had failed to win a majority of electoral votes. The House ultimately selected his opponent, John Quincy Adams, to be the President. The results enraged Jackson's supporters and he was elected President by a wide margin four years later.

In two other instances, once in 1876 and again in 1888, the candidate who lost the popular vote won a majority of electoral votes and was elected President.

Political cartoon showing Hayes prevailing in disputed

Election. N.Y.Daily Graphic Feb. 26,

1877

from N.Y. Daily Graphic June 26, 1877 “Alas, the Woes of Childhood.”>> Sammy Tilden-- "Boo-Hoo! Ruthy Hayes's got my presidency, and won't give it to me."

1888 Election

In 2000, the outcome of the presidential election was in doubt for several weeks because of disputed ballots in the state of Florida. The state's twenty-five electoral votes, ultimately awarded to George W. Bush, proved to be decisive. If the state of Florida had not been able to certify its electoral votes for either candidate, the winner of the election may have been determined in the United States House of Representatives. It is unclear exactly what role the House would have played under such a scenario, but the entire saga put the role of the Electoral College on center stage. Since the election, several calls have been issued to significantly reform or do away with the Electoral College.

Impeachment

• Article II, Section 4: The President, Vice President and all Civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

Impeachment of a President

• Has happened twice:

• 1. Andrew Johnson

• 2. William Jefferson Clinton

• (Nixon resigned before impeachment proceedings)

Andrew Johnson, during Reconstruction

William Jefferson Clinton

Richard M. Nixon; resigned before impeachment, 1974

U.S. Political Parties

The Political Spectrum

radical/liberal conservative

Democrats Republicans

Anarchy, Communism, Democracy, Republic, Monarchy, Dictatorship

King Louis XIV

Capitalism, private property

Equality, communal property, welfare

Karl Marx, Robespierre, Rousseau

Liberalism

John Locke

Bill Clinton

George W. Bush

No govt or big govt Limited govt

Future, idealistic Past, tradition, military

Common people Elites, rich, well-born

Centralized govt

History of U.S. Parties

• Age/Era Parties

• Federalist: Federalist Democratic-Republican

• Jackson: Whig Democratic

• Civil War: Republican Democratic

• New Deal: Republican Democratic

Third Parties

• 1896, Populism

• 1992, Ross Perot

• 2000, Green Party, Ralph Nader

• Never Win

• Bring up important issues that usually get addressed later by the major parties

Presidential Succession The Vice President Speaker of the House President pro tempore of the Senate Secretary of State Secretary of the Treasury Secretary of Defense Attorney General Secretary of the Interior Secretary of Agriculture Secretary of Commerce Secretary of Labor Secretary of Health and Human Services etc.

Some Significant Presidents...

Theodore Roosevelt

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

John F. Kennedy

The First Lady

Eleanor RooseveltEleanor Roosevelt

Nancy Reagan

Hillary Clinton