The Presidency

1. The Presidency

2. Essential Ideas • The Constitution spells out the term and qualifications to be president • The President has 8 chief roles • Laws regulate Presidential Succession • The Framers created a specific process to elect a president • The process of selecting a president was stipulated in the Constitution and has virtually remained in place over 200 years

3. Essential Ideas • Candidates for president are chosen through a long process • National political party conventions have 3 major functions • Although there are flaws in the system of electing a president, most Americans believe the process we use works well

4. Basic Understandings • The president has different roles in the job as leader of the United States • A president usually has no more than 8 years to accomplish their presidential goals • If the president is unable to complete their term of office, the vice president fills the vacancy

5. Basic Understandings • Each political party nominates a candidate to represent them and run for the office of president • The campaign process for president is a very long process • Voters elect the president through the members of the electoral college

6. Vocabulary Succession – who is next in line to fill a position Electors – loyal party members who go to their respective state capitals to elect the president Electoral College – collective name given to all electors, even though they never meet as a group Platform – a political party’s stand on the issues Plank – one issue of a platform

7. For Your Information • Fewer than 50 Americans have ever served as President of the United States • The Constitution spells out the President’s powers and duties • Other powers and jobs have come over time. • George Washington created many precedents/traditions/customs which have been abided by the presidents who have followed him

8. Crash Course in the Presidency • http://pbseduelectioncentral.com/election-process • How Presidents Get Elected • Learn what the powers of the president of the United States are, as defined in the U.S. Constitution. From appointing judges and granting pardons, to vetoing laws and acting as the nation's chief diplomat on foreign policy, the commander in chief is a pretty powerful person, but actually not as powerful as you might think. The constitution limits presidential powers to maintain balance among the three branches of government. Check out the full video on PBS LearningMedia • 4 min

9. Presidential Power Crash Course Government and Politics • Learn what the powers of the President of the United States are, as defined in the U.S. Constitution. From appointing judges and granting pardons, to vetoing laws and acting as the nation's chief diplomat on foreign policy, the commander in chief is a pretty powerful person, but actually not as powerful as you might think. The constitution limits presidential powers to maintain balance among the three branches of government. • http://ny.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/constitution-president-leadership-crashcourse-1011/presidential-power-crash-course-government-and-politics/ 6 min. Presidential Power #11

10. Crash Course • Presidential Power: Crash Course Government and Politics #11 • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l02sK5LovI • Presidential Powers 2: Crash Course Government and Politics #12 • https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_1789559643&feature=iv&src_vid=5l02sK5LovI&v=fnHb-zyWh14 • Political Campaigns: Crash Course Government and Politics #39 • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A5QlpAyKSQ • How Presidents Govern: Crash Course Government and Politics #14 • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vnuFJSMYkY • CrashCourse • CrashCourse

11. The President’s Job Description 13-1 #1 CHIEF of STATE The President is the head of the government He/She is the human symbol of the American people

12. The President’s Job Description #2 CHIEF EXECUTIVE The President is the head of the Executive Branch, one of the 3 branches of government The President makes sure the nation’s laws, policies, and programs are carried out

13. The President’s Job Description #3 CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR The President is in charge of most of the government’s employees The President also manages the money used to run the government and its programs

14. The President’s Job Description #4 CHIEF DIPLOMAT The President sets U.S. government policies toward other countries The President also speaks for our country to the rest of the world

15. The President’s Job Description #5 COMMANDER in CHIEF The President is the head of all U.S. military forces

16. The President’s Job Description #6 CHIEF LEGISLATOR The President suggests new laws to Congress The President also asks Congress to take action on important problems Often this is done through the State of the Union Address

17. The President’s Job Description #7 CHIEF of the PARTY The President is the leader of his/her political party because of their power and influence

18. The President’s Job Description #8 CHIEF CITIZEN The President is expected to do what is best for all the nation [not just special interests] The President is the moral leader of Americans

19. The President’s Job Description #9 CHIEF JURIST The President appoints justices to the Supreme and Federal Courts (with Senate approval).

20. The President’s Job Description The President must carry out all these jobs at once

21. Presidential Powers 2:Crash Course Government and Politics • Learn about the presidential powers that are not found in the constitution - the implied or inherent powers of the presidency. We'll talk about how the president uses his or her power to negotiate executive agreements, recommend legislative initiatives, instate executive orders, impound funds, and claim executive privilege in order to get things done. • http://ny.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/president-constitution-powers-crashcourse-1012/presidential-powers-2-crash-course-government-and-politics/ • 7:17 min.

22. Term of Office The Constitution states the term of office as 4 years. George Washington chose to run and serve as president for 2 terms. This became a precedent which was followed by all other Presidents, until Franklin D. Roosevelt who chose to run 4 times. After FDR, a Constitutional Amendment limited the President to serve 2 elected terms. 22nd Amendment

23. Qualifications for Office The Constitution says in Article 2 that the President must: • Be a natural born citizen • Be at least 35 years old • And have lived in the United States for at least 14 years

24. Presidential Succession 13-2 If a President dies in office or can no longer carry out their job, the Vice President becomes the new President. They are sworn into office and complete the remaining term. The filling of this vacancy is known as Presidential Succession. More than a dozen VPs have become President.

25. Presidential Succession The 25th Amendment was added to the Constitution in 1967. It says the Vice President becomes President when the President dies, resigns or is removed from office. Beyond this, there is an order of succession. Vice President Speaker of the House President Pro Tempore of the Senate Secretary of State Other cabinet officers in the order the department was added to the cabinet

26. Presidential Succession The 25th Amendment also explains what to do if the President becomes disabled. The Vice President becomes Acting President if • The President tells Congress they cannot do the job or • The VP and a majority of the Cabinet tell Congress that the President can’t do the job. The President may go back to work when he/she says they are able to do their duty.

27. Presidential Succession There have been 18 times in our nation’s history that the VP has become President and as a result, the country has been without a VP. Today if the Vice President becomes President, the new Pres. can appoint a new VP and the majority of Congress will need to vote to accept/approve the new VP.

28. Election campaigns are efforts by political candidates and their staffs to win the backing of donors, political activists, and voters. The candidates’ elaborate organizations rely on a complex of advisers, pollsters, political professionals, party activists, and volunteers to achieve the goal of winning political office.

29. The Vice President The Constitution (Article 2) only gives the Vice President two duties. The VP serves as President of the Senate. This means they preside over sessions of the Senate. The VP decides if the President is able to carry out their duties. Today VPs often take part in Cabinet Meetings and advise the President.

30. The Vice President Often Presidential Candidates and their Political Parties will choose a Vice Presidential Candidate to “Balance the Ticket.” This means they will bring qualities to the ticket/slate which will bring more voters to their party.

31. The Electoral College 13-3 The Framers of the Constitution did not want voters to elect the President directly. When our nation was founded, communication, transportation and education in the United States was poor. The Founders did not think the common people could get enough information to cast a wise and informed vote. However, they did not want Congress to elect the President either. Therefore, they created a special body, the Electoral College, to elect the President.

32. The Electoral College The Framers decided that a few select citizens from each state would become Presidential Electors. The Electors would choose the President and Vice President. Electors meet in their respective state capitals in December of a Presidential Election Year. They vote and send the results to Congress. The results are tallied January 6th. The President is sworn in on Inauguration Day. This is January 20 according to the 20th Amendment.

33. The Electoral College Each State has as many presidential electors as it has Senators and Members of the House. Each State’s Legislature determines how its electors are chosen. Electors meet in their own state capital and cast their votes for President and Vice President.

34. The Electoral College Originally, whoever got the most votes became President and whoever got the second most votes became VP. In the case of a tie vote or if no one receives a majority of the votes, the House of Representatives chooses the President and the Senate chooses the Vice President.

35. The Rise of Political Parties The first President elected under the banner of a political party was John Adams in 1796. Adams was a member of the Federalist Party. He was their only President. In that election, Thomas Jefferson received the second most votes and became Vice President Jefferson was a member of the Democratic-Republican Party. This meant that two arch rivals were the top leaders of the nation. Each with very different views on governing.

36. The Election of 1800 Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr (both Democratic-Republicans) finished in a tie in the Electoral College. There were 3 other Presidential Candidates. Alexander Hamilton (a Federalist) used his clout in the House of Representatives to influence the outcome of the election.

37. The Election of 1800 http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/lin-manuel-miranda-performs-white-house-poetry-jam-8-8?v=accessibility

38. The 12th Amendment 1804 The 12th Amendment fixed the problem created during the election of 1800. The amendment stated that members of the electoral college would vote separately for the offices of president and vice president.

39. Beginnings of our System After the 1830s, parties used national nominating conventions to select their presidential candidates. These party meetings played key roles in writing party platforms, brokering intra-party deals, and selecting the candidates themselves.

40. Nominating Candidates 13-4 The Constitution does not talk about how to choose candidates for president. The Framers expected the Electoral College would choose candidates from the most qualified Americans. About 1830, political parties began using national conventions to pick candidates. In the 1930’s, States began using presidential primaries to decide who would go to the national convention.

41. National Convention Few laws limit the ways conventions must be run. Federal laws limit the way money can be raised to pay for the convention. Political Parties run their conventions as they see fit. Parties choose a city to hold the convention based upon which state may be important in the general election in November.

42. National Convention The key players at a convention are the delegates. They are the party members who can vote at the convention. Before the convention, about 3/4ths of the states hold primary elections, the others have caucuses. Generally the delegates for the states will vote the way their states did in their preliminary vote (primary or caucus).

44. Presidential Primaries The presidential primary is when the voters of a state help to choose the possible presidential candidate for their party. They do this by choosing which of the possible candidates they favor and thereby choose delegates who will represent that candidate at the national convention. Specific rules vary from state to state and between the parties.

45. Delegates and Super Delegates Delegates are chosen to represent the party members in their state. In 1968, Democrats added extra delegates known as Super Delegates. Super Delegates are elected party members who act as convention delegates in addition to the other party delegates. An example would be a Democratic Governor or Senator who also attends the convention in addition to all the other delegates.

46. The National Convention 13-5 Political Parties hold their National Conventions every 4 years. Delegates from every state are called together to accomplish 3 things. They • adopt the party platform • choose the candidates for President & Vice President • unite the party for the national campaign

47. The Convention The convention occurs in the Summer prior to the General election. They are usually a week in duration. The schedule for each party is about the same. • Opening Session highlighted by a keynote address • Business committee reports including the creation of the Party Platform (The issues the party stands on) • Final Session highlighted by the major event of choosing the Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates

48. The Convention The Nomination usually goes to someone the political party feels will win the election in November. Often former Vice presidents, Governors or Senators get the party nod. Frequently the Vice Presidential Candidate is chosen to “Balance the Ticket” or pull in votes from areas or people who the Presidential Candidate might alienate or just not appeal to.

49. Presidential Elections Since the mid-20th century, although party conventions remain, they tend more to ratify decisions that have already been made by party voters in caucuses and primaries. This has led some to question whether party conventions are all that important in contemporary politics.

50. Presidential Elections Because party caucuses and primary elections have increased in importance in the 20th century, the structure and schedule of party primaries and caucuses have become key to candidates’ strategies for winning the party nomination. For example, because they are early contests, Iowa and New Hampshire are preeminently important to winning the Democratic and Republican nominations for president.