President: Term
-4 years
-maximum of 2 terms or 10 years
-set by the 22nd Amendment
-Washington set this precedent
President: Formal Qualifications
-natural born US citizen
-must be 35 years of age
-must have been a resident of the US for 14 years
President: Informal Qualifications
- need money/ability to raise money
- knowledge of government
- past government experience
- political beliefs to fit a party
- mental stability
- good debate/speaking skills
- well educated
Election Process
primary/caucus
national convention
general/popular election
electoral college
Electoral College: Purpose
-Helps to decide what the country wants for presidential power
-uses popular vote to pick candidate
Electoral College: Process
-every state gets a number of electors
-people go vote for president or vice president but really voting for slate of electors
-to win presidency a candidate has to win majority of electoral votes
Electoral College: Electors
-chosen by popular vote in every State on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November every 4th year
-chosen on a winner take all basis (except Nebraska & Maine)
Presidential Succession
1. Vice President
2. Speaker of the House
3. President Pro-Tempore of the Senate
4. Secretary of State
5. Secretary of Treasury
-set by the 25th Amendment
Role of Vice President
-Become President
-Preside over Senate
-Break Senate ties
-Certify the electoral college results
8 Hat of President
chief of state
chief executive
chief administrator
chief diplomat
chief legislator
chief of party
chief citizen
commander in chief
State of the Union
-constitutional requirement
-an annual message to Congress in which the president proposes a legislative program
-the message is addressed not only to Congress but also to the American people and to the world
Presidential Disability Rules
is any condition in which the President is unable to exercise the powers and duties of his office; the Constitution makes no mention of the procedures involved when a President is disabled and the Vice President must assume the duties of the office as act
Presidential Appointments
-cabinet officers
-Supreme Court justices
-US marshals
-US attorneys
-ambassadors
-must be approved by Senate
Effect of Mass Media on Presidential Growth
can swing the public's opinion one way or the other through bias
War Powers Act of 1973
Declared the president could only commit US troops to a foreign war for 60 days before seeking congressional approval
Progressive Taxes
A tax rate that increases as the amount of ones income increases
Regressive Taxes
Taxes that take a smaller share of income as the amount of income grows
Presidential Powers
1. commander in chief
2. sign a bill
3. pocket veto
4. power of foreign policy
5. power of appointment
6. pardon
7. required to give a state of union message
veto power
presidential power to stop a bill from becoming a law by rejecting it
ordinance power
power of the president to issue executive orders; originates from the constitution and acts of congress
removal power
The President's power to remove appointed positions. .
clemency power
Power to pardon, commute, or parole
President's Administration
White House Office
Executive Office of the President
cabinet
presidential advisory body, traditionally made up of the heads of the executive departments and other officers
reprieve
official postponement of the execution of a sentence
pardon
release from punishment or legal consequences of a crime, by the President (in a federal case) or a governor (in a state case)
treaty
ormal agreement between 2 or more sovereign states; requires Senate consent
executive agreement
pact made by the President directly with the head of a foreign state; binding international agreement with the force of law but which (unlike a treaty) does not require Senate consent
fringe benefits
Forms of compensation other than salary or wages
amnesty
a general pardon for an offense against a government; in general, any act of forgiveness or absolution
commutation
reduction of a sentence
administration
- the people and organizations that make up the executive branch of a government
spoils system
A system of public employment based on rewarding party loyalists and friends.
federal debt
all the money borrowed by the federal government over the years and still outstanding
diplomatic recognition
The formal acknowledgment of a foreign government as legitimate.
bureacracy
a system of managing government through departments run by appointed officials
civil service
A collective term for the body of employees working for the government. Generally understood to apply to all those who gain government employment through a merit system.
secretary
- Only major official of the executive branch not elected by the people
Role of President Pro Tempore
-presides over Senate in the absence of of the VP
-elected by Senate
-always a leading member of majority party (longest serving member)
White House Office
Part of the Executive Office of the President that includes the President's key staff and personal advisers
Executive Office of the President
Agencies that perform staff services for the president but are not part of the White House