Chapter 8 The Presidency

Natural-born citizen, 35 years old, and a resident of the US for at least 14 years. 4 year term with eligibility for reelection. Limited to two terms by the 22nd Amendment. Two terms was traditional until FDR. Vice President – breaks a tie in the Senate. John Nance Garner – formerly Speaker of the House – FDR’s VP in first two terms – said the office of VP was “not worth a bucket of warm piss.” Chapter 8 The Presidency

Ben Franklin preferred to assassination The House votes to impeach the President. Once articles of impeachment have been passed in the House the President has been impeached. Bill Clinton and Andrew Johnson were both impeached. If it is easier, think of it in terms of an individual being indicted by a grand jury. The Senate then tries the President on the counts brought against him. The Senate convicts or acquits. iMPEACHMENT

Passed in 1947 in facing the reality of nuclear arms where it might be possible to lose a dozen of these leaders in one strike. If we are attacked in some fashion to where the President and the first 15 on this list are eliminated, who would you rather have running the government, the Secretary of Education or the Secretary of Homeland Security? Presidential succession Act

Concern over the orderly transfer of power. LBJ died four years after leaving office in 1973. Speaker of the House is very powerful. Would not want to give that up for VP. Appointment for vacant VP

Some confusion during the Reagan administration regarding who was in charge when Reagan was shot. James A Garfield lingered for three months after being shot before dying and being replaced by Chester Arthur. Woodrow Wilson was incapacitated after a stroke for the last 18 months of his administration. Ron Reagan, Jr. has said that Ronald Reagan showed signs of Alzheimer’s after his third year in office. Unable to fulfill duties

Number of appointees have changed over time. According to Campos and Root, a quality bureaucracy requires more professional bureaucrats at higher levels and fewer political appointees. The US president appoints approximately 3,500 positions while the British PM appoints only around 100 Appointment power

Politically effective bureaucracies have fewer political appointees at higher levels. http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/nominations-and-appointments Data from Campos and root

Senate must ratify treaties that are signed but do not have to sign off on unsigning a treaty. Bush Administration withdrew from the International Criminal Court. It could be argued that he did so to keep himself and his administration out of their jurisdiction. Fast track negotiations – Senate cannot amend the treaty – up or down vote only. Executive agreements – only in power while executive is in office. Line item veto declared unconstitutional Sign and unsign treaties

Power to convene Congress not such a big deal anymore. Early days when Congressional sessions were shorter and Congressmen spent more time at home, President could call them back for an emergency, such as declaring war. Veto power – covered in chapter on Congress. Line item veto declared unconstitutional in Clinton v. City of New York (1998) Veto power and the power to convene Congress

The President negotiates treaties, the Senate ratifies these treaties. The President can also unsign treaties without necessarily getting the acceptance of the Senate. Bush gets us out of the International Criminal Court (ICC), taking his administration out of its jurisdiction for war crimes. “Fast track” authority allows the President to negotiate treaties without fear of amendment from Congress. Senate then gives the treaty an up or down vote. Executive agreements, short-term, gentlemen’s agreements that last only for the duration of the presidency. Useful for avoiding the lengthy and unpredictable process of treaty ratification. Power to make treaties

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) Signed by the Carter Administration in 1979, it has been pending in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee ever since. Force of law to prevent economic discrimination in providing for basic human needs. Dark green has signed and ratified, light green has signed but not ratified, gray has not signed.

War Powers Act was the result of the Pentagon Papers and Nixon’s “secret war”, the expansion of hostilities into Laos and Cambodia. President can commit forces in the case of an attack on the US, its possessions, or its armed forces. President must notify Congress within 48 hours of this commitment, and must pull them out after 60 days without further approval of Congress. Commander in Chief

Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002. Many of the Congressmen who voted for the authorization did so with the understanding that the President would use it as a saber to wave to get nuclear weapons inspectors back into Iraq. This gave the President the leverage necessary to engage in negotiations. The tactic worked and inspectors returned. Bush then declared that the Iraqi government was obstructing the inspections and that nothing short of his stepping down would prevent war. By “authorizing the use of force”, Congress abdicated their RESPONSIBILITY to declare war, something that it could be argued would be unconstitutional. Iraq War

Often controversial Ford pardoned Nixon Carter pardoned draft dodgers George HW Bush pardoned Iran Contra participants Bill Clinton had controversial pardons George W Bush did NOT pardon Scooter Libby Usually happens at the end of the administration Power to pardon

Crisis (war or economic crisis)= expansion of power. The public becomes concerned or even afraid, and are more willing to support greater powers for a strong chief executive taking decisive action. A president who ably marshals that support will find a more pliable Congress. It is not enough for a president to handle issues effectively, he must get the public behind his programs. Expansions of power

Abraham Lincoln – Civil War Woodrow Wilson – World War I FDR – economic crisis and World War II LBJ – Viet Nam and the assassination of JFK Ronald Reagan – Oil crisis George W Bush – 9/11 examples

Suspended writ of habeas corpus. Expanded size of Army. Blockade of Southern ports Closed the mail to treasonable correspondence Lincoln

In first Inaugural Address, FDR specifically asks the public (not Congress) to grant him “broad executive powers to wage a war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe.” “Relief, recovery, and reform” Not only to get the economy back in shape, but to prevent it from happening again. Although the “bully pulpit” was a term coined by Teddy Roosevelt, FDR took it to an art form with his fireside chats, educating and informing the public regarding policy without the filter of news media. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR)

Took advantage of a nation in mourning to address two of his pet peeves – poverty and discrimination. Unyielding and almost unscrupulous use of the bully pulpit. Kennedy assassinated on November 22, 1963. Jonson addresses Congress on November 27th saying "No memorial oration or eulogy could more eloquently honor President Kennedy's memory than the earliest possible passage of the civil rights bill for which he fought so long.“ He was talking to the public who were following current events carefully, not necessarily Congress. LBJ

The oil crisis as a result of agreed upon quotas of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). Ronald Reagan was a ready made, made-for-TV hero riding into town on his white horse to save the day. Was experienced in front of the cameras. Often referred to as the Teflon President. Americans responded to him positively. Unable to make much headway with a Democratic Congress, he remade the bureaucracy through executive order and political appointments. Ronald Reagan

Appointments: • Alden Clausen - CEO of Bank of America to President of the World Bank • James Watt – an Anti-environmentalist as the Secretary of the Interior • Ray Donovan - Dept of labor – reduced enforcement of existing OSHA regulations and cut staff and budget • William Bennett – Education Secretary – ardent advocate of school vouchers, curriculum reform, and religion in education. • Anne M Burford – Administrator of the EPA, gutted the agency during her tenure. examples

Advises president on policy, typically do not have an administrative or regulatory function. Most do not require Senate confirmation except Director OMB, council of economic advisors, and USTR. Do we find it odd that the section on first ladies neglected to mention the most powerful first lady of them all? Executive office of the president (EOP)

“A president’s ability to get his programs adopted or implemented depends on many factors, including his leadership abilities, his personality and powers of persuasion, his ability to mobilize public opinion to support his actions, the public’s perception of his performance, and Congress’s perception of his public support.” Each of these factors listed above can be traced directly back to an effective use of the bully pulpit. The bully pulpit

Proactive not reactive Leading, not following or leading from behind Want to do something in Washington rather than be something in Washington State of the union: correlation is not causation. Does the president make issues more salient by talking about them at the State of the Union address, or does the president address issues that poll as salient at the State of the Union address? http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/stateoftheunion-nielsenratings.pdf Presidential leadership

Goal is to both go over the heads of Congress and to bypass the filter of media. • Speeches: rehearsed and staged. Unilateral conversation set up to put out the message the president wants to send. Few speeches are broadcast in their entirety and news media will often cut and paste soundbites to portray the president according to their preference • One on one interviews: Have become more common, interviewer given exclusive access and usually tends to be deferential to the president allowing him to get his message out. If in a regularly scheduled show, the president can reach a larger group or a specific demographic. • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POHzV7iEhEY Going public

Press conferences: Makes a knowledgeable candidate look very good and a less knowledgeable president look incompetent. Can demonstrate the ability of the president to think on his feet and demonstrate a broad knowledge of national issues. We have seen more staged press conferences in recent years with questions being known ahead of time. Barack Obama addressed the Republican Caucus and took questions, the closest we have come to having “question hour”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-GkrHKcwvo&feature=related Going public

President’s campaign on vague ideas, not concrete policies. Voters hear what they want to hear and believe the candidate will make the changes they advocate. Once the president actually begins to govern, the perception inevitably departs from the image. With the era of the continual campaign, opposition congressmen make points and generate campaign donations by campaigning against the president until a challenger is named. This means roughly 250 Congressmen producing negative campaigning against the president. Public’s perception of presidential performance

Rally effect – President as commander in chief often gives a boost to the President Scandals or financial crises tend to reduce support of the president. Rally effects and scandal

Boosts – Johnson, Vietnam War; Nixon Watergate; Carter, oil crisis, pardon draft dodgers, gave away the Panama Canal, Iran hostages; Reagan oil crisis, end of oil crisis, Iran Contra scandal; GHW Bush, Gulf War followed by recession; Clinton, strong economy and prosperity; GW Bush, 9/11, prolonged war, economy on the brink of failure. Presidential popularity

A popular presidential candidate is able to get members of his party elected as voters vote the ticket. It also helps to raise money. Obama had strong coattails in 2008, not so much in 2010. Coattail effect

Have to have ideas and know how to get them through the system. Need to use the bully pulpit to “campaign “ for your ideas. Need to understand the potential veto points and how to navigate through them. Proposing and facilitating legislation

Fiscal policy has a huge effect on the economy. This is by far the most important task the president has, yet it is the one that is the least understood or appreciated. The budget

Ways for the president to take on the power to legislate. PPD Presidential Policy Directives – called something else by nearly every administration. Limited to national security issues often involving classified information. Carries the full force of law. Signing statements are another variation of a line-item veto. Executive orders and signing statements

Chapter 8 The Presidency