Transcript Chapter 14

Presidency in Action
• Executive Article: the name given to
Article II of the U.S. Constitution, which
establishes the office of the President
• imperial presidency: a critical view of the
presidency that argues that Presidents
have become too powerful, isolated from
Congress, and unaccountable for their
actions
• Article II of the Constitution
gives the President power
to:
• Command the armed
forces
• Make treaties
• Approve or veto acts of
Congress
• Send or receive diplomats
• “Take care that the Laws
be faithfully executed.”
• “most powerful office in the
world.”
• Checkpoint: What two views of the presidency
were debated by the Framers?
• Executive powers are broadly defined and
open to interpretation.
• At the Constitutional Convention, some
delegates argued for a weaker chief
executive appointed by Congress.
• They were defeated by delegates
supporting a strong, independently elected
executive.
• Presidential power has grown over time. Why has
this happened?
• Compared to Congress, the executive branch is a
unified office with one leader--capable of
quicker decisions.
• As the role of the federal government has grown
(wars, crisis, etc.) citizens have looked to the
presidency for decisive leadership.
• Unique access to mass media
• Support staff and bureaucracy
• Congress has delegated
authority to the
executive branch to carry
out the many laws
passed by the legislative
branch.
• Certain Presidents have
used the influence of
their office to increase
the scope of
presidential power.
• Checkpoint: What limits the growth of
presidential power?
• In 1952, the Supreme Court ruled that
President Harry Truman could not use his
powers as commander in chief to take control
of U.S. steel mills during the Korean War.
(Youngstown Sheet & Tube C. v. Sawyer)
• In 2006, the Court ruled that
President George W. Bush
could not use military
tribunals to prosecute
“enemy combatants” and
held that part of his plan
violated the Geneva
Conventions and the Uniform
Code of Military Justice.
(Hamdan v. Rumsfeld)
• Presidents like Theodore Roosevelt
have supported broad powers.
• “stewardship theory”
• Presidents like William Taft have
favored limited presidential
powers.
• Taft felt that Presidents could not
simply assume powers that they felt
were needed to serve the people.
All executive power had to be
based clearly on the Constitution.
• In recent years, some critics claim that the
presidency has grown too powerful.
• They refer to this increase of power as an
imperial presidency because presidents
often take actions without consulting
Congress.
• Class Discussion
•Can you think of possible examples?
• Crash Course (American Imperialism):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfsfoFqsFk4
• Executive Order
• Ordinance Power
• Executive
Privilege
• Oath of Office
• Recess
Appointments
• What are some of the executive powers and how were
they established?
• Executes and interprets the law of the land
• Issues executive orders
• Appoints many public officials
• Removes appointed officials
• Can use executive privilege to withhold
information from Congress and the federal courts
• These powers come from the Constitution and from
acts of Congress.
• Presidential authority comes
from two sources:
• The oath of office, which
requires the President to
“faithfully execute the
Office of President” and
“protect and defend the
Constitution.”
• The constitutional
requirement that the
President “take Care that
the Laws be faithfully
executed.”
• Congress passes many laws that set out broad policies,
but do not include specific details for enforcement.
• The President and other members of the executive
branch must decide how these laws should be
administered and enforced.
• To do so, they must often interpret the intent of these
laws.
• The President can issue executive orders—rules and
regulations that have the force of law. This is called
the ordinance power.
• The President must have this authority in order to use
some of the executive powers granted by the
Constitution.
• In addition, Congress has delegated the authority to
direct and regulate many legislative policies and
programs to the President and the executive branch.
• Example: Executive
Order 13661
• Executive Orders by
Presidents
• Obama & Immigration
• Secure Communities
• The Constitution grants the President appointment
power, the ability to appoint some federal officials.
• This power is necessary to ensure that presidential
policies are carried out.
• The President appoints some 3,000 of the 2.7 million
federal workers.
• The majority of the rest are hired according to civil
service laws.
• Presidents appoint top-ranking officials such as:
• Cabinet members and their top aides
• Ambassadors and other diplomats
• The heads of independent agencies
• All federal judges, U.S. marshals, and attorneys
• All officers in the U.S. armed forces
• These appointments must be a approved by a majority
vote of the Senate.
• The president can make recess appointments to
fill vacancies when the Senate is not in session.
•These appointments expire at the end of the
congressional term they were made.
•They are controversial because they allow the
President to bypass the Senate confirmation
process.
Under the custom of
senatorial courtesy, the
Senate will only approve
federal appointees
supported by the Senators
from their state who
belong to the President’s
party.
• The Constitution does not say how appointed
officers should be removed.
• Some politicians wanted Senate approval for
removals as well as appointments.
• Others argued that the President must have
the power to remove incompetent
appointees.
• The First Congress gave the
President the power to
remove any appointed
officer except for federal
judges.
• Congress tried unsuccessfully
to take the removal power
away from President
Andrew Johnson in 1867.
• At times, Presidents have refused to reveal certain
information to Congress or the federal courts.
• Congress has never officially recognized the right of
executive privilege.
• The President’s advisers and staff must be able to speak
freely to give good advice. To do so, they must believe that
their words are confidential unless the President chooses to
reveal them publicly.
• What is the court’s stand on executive privilege?
• In the 1974 case United States v. Nixon, the
Court ruled unanimously that the President could
claim executive privilege in matters involving
national security.
• However, the Court also ruled that executive
privilege cannot be used to prevent evidence
from being heard in a criminal proceeding, as
that would deny the 6th Amendment guarantee
of a fair trial.
• 1) How does the title slide picture relate to this
section? (Your answer should be no more than two
sentences)
• 2) Name one of the three ways that executive
agreements differ from treaties.
• 3) What is considered the “sharpest diplomatic
rebuke” one government may give to another?
• 4) Who were the two parties involved in the
destroyers-for-bases executive agreement?
• treaty: a formal agreement between two or
more independent states
• executive agreement: a pact between the
President and the head of a foreign state or
their subordinates; it has the same standing as a
treaty but does not require approval by
Congress
• recognition: the act of acknowledging the legal
existence of a country and its government
• persona non grata: an unwelcome person
• What tools are available to the President to implement
foreign policy?
• Making treaties and executive agreements with foreign countries
• Recognizing foreign nations
• Recalling American diplomats or expelling foreign diplomats from
U.S. soil
• Ordering the U.S. military to conduct operations on foreign soil
without a formal declaration of war
• The Constitution does not
formally give the status of
chief diplomat to the
President. But two
presidential powers play
a key role:
• The President is the
commander in chief of the
nation’s armed forces.
• The President, usually acting
through the secretary of
state, negotiates treaties
with foreign nations.
• Treaties have the same legal status as an act of Congress.
• Congress can repeal a treaty by passing a law that nullifies its
provisions.
• An existing law can be repealed by the terms of a treaty.
• A treaty cannot conflict with any part of the Constitution.
• If a treaty and a federal law conflict, the most recently passed
measure wins.
• A two-thirds majority of the Senate must approve all
treaties before they go into effect.
• This gives the Senate an important role in shaping U.S.
foreign policy.
• A Senate minority can kill a treaty. In 1920 the Senate
rejected the Treaty of Versailles.
• Presidents John Tyler and William McKinley each overcame
Senate rejections of treaties by getting joint resolutions
passed to annex Texas and Hawaii, respectively.
• Checkpoint: How do executive agreements
differ from treaties?
• Presidents can make executive agreements without
Senate approval.
• These agreements cannot overrule state or federal
law.
• Executive agreements do not become part of
American law. Only those agreements made by the
current President remain in force.
• The President
recognizes the legal
status of other nations
on behalf of the
United States.
• Countries usually
recognize each other
by exchanging
diplomatic
representatives.
• Out of political necessity, the United States
recognizes some nations whose conduct it does not
agree with.
• Recognizing a new nation, such as Panama or
Israel, can help ensure its success.
• Expelling foreign diplomats or recalling U.S.
diplomats from a foreign country is a strong
expression of disapproval and sometimes a step
toward war.
"How can you think I'd accept this gentleman
coming here?...You'd best withdraw him,
Obama. Don't insist, I'm asking you. [Palmer]
disqualified himself by breaking all the rules
of diplomacy. He messed with all of us. He
can't come here as ambassador”
• Presidents delegate many
command decisions, but do
make the most critical
decisions and have the
authority to take command
in the field.
• Difficult for Congress to
challenge presidential
commands
• Theodore Roosevelt & the
US Navy
• Only Congress can declare war; however,
many U.S. presidents have sent armed forces
into combat abroad without a declaration of
war:
• John Adams had the U.S. Navy fight French warships in
1798.
• Ronald Reagan ordered the invasion of Grenada in
1983 to block a military coup.
• George H.W. Bush ordered the ouster of Panamanian
dictator Manuel Noriega in 1989.
• Bill Clinton sent troops to the Balkans in the 1990s.
• Congress has not declared war since World
War II.
• However, Congress has passed eight joint
resolutions authorizing the President to use
military force abroad, such as:
• In 1955, Congress let President Dwight Eisenhower position
the U.S. Navy to block Chinese aggression toward Taiwan.
• The Iraq Resolution of 2002 authorized the use of force
against Iraq.
• Checkpoint: Why did
Congress enact the War
Powers Resolution?
• The results of the
undeclared Vietnam War
led Congress to pass the
War Powers Resolution of
1973.
• There is still a debate over
whether this Resolution is
constitutional or not.
• The War Powers Resolution states that the President
can commit military forces to combat only
• If Congress has declared war, OR
• If Congress has authorized military action, OR
• If an attack on the nation or its armed forces has taken
place. In this case, Congress must be notified within 48
hours and can end the commitment of troops at any time.
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Pocket Veto
Line-item Veto
Reprieve
Pardon
Clemency
Commutation
Amnesty
• How can the President check the actions of the
legislative and judicial branches?
• By using the message power to influence Congress to
pass desired legislation
• By vetoing bills passed by Congress
• By issuing signing statements
• By pardoning citizens accused or convicted of crimes
• By reducing fines or the length of sentences
• By granting amnesty to groups of people
• As party chief, the President can greatly
influence Congress.
• The President sends messages to Congress to
suggests legislation.
• There are three major messages a year:
• The State of the Union, delivered to a joint session of
Congress.
• The President’s budget message
• The Annual Economic Report
• http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/2015-state-of-theunion/obamas-drop-mic-moment-state-union-n290056
• Checkpoint: What options are
available to the President
when presented with a bill?
• Sign the bill into law
• Veto the bill
• Allow the bill to become law
by not acting upon it within
ten days
• Exercise a pocket veto at the
end of a congressional session
by not acting on the bill
before Congress adjourns in
under 10 days.
• Congress can override a veto with a two-thirds
majority, but this rarely happens.
• It is difficult to gather enough votes in each house for a
veto override.
• The mere threat of a veto can often defeat a bill or
cause changes to its provisions.
• Early Presidents rarely exercised the veto, but it is
common today.
• Describe how a new law
should be enforced
• President George W. Bush
issued a record number of
signing statements.
• Claimed the power to refuse
to enforce certain provisions
of a law or to interpret it as
he saw fit.
• Critics saw this as an attempt
to veto bills without
exercising a formal veto.
• The President can either accept all of a bill or
reject all of it.
• The Supreme Court has ruled that the line-item
veto power can only be given to the President
by a constitutional amendment.
• How is a line-item veto different from a regular
veto?
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDMpXmh8Jr0
• The proposed line-item veto would allow the
President to cancel out some parts of a bill
while approving others.
• Supporters argue that this would cut down on
wasteful federal spending.
• Opponents argue that the line-item veto would shift
too much power from the legislative branch to the
executive branch.
• The President can grant pardons and reprieves
in federal cases.
• The President can pardon people before they have
even been tried or convicted, though this is rare.
• President Gerald Ford famously pardoned former
President Nixon in 1974 before Nixon had
been tried.
• A person must accept a pardon for it to go
into effect.
• The Supreme Court upheld this rule in 1915.
• Checkpoint: What powers are included under
the power to pardon?
• The President can commute, or reduce, a fine or
prison sentence.
• The President can also issue a blanket amnesty that
pardons a group of people.
• In 1893, President Benjamin Harrison pardoned
all Mormons who had violated polygamy laws.
• In 1977, President Jimmy Carter gave amnesty to
all Vietnam War draft evaders.