Presidency and SCOTUS Test , US Presidents 32-47 and Party

American Government - Mr. Geisel (12th gr.)

George Washington

1st President of the United States

John Adams

America's first Vice-President and second President.

Thomas Jefferson

3rd President of the United States

James Madison

4th President of the United States

John Quincy Adams

6th President of the United States

Andrew Jackson

7th president of the United States

William Henry Harrison

9th President of the United States, and the first President to die in office 31 days into term.

John Tyler

elected Vice President and became the 10th President of the United States when Harrison died 1841-1845, had no VP

James Buchanan

The 15th President of the United States , only President from PA, ranked as one of the worst presidents

Abraham Lincoln

16th President of the United States; was assassinated by Booth

Andrew Johnson

Abraham Lincoln's VP, then 17th President after assassination, no VP

James Garfield

the 20th President of the US; he died two months after being shot and six months after his inauguration, Chester Arthur assumed presidency after

Grover Cleveland

22nd and 24th president, only other president other than Trump to serve 2 non-consecutive terms

William McKinley

25th president responsible for Spanish-American War, Philippine-American War, and the Annexation of Hawaii, imperialism. Is assassinated by an anarchist

Teddy Roosevelt

VP of William McKinely, 26th president

Franklin Roosevelt

32nd President of the US during Great Depression and World War II, only president to serve more than 2 terms (Democratic Party)

Harry Truman

33rd President of the United States. Led the U.S. to victory in WWII making the ultimate decision to use atomic weapons for the first time, only president to be a haberdasher (Democratic Party)

Dwight D. Eisenhower

34th President, Republican Party

John F. Kennedy

35th president, most recent president to be assasinated, Catholic, participated in the first televised presidential debate in 1960 (Democratic Party)

Lyndon B. Johnson

36th President

Richard Nixon

Vice President under Eisenhower and 37th President of the United States, resigned after Watergate Scandal, first televised presidential debate in 1960 (Republican Party)

Gerald Ford

38th president, Republican, first non elected president and VP, his VP was Nelson Rockefeller, he pardoned Nixon

Jimmy Carter

39th U.S. President, democrat

Ronald Reagan

40th President of the US

George H. W. Bush

41st President of the US, Republican Party

Bill Clinton

42nd President, Democratic Party

George W. Bush

43rd president of the US

Barack Obama

44th President, first African American president

Donald Trump

45th and 47th president, current president

Joe Biden

46th President of the US, Vice President to Barack Obama

Hillary Clinton

First female major party candidate for president of the United States, a Democrat, who ran against President Donald J. Trump in 2016. Secretary of State from 2009 to 2013; New York senator from 2001 to 2009; former first lady.

Kamala Harris

Vice President of Joe Biden

JD Vance

Vice President, President of the Senate

Susie Wiles

Chief of Staff

Marco Rubio

Secretary of State

Scott Bessent

Secretary of Treasury

Pete Hegseth

Secretary of War

Pam Bondi

Attorney General

John Roberts

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court

Kash Patel

FBI Director

Melania Trump

First Lady of the United States (FLOTUS)

Camp David

Place where there were meetings to discuss land for peace. The first was in 1979 between Israel and Egypt and the other was in 2000 between Israel, president Dwight D. Eisenhower moved retreat from Shangri La to Camp David

Presidential Succession Act

law specifying the order of presidential succession following the Vice President

Circular vs pyramid structure

Pyramid

-chief of staff monitors who gets time of day with president

-may not know what is going on

Circular

-open door policy

-everyone has access to the president if they want

-doing to much and getting involved in issues that are not worth the time and energy

Bureaucracy

A large, complex organization composed of appointed officials

White House office vs cabinet

White house office - grows in number, elected quickly
cabinet - has to be approved by Senate

Chief of Staff

the person who oversees the operations of all White House staff and controls access to the president

Unitary executive theory

The idea that the vesting clause of the Constitution gives the president the authority to issue orders and policy directives that cannot be undone by Congress.

Vesting Clause

the president's constitutional authority to control most executive functions

Propinquity

Proximity; nearness in place or time

Executive Orders

Formal orders issued by the president to direct action by the federal bureaucracy.

Executive agreement vs treaty

Executive agreement - is a pact that is made between the president and a foreign leader of a gov't that does NOT require Senate approval, DON'T bind future presidents, and can NOT go beyond US law.
Treaties - must be ratified by the Senate and, unlike executive agreements, DO bind future presidents, and CAN go beyond US law.

Pocket Veto vs Pocket Sign

Pocket veto - if Congress ajurns in the 10 days the bill dies
Pocket sign - 10 days arrived but Congress is still in session, then bill automatically becomes law

Line-Item Veto

an executive's ability to block a particular provision in a bill passed by the legislature, Bill Clinton was only one with this power

Veto statistic of 95%

95% of vetos by president stand

Bully pulpit or "going public"

-Theodore Roosevelt
-president can preach/bully Congress into getting something done

State of the union address' history

-Washington + Adams - gives speech to Congress
-Jefferson - writes letter and sends it to Congress (presidents 3-31 follow except Woodrow Wilson who spoke infront of Congress)
-FDR goes back to adressing Congress and puts it on the radio
-Truman - first to put it on TV and gives speech during the day
-LBJ - moves speech to prime time and adds rebuttal
-Ronald Reagan - made SOTV a spetical and gave republicans speech in advance to know when to clap

US three-level court system

District Courts
Courts of Appeals
Supreme Court

Original vs. Appellate Jurisdiction

original jurisdiction are courts of the first instance, while appellate courts are reviewing courts for appeal

Trial and circuit courts

Trial Courts - (district courts) only place where jury and witnesses are called, just over 90 courts with original jursdiction
Circuit Courts - (Courts of Appeal) 13 with appellate jurisdiction, typically last court of appeal for most cases

Supreme Court Balance

Conservative - John Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito Jr., Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Barrett, Neil Gorsuch (6)

Liberal - Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Ketanji Jackson (3)

Nomination process of courts

1) Presidents nominate an individual with similar ideological views; there are no qualification requirements
2) Senate Judiciary Committee (Committee conducts hearings to question nominee and committee votes on whether the nominee should go to full Senate floor)
3) Senate Vote (Will confirm or reject nominee)

Life term of courts (good behavior)

Federal judges in the U.S., including Supreme Court Justices, serve "life terms" under the Constitution, meaning they hold office "during good Behaviour," allowing them to serve until resignation, death, or impeachment

Create and abolish powers

the power to create and abolish federal offices, departments, and courts primarily lies with Congress through legislation, not the President

Pardon, reprieve, commute, amnesty

pardon - legal forgiveness/end sentence
reprieve - delay sentence
commute - shorten or reduce sentence
amnesty - pardon large group

**For federal crimes only

Wars power act

Act that grants emergency executive powers to president to run war effort
48 hours to notify Congress
60 days to get Congressional approval
if not approved 30 days to withdraw

Wage vs declare war

Wage - using military troops to get to "war-like" situations (without Congress)
declare war - congress declaring war

Congress’ power to declare war

Congress can declare war; limited by President.

State departmnet

most senior part of cabinet, A cabinet-level body charged with the execution of foreign policy

Treasury department

next most senior part of cabinet, A cabinet-level agency that is responsible for managing the federal government's revenue. It prints currency, collects taxes, and sells government bonds.

Pentagon/defense department

part of cabinet, the executive department charged with managing the country's military personnel, equipment, and operations

Justice department

the United States federal department responsible for enforcing federal laws (including the enforcement of all civil rights legislation)

Coattail effect and midterm trend

Coattail effect - other people in party ride on the popularty of president
Midterm trend - presidents party loses seats in Congress in a midterm election

12th, 20th, 22nd, and 25th amendments

12th - reformed the U.S. presidential election process by requiring electors to cast separate ballots for President and Vice President
20th - shortened the period between elections and when new presidents (January 20) and Congress members (January 3) take office, reducing the influence of defeated "lame duck" officials
22nd - No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice
25th - presidential succession and disability, detailing how the Vice President becomes President if the President dies, resigns, or is removed, and establishing procedures for filling VP vacancies and transferring presidential power if the President becomes incapacitated

“Failure Elections”

-1824
-1876
-1888
-2000
-2016

"Magic number" of electoral votes

270

PA electoral votes and why?

19 - 17 house seats plus 2 senators

“Winner-take-all”

an election system in which the candidate with the most votes wins

District plan allocation
-Maine and Nebraska

popular vote by district and them popular vote for entire state

Swing states vs solid states

swing states - Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin

Solid red states- Wyoming, West Virginia, Idaho
Solid blue states - California, Hawaii, Massachusetts

Criticisms and reforms of electoral college

-Popular vote
-Proportional allocation of electoral college
-The Bonus Plan
-The Interstate Compact Plan

Mandate theory of elections

The idea that the winning candidate has a mandate from the people to carry out his or her platforms and politics. Politicians like the theory better than political scientists do.

Faithless electors

members of the Electoral College who do not vote for whom they are pledged to

Importance of January 6th date

open up election electoral vote ballots

Importance of January 20th date

president's inauguration date

Role of the VP and 25th

-VP succeses the president if something happens
-presidential succession and disability, detailing how the Vice President becomes President if the President dies, resigns, or is removed, and establishing procedures for filling VP vacancies and transferring presidential power if the President becomes incapacitated

Why not a popular vote for president?

The United States does not use a direct national popular vote to elect the president primarily because the Electoral College is mandated by the U.S. Constitution. Established in 1787, this system was a compromise intended to balance several competing interests and philosophical concerns of the Founding Fathers

Why is interstate compact different from other reform plans?

doesn't need an ammendment to get it passed

Election of 1800

Jefferson and Burr each received 73 votes in the Electoral College, so the House of Representatives had to decide the outcome. The House chose Jefferson as President and Burr as Vice President.

Election of 1824

No one won a majority of electoral votes, so the House of Representatives had to decide among Adams, Jackson, and Clay. Clay dropped out and urged his supporters in the House to throw their votes behind Adams. Jackson and his followers were furious and accused Adams and Clay of a "corrupt bargain."

Election of 1960

Brought about the era of political television. Between Kennedy and Nixon. Issues centered around the Cold War and economy. Kennedy argued that the nation faces serious threats from the soviets. Nixon countered that the US was on the right track under the current administration. Kennedy won by a narrow margin.

Election of 1992

Bush was scapegoat for economy
-Ross Perot, 3rd party billionaire won 18.9 % of popular vote but 0 electoral votes
-Clinton won

Election of 2000

Bush v. Gore; Bush won although Gore won popular vote; controversy over the final vote count in Florida; settled by Supreme Court decision in favor of Bush

Election of 2008

Barack Obama vs. John McCain. 365 electoral votes to Obama, 173 electoral votes to McCain

Election of 2016

Presidential election in which Republican Donald Trump defeated the first female presidential nominee of a major political party, Democrat Hillary Clinton, despite losing the popular vote by almost 3 million; Republicans gained control over all of the electoral federal government for the first time since the Bush Presidency of 2003 to 2007, estimated 7 faithless electors in electoral college

Election of 2020

was between President Donald Trump (incumbent) and the Democratic challenger, Joe Biden; Biden won the election
- a riot/insurrection took place on 1/6/21 as Congress was
certifying the Electoral College results

Election of 2024

Presidential election between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, Trump won election