The President (American Government)

Policy Agenda a promise between candidates and their voters about the laws they will work towards passing.

  • (Without a clear agenda, candidates fail to differentiate themselves from their opponents. (Ex. Hilary Clinton’s failed to be authentic and was desperate to be who voters wanted. Trump made his ideologies clear and the type of a person he was).

How does a president pass law when the Constitution grants them no authority to do so?

  • Formal powers are powers explicitly granted to the president in (Article II of) the Constitution.

    • Power of the Veto: the president can veto/forbid any bill.

      • Can be Override by 2/3 vote from Congress

        • (In this instance, President has 10 days to sign).

          • Pocket Veto is when Congress adjourns before ten day signing period.

      • Vetos forces bill to restart process.

      • President veto’s laws when not in line with policy agenda

    • Commander In Chief of US armed forces

      • (but it’s Congress’ Constitutional (Article I) power to declare war)

      • EX. President can end war and move troops.

  • Informal powers are not mentioned in the Constitution but exist due to the nature of executive power.

    • Persuasion: President can persuade the citizens

      • Due to the fame of the executive branch

        • (1988 Dekakis’ attack ad (Dekakis supports Weekend passes for prisoners), Reagan invoked fear)

        • (Barack Obama (Big Bird) attack ad on Mit Romney), paint Romney as stupid)

    • Bargaining: President can bargain with Congress for favorable legislation

      • Correlation between ability to bargain and approval rating.

    • Executive Order is a directive from president that has the force of a federal law, but actually isn’t.

      • Head of Bureaucracy of executive department (i.e. department of agriculture, defense, education).

        • (Answer to the President but depend on Congress for funding)

        • Executive Order allows president to direct bureaucracy, reallocate funding (etc.) to accomplish policy agenda. (Ex. Trump used executive order to reroute funds to build wall, Emancipation Proclamation)

    • Signing Statement an additional (and optional) statement president can offer when signing bill into law that establishes how they interpret and intend to execute it.

      • Conflicts with congressional intent with law

      • (Franklyn Roosevelt said he didn’t like a section of a bill but couldn’t veto because it would delay US war efforts (WWII)).

    • Executive Agreement a n agreement made by president on their own authority.

      • (Obama and the Paris Accord)

      • Executive agreement only last as long as president is in power.

        • Politically binding instead of legally binding

Tension with Congress

  • Constitutionally Senate has power of Advice and consent.

    • Presidential Appointments must be approved by Senate.

      • Presidential Cabinet are the representations of the main executive departments.

        • (1989 George H W Bush appointment for Secretary Defense was denied for being a drunk and sexist)

      • Federal Court Appointments

        • Supreme Court Judge appointments cause frequent clash between Senate and President

          • (Ronald Reagan’s appointment (Robert Bork) was denied because he wanted to revert liberal civil rights decisions and supported Monopolies).

            • Borking: when Senate attacks court appointee

Expansion of Executive Power

How have presidents interpreted and used formal and informal powers?

(Teddy Roosevelt felt the president should act for the people in every case unless prohibits by the Constitution/laws

William Taft thought the president role was more restrictive.

Herbert Hoovers did nothing during the Great Depression because the constitution did not authorize the president to pass laws on welfare.

George Washington thought the president’s role was to defer to Congress).

  • Alender Hamilton - Federalist Papers: Argues for single executive (doc 70)

    • (Because a single person can do their job better since they’re easy to watch)

    • Anti-federalist disagreed because this resembled a monarchy (too much concentrated power)

When did the shift in the role of presidency occur?

  • Thomas Jefferson: Louisiana Purchase

  • Andrew Jackson: Took on the role as representative of the citizens (Constitutionally Congress’s role)

  • Abraham Lincoln: Emancipation Proclamation and imprisonment of confederate soldiers through the suspension of Habeas Corpus

  • Franklin Roosevelt: New Deal legislations

Presidential strategy

  • Bully Pulpit is when a person is in an official position that provides them allows for them to be heard.

    • Radios (FDR fireside chats), Televisions (Reagan v. Nixon), and social media (Obama and Trump) expanded nature Bully Pulpit in presidency.

  • Hub-of-the-wheel: Pres is center and public opinion, media, interest groups, WH staff, exec office of press, congress, and cabinet are all around it.

    • (FDR Made everyone in his staff compete to sell their political agenda)

  • Troika is using three chiefs of staff from different political agendas compete to advise the president.

    • (Ronald Reagan prioritized only certain information and focused on the big picture)

    • (Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama were very detail-oriented (Jimmy was able to create a deal to defuse tension in the middle east and Egypt))

When did international policy/foreign affairs expand?

  • The Telegraph

    • When George Washington was president wanted communication with the British, but that took months to get conveyed.

  • World War I the United States conduction of Military affairs brought their significance internationally.

    • The Great War drew a target on the United States in World War II

    • Franklin Delano Roosevelt

    • America becomes one of the strongest powers after WWII (Europe and Asia are devastated).

  • The Nuclear Bomb

    • The president had authorization of sending nukes.

    • American President is the only office holder to use Nuclear weapons.

      • Fear expanded the president’s role.

  • Imperial Empire

    • Barack Obama used executive orders to grant documentation to millions of undocumented immigrants (DOCO)

      • (Trump tried to revoke them with another executive order, but Congress ruled since the documentations were already a status they could not be revoked with another executive order (Required a motion from congress instead).

    • Lydon B Johnson

      • President controls information on foreign policy

        • Pentagon papers

    • Richard Nixon

      • Watergate: override the constitution by fixing the election on the national level using surveillance from National Security

Evolution of Political Parties

  • Democratic-Republican

    • Against centralized government, Pro-states’ rights

    • Evolved from Anti-federalist

      • Supported French revolution (XYZ affairs) and opposed a federal bank (Jefferson).

      • Louisiana Purchase contradicted Jefferson’s cause by expanding US territory and expanding federal power (b/c the gov has to oversee everything).

    • Democratic-republican party wins the next couple elections.

      • Partisan bias develops

      • Democratic-Republicans disperse in 1824

  • Whigs

    • Pro-centralized government

    • Evolved from Federalist

    • believe in central government

      • Less power dispersed out government

    • elitist, pro-Anglo

      • Trustee model government

    Elitism infiltrates the democratic republicans (Elitism fueled by westward expansion)

    • Creates a divide in both parties (some elitism in DR and some states’ rights in Whigs).

    • Takes place mostly Election 1828

      • DR held office until then

        • After this election then became the democrats

  • Third party system

    • 1860 Rise of the republican party

      • Civil War: Republican party becomes majority party

      • Slavery takes over issue between elitism and national government

        • Northern electoral colleges did not want slavery == Abraham Lincoln

      • Tension between North and South

        The circumstances of the president’s term promoting his presidency (personality v. conditions)

  • Issues of money took over issues of slavery.

    (Realignment of 1896)

  • Largest banking centers (New York and San Francisco): Money circulations

    • Controlled by Republicans (who support the flow of wealth).

      • Farmers wanted gold added to the gold standards to help farmers borrow.

      • Democrats become the majority party when government economic intervention becomes in demand.

        • They also got the black voters because issues of Jim crow were not being attended to.

The Republican Party

  • Barry Goldwater - Republican

    • 1964: Goldwater believed federal government should not be involved in state rights

      • Schools are funded by states, so they should decide (presented as pro-segregation)

  • 1976: Jimmy Carter (democrat) wins the Christian/conservative vote

  • 1980: Christian/Conservative move to the right-wing

    • The Atheist culture of the Soviet Union influences Christian conservatives to the Republicans.

      • LGBTQ+ rights, Sex education, abortion (etc.) is considered a causation of Atheism.

        • Ronald Reagan pushes out controversy to promote a positive feeling for Americans (after the 60s and 70s were negative for economics and international affairs)

        • Ronald Reagan cuts taxes and spending (public health care and welfare services)

          • Issue in Reaganomics: Cut taxes, not spending - Caused deficits and debts.