Chapter Summary
I. The Presidents (394-398)
A. Great Expectations
The president must live up to the expectations of the American people to
ensure peace, prosperity, and security. Americans want to believe in a
powerful president but at the same time do not like a concentration of power.
B. Who They Are
The president must be a natural-born citizen at least thirty-five years old and
have resided in the United States for at least fourteen years. All presidents
have been white, male, and all but one, Protestant. All manners of men have
occupied the Oval Office.
C. How They Got There
Presidents are guaranteed a four-year term by the Constitution. The
Twenty-second Amendment limits them to two terms. Only twelve presidents
have served two or more full terms. For more than 10 percent of American
history, the presidency has been occupied by an individual not elected to the
office. One in five presidents got the job when the incumbent president either
died or resigned.
The constitutional process of impeachment is the political equivalent of an
indictment in criminal law. The House of Representatives may impeach the
president for “Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.”
Andrew Johnson and William Clinton are the only presidents to be impeached.
In 1974, the House Judiciary Committee voted to recommend the impeachment
of President Nixon as a result of the Watergate scandal.
The Twenty-fifth Amendment (1967) permits the vice president to become
acting president if the president is declared disabled. It also creates a means
for selecting a new vice president when that office becomes vacant. The order
of presidential succession is vice president to Speaker of the House to
president pro tempore of the Senate and down through the cabinet members.
II. Presidential Powers (398-402)
A. Constitutional Powers
The Constitution says little about presidential power. Presidents share
executive, legislative, and judicial power with other branches of government.
The framers placed checks on powers they believed to be most dangerous
while protecting the general spheres of authority from encroachment.
B. The Expansion of Power
Today presidential power is greater than the Constitution suggests. Many
presidents enlarged the power of the presidency by expanding the president’s
responsibilities and political resources.
C. Perspectives on Presidential Power
In the 1950s and 1960s scholars tended to favor the idea of a strong
presidency. After the abuses of power during the Vietnam War and Watergate,
scholars argued that the presidency had become too powerful for the good of
the nation. Weaker presidents have followed Nixon evoking the desire on the
part of some for a stronger presidency.
III. Running the Government: The Chief Executive (402-409)
A. Introduction
One of the president’s most important roles is presiding over the administration
of government. One of the resources for controlling this bureaucracy is the
presidential power to appoint top-level administrators. Presidents have recently
taken more interest in the regulations issued by agencies, thus centralizing
decision-making in the White House.
B. Vice President
Choice of the vice president is often an effort to placate some important
symbolic constituency. Vice presidents rarely enjoy the job. Their main job is
waiting. They are assigned the task of presiding over the Senate and voting in
case of a tie vote. Recent vice presidents have had an increased role in the
administration.
C. The Cabinet
The cabinet (head of departments) is a group of presidential advisors. Thirteen
secretaries and the attorney general head executive departments and
constitute the Cabinet. The cabinet historically has not been a powerful
advisory board.
D. The Executive Office
The Executive Office consists of three major policymaking bodies. The National
Security Council is the committee that links the president’s key foreign and
military policy advisors. The Council of Economic Advisors has three members,
each appointed by the president, who advise him on economic policy. The
Office of Management and Budget is responsible for preparing the president’s
budget and acts as a policy clearinghouse.
E. The White House Staff
The White House staff consists of the key aides the president sees daily.
Presidents rely heavily on their staffs for information, policy options, and
analysis. Most staffs are hierarchically organized with a chief of staff at the
top. Presidential management styles vary considerably. Despite reliance of their
staffs, it is the president who sets the tone for the White House.
F. First Lady
The First Lady has no official government position. Yet she is often at the
center of national attention. Several First Ladies such as Edith Galt Wilson and
Eleanor Roosevelt, have been very influential. Hillary Rodham Clinton attained
the most responsible and visible leadership position ever held by a First Lady.
IV. Presidential Leadership of Congress: The Politics of Shared Powers
(409-417)
A. Chief Legislator
The president is often called the chief legislator because he plays a major role
in shaping the congressional agenda. The president has the power to veto
congressional legislation and Congress can pass a vetoed law if two-thirds of
each house votes to override the president. A pocket veto occurs if Congress
adjourns within ten days after submitting a bill and the president does not sign
it. The threat of a veto can be an effective tool for persuading Congress to
give more weight to presidents’ views. In 1996, Congress passed a law
granting the president authority to propose rescinding funds in appropriations
bills and tax provisions that apply only to a few people. In 1998 the Supreme
Court declared this law unconstitutional. The presidential veto is most useful
for preventing legislation.
B. Party Leadership
Presidents remain highly dependent upon their party to move their legislative
programs. Being in the same political party as the president creates a
psychological bond and agreement on many matters of public policy. Despite
the pull of party ties, all presidents experience slippage in the support of their
party in Congress. Presidents can count on their own party members for
support only about two-thirds of the time. The primary obstacle to party unity
is the lack of consensus on policies among party members. This diversity of
views often reflects the diversity of constituencies represented by party
members. When constituency opinion and the president’s proposals conflict,
members of Congress are more likely to vote with their constituents.
The president’s relationship with congressional party leaders is delicate.
Leaders are predisposed to support the president, but are also free to oppose
him. If party members wish to oppose the White House, there is little the
president can do to stop them because the parties are so decentralized and
members are largely self-recruited. Presidential coattails occur when voters
cast their ballots for congressional candidates of the president’s party because
those candidates support the president. This phenomenon seems to be
diminishing. The president’s party typically loses seats in midterm elections. In
recent years the president’s party has lacked a majority in one or both houses
of Congress.
C. Public Support
One of the president’s most important resources for leading Congress is public
support. Presidents with the backing of the public have an easier time
influencing Congress. Public approval is the political resource that has the most
potential to turn a situation of stalemate between the president and Congress
into one supportive of the president’s legislative proposals. Lack of public
support strengthens the resolve of those inclined to oppose the president. The
impact of public approval occurs at the margins of the effort to build coalitions
behind proposed policies. Some members support the president despite public
support while others will not go against their constituency or ideology even if
presidential support is high.
An electoral mandate is the perception that the voters strongly support the
president’s character and policies. Mandates can change the premise of
decisions from whether to act to how to act. Not all presidential elections
provide the winner with a mandate. Mandates are a rare phenomenon.
D. Legislative Skills
Presidential legislative skills include bargaining, making personal appeals,
consulting with Congress, setting priorities, exploiting “honeymoon” periods,
and structuring congressional votes. Bargaining receives most attention and
occurs in numerous forms. Bargaining in the form of trading support occurs less
often than one might think. The president does not have to bargain with every
member of Congress; only enough to provide a majority. An important aspect
of presidential legislative strategy is establishing priorities. The president is the
nation’s key agenda builder; what the administration wants strongly influences
the parameters of debate. There are limits to what the president can do,
however. In general, presidential legislative skill must compete with other
factors that affect congressional voting behavior. After accounting for the
status of the president’s party in Congress and standing with the public,
systematic studies have found that presidents known for their legislative skills
are no more successful in winning votes, even close ones, or obtaining
congressional support than those considered less adept at dealing with
Congress. They can, however, recognize favorable configurations of political
forces and exploit them.
V. The President and National Security Policy (418-422)
A. Chief Diplomat
The Constitution allocates certain national security powers to the president.
He alone extends diplomatic recognition, negotiates treaties, and negotiates
executive agreements with heads of foreign governments. The president must
try to lead America’s allies on matters of economics and defense.
B. Commander in Chief
The framers made the president the commander in chief of the armed forces.
As such he is the commander in chief of more than 1.5 million uniformed men
and women.
C. War Powers
Presidents have customarily made short-term military commitments of troops or
naval vessels that have occasionally become long-term (Korea and Vietnam).
The War Powers Resolution (1973) required presidents to consult with
Congress before using military force and mandated the withdrawal of forces
after sixty days unless Congress declared war or granted an extension. The
War Powers Resolution has not been a success and may be considered a
legislative veto and a violation of the doctrine of separation of powers.
Congress has found it difficult to challenge the president.
D. Crisis Manager
A crisis is a sudden, unpredictable, and potentially dangerous event. With
modern communications there is a premium on rapid action, secrecy, constant
management, consistent judgment, and expert advice. Congress moves slowly
whereas the president can come to quick and consistent decisions and confine
information. Thus the president has become more prominent in handling crises.
E. Working with Congress
In recent years, Congress has challenged presidents on all fronts. Congress
has a central constitutional role in making national security policy. Congress
can refuse to provide authorizations and appropriations for presidential actions.
Congress’s role has typically been overseeing of the executive rather than
initiation of policy. It is less involved in national security policy than in
domestic policy. Scholars have referred to the “two presidencies”óone for
domestic policy and the other for national security policy. The typical member
of Congress, however, supports the president on roll call votes about national
security only slightly more than half the time.
VI. Power from the People: The Public Presidency (422-427)
A. Going Public
Public support is perhaps the greatest source of influence a president has.
Presidents are not passive followers of public opinion. Often the president’s
appearances are staged purely to obtain the public’s attention. In his role as
head of state, the president has many ceremonial duties that put him in front
of the public.
B. Presidential Approval
The higher the president stands in the polls, the easier it is to persuade others
to support presidential initiatives. The president’s standing in the polls is
monitored closely. Presidents frequently do not have widespread support.
Presidential approval is the product of many factors including the predisposition
of many people to support the president, political party identification, and
“honeymoon” periods. Changes in approval levels appear to reflect the public’s
evaluation of how the president is handling policy. Citizens seem to focus on
the president’s efforts and stands on issues rather than on personality or
simply how presidential policies affect them. Public approval of the president
sometimes reacts to rally events and takes sudden jumps. The criteria on
which the public evaluates presidents are open to many interpretations.
C. Policy Support
Presidents frequently attempt to obtain public support for their policies with
public speeches. Speeches aimed at directly leading public opinion have
typically been rather unimpressive. The public is not always receptive to the
president’s message. Citizens also have predispositions about public policy that
act as screens for presidential messages.
D. Mobilizing the Public
Mobilization of the public may be the ultimate weapon in the president’s arsenal
of resources with which to influence Congress. Mobilizing the public entails
both opinion support and political action from a generally inattentive and
apathetic public.
VII. The President and the Press (427-430)
Presidents do not directly reach the American people on a daily basis. The
press is the principal intermediary between the president and the public, and
relations with the press are an important aspect of the president’s efforts to
lead public opinion. Presidents and the press tend to be in conflict. The White
House monitors the media closely and tries to encourage the media to project
a positive image of the president.
The person who most often deals directly with the press is the president’s
press secretary and the best-known interaction between the president and the
press is the presidential press conference. Press conferences are not very
useful means of eliciting information. Most of the news coverage of the White
House involves the most visible layer of presidents’ personal and official
activities rather than in the substance of policies. The news media are not
biased systematically toward a particular person, party, or ideology. The press
prefers to frame the news in themes, which both simplify complex issues and
events and provide continuity of persons, institutions, and issues. News