The Presidency

• mostly through state of the union address
• Obama's initiatives by Obama: 1healthcare refom 2Wall Street regulation reform 3credit card regulation reform 

• drawn up for the pres by Office and Management Budget 
• the pres then submitts it to congress

• once bills have passed through complex process in cong, it is passed to pres' desk
• he has a no. of options but most likely to sign the bill into law 

• regular veto is used as a bargaining tool 
• to veto a bill the pres must:

-veto the whole bill - return the bill to the house which 1st considered it within 10 days - included a note explaining objections 

-it is then up to congress whether to 1-do nothing 2-attempt to override the pres' veto requiring a 2/3 majority 

• opening words of Article II of the const state that : 'the exec power shall be vested in a President of the US of America'
• this makes the pres chief exec in charge of running the exec branch of the fed gov 

• given the power to nominate hundreds of officals to the exec branch
• most importnat of these are heads of the 15 exec departments such as state treasury & agriculture
• they are then subject to the confirmation of the Senate

• invovles the pres making 100s of appointments
• SC, fed trial & appeal courts 
• judicial appointments are for life
• appoinments of Sotomayor & Kagan

• sig power for pres' in 1940-1990s from Roosevelt to Bush
• USA fighting ww2 then taking lead in Cold War, the pres' role as CIC was sig during a period that saw Korean, Vietnam & Gulf wars as well as Iraq & Afghanistan
• less so in the post-Cold War era
• pres is checked by congs 'power of the purse'

• Obama negotiated Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty w/ Russia in 2010 - a nuclear arms agreement
• treaties ratified by the senate by a 2/3 majority 

• mostly used in controversial cases and high profile
• Ford's 1974 pardon of Nixon 

• not mentioned in the Const 
• cabinet used as 'advice givers' selected by the pres to aid him in making decisions
• made of 15 exec departments 

pres' cabinet derive from diverse backgrounds 

• Congress, but they myst be either former members or willing to resign their seat
• state governors
• city mayors
• academics
• policy specialists e.g Arne Duncan Education - CEO Chicago Public Schools, 2001-09
• liable to come from wide geographic ranges, races gender ideologies & age 
• Obama's 1st term cabinet the most ethincally diverse there has been 

• number of meeting varies amongst presidencies, yet become less consistent towards the end of the presidency due to:
• 1-some functions of cabinet no longer applicable 2-the pres has increasing calls on his time 3-pres' tend to become disillusioned w/ their cabinet officers, believing them to be disloyal 

meeting enable the pres to:

• engender team spirit
• look collegial & consultative
• give info to cabinet members
• glean infor from cab members 
• debate policies 
• present 'big picture' items such as budgest, tours & campaigns 
• check up on legislation going through cong in which he has an interest
• see cabinet members whom he would not otherwise see

meetings enable members to:

• get to know
• arrnage inter-departmental disputes
• catch up w/other members
• see the pres 

• number of meeting varies amongst presidencies, yet become less consistent towards the end of the presidency due to:
• 1-some functions of cabinet no longer applicable 2-the pres has increasing calls on his time 3-pres' tend to become disillusioned w/ their cabinet officers, believing them to be disloyal 

meeting enable the pres to:

• engender team spirit
• look collegial & consultative
• give info to cabinet members
• glean infor from cab members 
• debate policies 
• present 'big picture' items such as budgest, tours & campaigns 
• check up on legislation going through cong in which he has an interest
• see cabinet members whom he would not otherwise see

meetings enable members to:

• get to know
• arrnage inter-departmental disputes
• catch up w/other members
• see the pres 

they do not act as pres adivors b/c:

• they have huge deparments to run
• they are not based in the White House
• they have loyalities other than those to the pres

-last reason leads to accusations of disloyalty from those whose principal function is to act as 'presidents men' -members of the EXOP

-individually its members are v.important, though some members are far more important than others, collectively the cabinet can never be that important BECAUSE: 1-Article II of the Const states that 'all exec power shall be vested in a pres' 2-there is no doctrine of collective responsibility 3-the pres is not '1st amongst equals' he is just '1st' 4-cabinet officers are not his pol rivals 5-they  have a problem of divided loyalty as well as a lack of proximity and access to the pres 6-the pres has EXOP, which is important in helping & advising him to achieve his goals 

EXOP: umbrella term for an organisation that consists of top pres staff agencies that provide help, advice, coordination & adminstrative support to the pres 

EXOP grown to include a dozen offices w/ most important being:

• the White House Office
• the National Security Office
• the Office of Management and Budget

EXOP created due to expansion in role of FED GOV in 1930s

also due to USA's role as world power

-most trusted and closest advisors, such as Press Sec, Chief of Staff & Assistan to the Pres for Legislative Affairs

-on a daily basis their work includes:

• policy adivce
• personnel management
• crisis management
• liasion w/fed bureacracy
• liasion w/cong
• running the White House
• deciding & executing the pres' daily schedule
• acting as 'lightning conductors' for the pres
• ensuring an orderly decision-making process for the pres

-not policy-makers but 'honest-brokers', a passion for anonymity 

-established to help the pres coordinate F&Defence policies, headed by a National Security Advisor, it gathered info on groups such as:

• State Deparment
• Defense Department
• CIA
• relevant congressional committees
• Joint Chiefs of Staffs

-NSC would then act as an honest broker and policy coordinator

-Nixon greatly increased the role of the NSA by Kissinger.

2 functions of OMB are:

• to advise the pres on allocation of fed funds in annual budget
• oversee the spending of all fed gov departments & agencies 

-headed by an OMB director - the only EXOP position that requires senate confirmation

• almost every power owned by the pres is checked by cong
• 'separated institutions, sharing powers' 
• pres needs cong as he can do little without it 
• this is part of the intricate system of 'checks and balances' designed by the FFs
• the FF's ambition for cooperation & compromise often results in gridlock

powers of the pres & how they are checked by cong:

• propose legislation - amend/block legislation
• submit annual budget - amend/block budget
• veto legislation - override veto
• nominate exec officals - senate's power of confirmation 
• nominate fed judges - senate's power of confirmation
• negotiate treaties - senate's power of ratification
• CIC of armed forced - declare war/power of purse
• act as chief exec - investigation/impeachment/trial/removal

persuasion through people:

• v.pres - as presiding officer of the senate, he has foothold in cong 
• his own Office of Legislative AFfairs - part of the White House Office & those who work here act as full time lobbysists for the pres in cong
• cabinet officers - these work in their own policy-regulated area
• party leaders in cong, House Speaker, Majority/Minority leaders

persuasion through perks:

• make phone calls to selected memebers of cong
• offer help w/legislation that benefits members' constituents
• offer held w/ fed exec/judicial appoinments of interest to constituents
• invite members to a meeting at the White House
• go to Capitol Hill to address selected group of members
• offer to campaign for a member of his own party 

• pres' success rates measured in pres support score
• the annual statistic measure how often the pres won in roll-call votes in H&S
• 2009, Obama had 96.7% the highest ever recorded

although pres support score if useful as a guide to pres success:

• the score does not measure the importance of votes
• presidents can avoid low scores by simply not taking positions on votes they expect to lose
• the score does not count bills which fail to even come to a vote on the floor of either house

• 2 main powers relating to SC, 1st is a formal power - the power to nominate justices to the SC, subject to the approval & confirmation of the Senate and therefore may change the ideological balance within the Court 

recent examples of Pres' changing the balance of the Court:

• Bush replaced Thurgood Marshall (liberal) w/ Clarence Thomas (conservative)
• Bush also replaced Sandra O'Connor (moderate) w/ Samuel Alito (conservative)

• 2nd power is informal - the pres can deicded whether or not to support the decisions of the Court 
• Obama's criticism of the Citizens United V Fed Election Campaign striking down parts of the 2002 bipartisan Campaign Reform Act

• SC has 1 power over the pres, to declare actions unconstitional 

• US V Nixon - court declared that Nixon's refusal to hand over the 'White House Tapes' - concerning the Watergate affair - was unconstitutional 

5 main factors limiting the presidency:

1-public opinion - Clinton, despite his scandals, did well due to public approval ratings 

2-pressure groups - pressure groups can mobilise public opinion either for or against the president himself or his policies 

3- the media - all modern-day presidents live in an era where the media can profoundly limit what they are capable of

4-the fed bureaucracy - pres is only 1 person in an exec branch made of 15 exec departments & some other 60 fed gov agencies, boards & commissions, cooperation can be a challenge

5-federalism - not just the fed gov that limits the pres, fed gov programmes have to be implemented by state & local govs across the entire states

1- size of the mandate @ last election 

2-1st rather than 2nd term - pres find it easier to govern in their 1st term, 2nd term pres' seen as 'lame ducks' and lose much of their political clout 

3-previous Washington experience - a pres who has had a good deal of experience finds it easier to get things done b/c they understand the system 

4-oratorical skills - being a good speaker can be an advantage - sig if tv debates between Nixon & Kennedy

5- competent senior White House staff - can prove critical, Clinton chose poorly and suffered

6-crises - a crisis can help a pres, provided it is well handled. 

imperial presidency: used to refer to the a presidenc characterised by the misuse & abuse of power & highhandedness in dealing w/Cong.

-whilst the in some respects the presidency is weak, limited & checked, arguments imply an 'imperial presidency' is evident.

-Schlesinger 'imerpial presidency was essentially the creation of FP' this can be characterised in the presidencies of Nixon & Johnson by:

• increased use of war-making powers
• excessive secrecy
• high-handedness in dealing w/cong
• illegal activity
• failure of tradition check & balances to work effectively 

flaws in the theory suggest:

• Johnson was forced to decided not to stand for re-election 
• Nixon forced to resign 
• As Ford, who followed Nixon pointed out 'Our Constition works' - including its checks & balances 
• by late 1970s talk of 'imperilled presidency' which was weak and ineffective