1. The Presidency
Dr. Christopher S. Rice

3. Setting precedents
Early US presidents & their actions…

11. What explains the
expansion of
presidential power?

12. 4
Factors

13. Vague
Energy Constitutional
Provisions
Expansion
of
Presidential
Power
Changing Congressional
Public Delegation of
Expectations Power, Authority

14. Roles and Powers of
the President

15. Chief of State

16. The
Power to
Persuade

17. The
“Bully Pulpit”

18. State of the Union Address

19. Success!
FAIL
The Importance of Approval Ratings

20. Commander-in-Chief

21. Conveys
significant
authority
over foreign
affairs

22. 1861 - U.S. Civil War - 1865
Action on
Military
Matters
Congress President

23. United States vs.
Curtiss-Wright (1936)

24. Youngstown Sheet &
Tube Co. v Sawyer
(1951)

25. War Powers Resolution
(1973)

26. Manager of the Economy

28. Employment Act of 1946

29. The Budgetary Process
(c) 2008 L.A. Times

30. Office of Management and
Budget (OMB)

31. Congressional Budget
Office (CBO)

32. Chief Diplomat

33. Treaty Power
Power to negotiate treaties,
official agreements with other
countries

34. The Need for Senate Ratification

36. Executive Agreement
Legal contracts with foreign
countries that require only a
presidential signature

37. Chief Executive

38. Appointment
Power

39. Constitution allows presidents
to “appoint Ambassadors, other
public ministers and Consuls,
Judges of the supreme Court…
and all other Officers of the
United States.”

40. Advice & Consent

41. Inherent
Executive
Power

42. Executive Orders
directives to government
employees which carry the weight
of law unless they contradict acts
passed by Congress

43. Executive Privilege
right of the president to deny
Congress the information it
requests

44. Chief Legislator

45. Power to Recommend
Constitution encourages presidents to
recommend for Congressional
“consideration such Measures as he
shall judge necessary and expedient.”

46. I’m in ur Congress
Ignorin’ ur President

47. The “Honeymoon Period”
(and the importance of approval ratings)

48. Veto Power
Most important FORMAL presidential power

49. FAIL

50. Vetoes are a NEGATIVE option,
not a POSITIVE method

51. Reagan
and the
Pocket
Veto

53. Signing Statements

54. “I find these signing statements are to Bush
and Cheney's presidency what steroids were
to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s bodybuilding.
Like Schwarzenegger with his steroids, Bush
does not deny using his signing statements;
does not like talking about using them; and
believes that they add muscle. But like
steroids, signing statements ultimately lead
to serious trouble.”
John Dean, former Nixon White House Counsel

55. Signing Statements
Statements appended to bills signed
into law by the president which
function as directives to executive
branch departments and agencies
as to how they are to implement the
relevant law.

56. Source: CBS News

57. Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (2006)

58. In recent years, signing
statements have been used
to effectively nullify
legislation as it relates to the
Executive Branch, rather
than veto it.

60. Source: New York Times

61. Signing Statements
MONROE to CARTER

62. Signing Statements
REAGAN to CLINTON

63. President Bush’s
Signing Statements
Number of Signing
YEAR
Statements
2001 24
2002 34
2003 27
2004 24
2005 14
2006 23
2007 8
TOTAL 154

64. How are President Bush’s
signing statements different?

65. Generally, President Bush's
signing statements tend to be
brief and very broad, &
seldom cite the authority on
which the president is relying
for his reading of the law.

66. Signing Statements
EXAMPLES

67. Signing Statements
PROBLEMS

68. Signing Statements
• Problems
– Violates legal reasoning behind
judicial rejection of Line-Item Veto
– Violation of the Presentment
Clause
– Conflict with the Justice
Department?

69. The Vice-Presidency

70. What does the Vice-President
DO, anyway?

71. “…the most insignificant
office that ever the
invention of man contrived
or his imagination
conceived.”
John Adams, the first Vice-
President

72. “…not worth a pitcher of
warm piss.”
John Nance Garner, the 32nd Vice-
President

73. “Once there were two
brothers. One went away to
sea; the other was elected
Vice-President of the United
States. And nothing was ever
heard of either of them
again.”
Thomas R. Marshall, the 28th Vice-
President

74. What does the Vice-President
DO, anyway?

75. A Heartbeat Away...

76. Constitution:
Should the President die or become
disabled while in office, quot;powers
and dutiesquot; of the office transferred
to the Vice President.

77. 25th Amendment
to the Rescue!

78. And the
First
Runner-Up
is...
(cc) 2005 Flickr user feastoffools

79. 12th Amendment
(1804)

80. 25th Amendment
(1967)

81. Okay, so I AM your
Stepping Stone (cc) 2007 Flickr user .Gladius

82. The Modern Vice-Presidency