1. The Roles of the President

2. Chief of State
• The Ceremonial Head
of Government
• Formally greets head
of state
• Entertains in state
dinners
• Performs ceremonial
duties

3. Chief Executive
• vested with “the
executive Power”
• It is his/her role to
execute and administer
laws.
• Appoints several
thousand officials
• Supervises
administration of
executive department
• Takes care that laws are
faithfully executed

4. Chief Administrator
•Directs the huge
executive branch of the
Federal Government
•Employs more than 2.7
million civilians and
spends $3 trillion a year

5. Chief Diplomat
• Makes foreign policy
• Represents U.S. in
foreign relations
• Makes treaties with the
approval of 2/3 of
Senate
• Appoints ambassadors,
ministers, and consuls

6. Commander in Chief
• Civilian military leader
• Chief of the Armed forces
• Determines major
strategies during war
• Power to declare war
• Uses military power in
domestic disorder to
reinforce laws

7. Chief Legislator
•Introduces most legislation
•Shapes congress overall
agenda while in office
•Vetoes bills
•Recommends measures for
Congress to consider
•Gives Congress information
on the state of the union

8. Chief of Party
• Automatically the
acknowledged
leader of their
party
• Leads the party
and shapes their
agenda

9. Chief Citizen
•the president is
expected to be “the
representative of all
the people”
•He/she is expected to
take the high road and
champion public interest
against private interest.

10. Its Good to Be King… err.. President
Annual Salary =
$400,000
Expense Allowance =
$50,000
132 room mansion
Private jet, helicopter,
and limo
Private getaway location

11. Succeed the Successful
Presidential Succession Act of 1947
• VP
• Speaker of House
• President pro tempore (Senate)
• Secretary of State
• Treasury, Defense, Attorney General
~…..
• 18th Secretary of Homeland Security

12. The jobs of “the other guy”
Preside over the Senate
Decide the question of
Presidential Disability
“Balance the Ticket”
• Sarah Palin
• Joe Biden

13. Balance This
“The most insignificant office that ever
the invention of man contrived or his
imagination conceived.” ~ John Adams
Until 1967 the VP had been vacant 18
times (that’s just under half of the
administrations)
9 by succession, 2 by resignation, 7 by
death

14. This one’s too hot, this one’s too cold
Congress chooses President Direct Election of President
• President would be “under • People would not be
the legislative thumb” informed enough to
• Originally favored by most of choose
the framers • Process could become
• Congress was most familiar corrupted easily
with candidates • Would lead to “disorder”
(how to count all the votes)

15. This plan is juuuust right…. Kinda
What makes a good Presidential Electors
Presidential Elector? • Chosen by each state
• Equal to number of
Senators and
“Free agents”
Representatives in that
“The most enlightened and state
respectable citizens” from each • Each elector would cast two
state electoral votes (votes for a
Presidential Candidate)

16. So what’s the plan, Stan?
Whoever gets the
most votes would
be President.
Whoever finishes
second would be
Vice President

17. Voting the Party Line
Election of 1800 breaks the system
Politically aligned Electors agree to
vote/support party members
Each party nominated 2 candidates
•Ideally one would win President with
the other winning Vice President

18. Another Hiccup Along the Way
Dem-Rep vote all their
votes for both Jefferson
and Burr resulting in a tie
The Constitution did not
amend for a tie
Federalist disliked both
candidates
Congress voted 36 times
before declaring Jefferson
the winner

19. Learning from our mistakes
12th amendment was passed in 1804
Changed the way electoral voting worked
• “The electors shall name in their ballots the person voted
as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as
Vice-President”
• What does this mean?
• Still cast two votes
• One for President and one for Vice-President

20. The Long Road to the White House
National Conventions
• Constitution does not provide for Presidential
Elections
• Major parties use a system that they designed to
select candidates
• Delegates of the party vote on who should be
their parties nomination
• But how are delegates chosen? (377 – 378)

21. How important are Primaries?
Over ¾ of all Delegates come from states
that hold primaries.
Presidential Primary: an election in which a
party’s voters choose some or all of a State
party delegates to the National Convention
AND express a preference for presidential
nomination

22. Who’s on first?
New Hampshire has a law Primaries began in the
stating that its primary take early 1900 to battle party
place “one week before any boss-dominated elections
other states primaries”
Each state has different
Iowa holds one of the first rules for primaries
Caucuses
Because of their early dates a
lot of front runners are
determined here.

23. Mine all mine
Winner-take-all: the candidate who won the
preference vote automatically wins the support
of all of the delegates chosen at that primary
Proportional representation: any candidate who
seeks the parties nomination AND wins at least
15% of the votes cast at the primary receive a
proportion of votes equal to what they won.

24. What does it mean?
Winner-take-all Proportional Representation:
• 40% of votes = 0% • 40% votes = 40% of delegates
of delegates • 60% votes = 60% of delegates
• 60% of votes = • So if a state has 40 delegates
and someone got 45% of vote
100% of delegates
they would receive 18
delegates

26. Walking the Plank(s)
Platform: A parties official position on
key issues; what a party stands for;
what a party hopes to accomplish.
Plank: One issue of a parties platform.
So a platform is made up of planks…
get it?