Chapter 13: The Presidency

What are the President's pay and benefits?

Congress determines the President's salary, and this salary cannot be changed during a presidential term. 1. The President's pay was first set at $25,000 a year. Currently, the President is paid $400,000 a year. 2. Congress has also approved an expense allowance for the President, which is currently $50,000 a year. 3. $100,000 nontaxable travel account. 4. $19,000 for official entertaining. 5. $10,000 in franking expenses. 6. Besides monetary benefits, the President gets to live in the 132-room mansion that we call the White House. 7. The President is also granted other benefits, including a large suite of offices, a staff, the use of Air Force One, and many other fringe benefits.

President's roles: Chief Administrator?

Director of the United States government.

What were the Framer's original provisions for choosing the President?

(1) According to the Constitution, the President and Vice President are chosen by a special body of presidential electors. (2) Originally, these electors each cast two electoral votes, each for a different candidate. (3) The candidate with the most votes would become President, and the candidate with the second highest total would become Vice President.

What is the function of the Electoral College today?

(1) All States, except two (Maine and Nebraska), select electors based on the winner of the popular vote in that State. (2) Electors then meet in the State capitals on the Monday after the second Wednesday in December and cast their votes for President and Vice President. (3) On January 6, the electoral votes cast are counted by the president of the Senate, and the President and Vice President are formally elected. (4) If no candidate wins a majority of electoral votes (270), the election is thrown into the House of Representatives.

What are the two major strengths of the Electoral College?

(1) It is a known process. Each of the proposed, but untried, reforms may very well have defects that could not be known until they appeared in practice. (2) In most election years, the electoral college defines the winner of the presidential election quickly and certainly.

What are three major defects in the electoral college?

(1) It is possible to win the popular vote in the presidential election, but lose the electoral college vote. This has happened four times in U.S. history (1824, 1876, 1888, and 2000). (2) Nothing in the Constitution, nor in any federal statute, requires the electors to vote for the candidate favored by the popular vote in their State. (3) If no candidate gains a majority in the electoral college, the election is thrown into the House, a situation that has happened twice (1800 and 1824). In this process, each State is given one vote, meaning that States with smaller populations wield the same power as those with larger populations.

The Presidential Succession Act of 1947 set the order of succession following the Vice President as?

1. Speaker of the House 2. President pro tempore of the Senate. 3. Secretary of State. 4. Secretary of the Treasury. 5. Secretary of Defense.

What are the qualifications to be President?

Article II, Section 1, Clause 5, of the Constitution says that the President must: 1. Be a "natural born citizen". 2. Be at least 35 years of age. 3. Have lived in the United States for at least 14 years.

How does the Vice President become an "acting" President?

Sections 3 and 4 of the 25th Amendment provide procedures to follow when the President is disabled. The Vice President is to become acting President if (1) the President informs Congress, in writing, "that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office," or (2) the Vice President and a majority of the members of the Cabinet inform Congress, in writing, that the President is thus incapacitated.

How did the 22nd Amendment place limits on presidential terms?

The 22nd Amendment (ratified in 1951) placed limits on presidential terms. A President now may not be elected more than twice or only once if they became President due to succession.

How does the Constitution provide for Presidential Succession?

The 25th Amendment, ratified in 1967, made it clear that the Vice President will become President if the President is removed from office.

President's roles: Commander in Chief?

The Constitution gives the President the complete control of the nation's armed forces.

What is the role of the Vice President?

The Constitution only gives the Vice President two duties besides becoming President if the President is removed from office: 1) to preside over the Senate, and 2) to help decide the question of presidential disability.

President's roles: Chief Executive?

The Constitution vests the President with the executive power of the United States.

President's roles: Chief of Party?

The President acts as the acknowledged leader of the political party that controls the executive branch.

President's roles: Chief Citizen?

The President is expected to be "the representative of all the people."

President's roles: Chief Diplomat?

The President is the main architect of American foreign policy and chief spokesperson to the rest of the world.

President's roles: Chief Legislator?

The President is the main architect of the nation's public policies.

How did the 12th Amendment change how the President & Vice President are chosen by the Electoral College?

The most important part of the 12th amendment is that instead of casting two votes for President, each elector must pick a President AND a Vice President on his or her ballot. This ensures that the President will be paired with his running mate after the election.

President's roles: Chief of State?

This means he is the ceremonial head of the government of the United States, the symbol of all the people of the nation

Prior to the 22nd Amendment, what was the precedent set by George Washington in regards to presidential terms?

Traditionally, Presidents limited the number of terms served to two. This precedent was set by George Washington who refused to run for a third term in 1796. This tradition was broken by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940 when he ran for and won a third term in office. He then went on to be elected to a fourth term in 1944.