Executive Branch Chapter 13: The Presidency Section 1 ...

1 Executive Branch Chapter 13: The Presidency Section 1: president 's Job 8 major roles 1. chief of state 2. chief Executive 3. chief administrator 4. chief diplomat 5. commander in chief 6. chief legislator 7. party chief 8. chief citizen Formal Qualifications Be a natural born citizen Be at least 35 years old Have lived in the United States for at least 14 years Term 1787 - Four year terms o most only served 2 historical reason 1951 22nd Amendment limited to 2 four year terms Maximum a president can serve? Pay and Benefits Around $400,000/year House, $50,000 expense allowance Air Force One, Marine One Camp David Health care, retirement, travel and entertainment funds Section 2 Presidential Succession and the Vice Presidency Constitution and succession If president dies or is removed from office 1.

2 Vice president 2. Speaker of the House 3. president Pro Tem of the Senate 4. Secretary of State 5. Secretary of the Treasury 6. Secretary of Defense Last one is Department of Homeland Security 25th Amendment 1967 made Vice- president second by law Presidential Succession Act of 1947 listed everyone else Presidential Disability o 25th Amendment if president becomes disabled, VP and cabinet can decide Vice president 2 jobs in Constitution serve as president of the Senate determine if president is incapacitated (with Cabinet, per the 25th Amendment). 9 have succeeded to Presidency due to death of president 1.

3 Cannot be from same state as president VP is chosen to balance the ticket . VP Vacancy o president nominates person and both houses must approve Section 3: Presidential Selection: The Framers' Plan Original Provisions Hamilton's Plan to create a body of presidential electors Electors would be enlightened and respectable citizens . State have as many electors as Senators and Representatives in Congress. electors chosen in each state according to State legislature (legislature choose or popular election). electors would meet in own states, cast 2 votes, each for a different person for president electoral votes would be counted before joint session of Congress (January).

4 Person with largest number of electoral votes as long as number was majority would be president person with 2nd largest number would be VP. if there's a tie or no one got the majority, president chosen by House, voting by states tie for VP would be decided by the Senate 1st two elections were fine Rise of Parties No problems until 1796 and rise of political parties. Adams (Federalist) and Jefferson (Democrat-Republican). Election of 1800. Electoral college tie between Jefferson and Aaron Burr, both Democratic-Republicans. Adams lost the Presidency House had to decide and it took 36 votes After this election.

5 Political parties idea of a person for president and one for VP. brought the idea that electorate would vote in line with the way the state went 12th Amendment 1804 said that electors would name specifically the president and the Vice president Section 4: Presidential nominations Role of Conventions Each party holds conventions and officially nominates president and Vice president . Each state has delegates to the convention based on electoral votes and how the state voted in last election. Presidential Primary Primary is an election in which a party's voters express preference among various candidates for a particular position and/or choose delegates to the convention.

6 Candidates get a proportion of the delegates to the convention based on the percentage of votes gotten in that state 2. Who is nominated? Political experience Congress/Governors Religion Protestant Larger states Most married, good speaking ability, good tv presence Section 5: The Election Electoral College today Electoral votes = number of House and Senate members per state (MI has 17). District of Columbia has 3. Chosen on election day when you vote Counted officially in December in each state Formal election on January 6. If no majority, House decides (1800/1824). If no majority for VP, Senate decides (1837).

7 Flaws in Electoral College 3 defects 1. Winner of popular vote not guaranteed Presidency a. Winner-take-all system i. If candidate gets enough of the bigger states, he'll hit the magic number of 270. ii. Third party candidates have pulled votes from a candidate, allowing the other to win key states (Perot in 1992 and Nader in 2000). iii. 11 times, a candidate didn't get more than 50% of vote, but did get largest percentage (Lincoln). iv. 4 times, a candidate actually lost popular vote but got electoral votes 1. 1824 Jackson/JQAdams Adams became president 2. 1876 Hayes/Tilden Hayes became president 3.

8 1888 Cleveland/Harrison Harrison became president 4. 2000 Bush/Gore Bush became president 2. Electors not required to vote how state went a. Called faithless electors . b. Has happened 9 times, but has never changed the outcome of the Presidency 3. Any election can be decided by House a. If no candidate gets the magic number , it has to go to the House of Representatives i. Only happened twice 1800 (Jefferson/Adams) and 1824 (Jackson/JQAdams). b. Third party candidates can make it difficult to hit the magic number if they get enough electoral votes i. Happened 4 times (1912, 1924, 1948, 1968).

9 Proposed Reforms 1. District Plan 3. a. MI has 17 electors i. 2 would have to vote the way the whole state went (like Senate). ii. 15 would have to vote the way that district went (like Representatives). b. does not eliminate the idea that the winner of the popular vote could lose Presidency c. Maine and Nebraska follow this plan 2. Proportional Plan a. Electors would be determined based on the % of votes in a state b. Does not eliminate the idea the winner of popular vote could lose Presidency c. Allows for an even greater risk of 3rd party candidates forcing the election to House of Representatives.

10 3. Direct Popular Election a. Each vote would count equally b. Could take away value of campaigning in smaller states and possibly weaken the value of smaller groups of voters c. Require major Constitutional amendments 4. National Bonus Plan a. Keep the electoral college system same b. Add 102 electors awarded to the NATIONAL winner of popular vote c. If there were no candidate getting the magic number, would then be a run-off Strengths of electoral college It's a known process Identifies winner quickly (except 2000 election). Only 2 elections been decided by House in 55 elections Only 4 elections where winner of popular vote didn't win Presidency in 55 elections.