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Chapter 11 |
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The president plays many roles and wields his power through various means.
1. Symbolic President. The president is the nation's leading celebrity, the focus of public attention, responsible for upholding national cultural values and providing reassurance to the public in times of difficulty.
2. Managing Crisis. The public looks to the president to assure them and protect them in crisis. He is the voice of the people and represents the nation. How a president responds to crisis defines their place in history.
3. Policy Leadership. The president helps to set the nation's policy priorities by rallying public opinion, lobbying Congress and winning approval of his legislative policies.
4. Managing the Economy. Presidents are held responsible for the health of the economy whether their policies contributed to the conditions or not. If the economy turns downward, the president is expected to do something to improve conditions. Presidents in office during poor economic times --- Hoover, Ford, Carter and Bush -- have been defeated for reelection.
5. Managing Government. The president is held responsible for the actions of 2.8 million civilian employees of the federal government. He is responsible for implementation of policies.
6. The Global President. The president is the global voice of the United States. As commander-in-chief of the military, the president has powerful control of foreign policy and order troops into combat.
Constitutional Powers of the President
Requirements to be president are specified by the Constitution. One must be a natural-born citizen at least 35 years old and a U.S. resident for 14 years. The Twenty-Second Amendment (1951) limited office to two consecutive terms. The Twenty-Fifth Amendment (1967) specified procedures for declaring a sitting president to be "unable to discharge his duties," and specified how the vice president might become the acting president.
The president can be impeached and removed from office by Congress for "treason, bribery, and high crimes and misdemeanors." The process has mainly been used for political reasons to try and remove a president.
The president has absolute pardoning power -- he can pardon anyone for any reason. The most controversial pardon was issued by Gerald Ford to Richard Nixon who had resigned in disgrace. The Constitution grants "executive power" to the president, but the document does not define exactly what this means. It is unclear how far presidential power extends. Does the president have power beyond what is stated in Article II or in laws passed by Congress? Presidents themselves have not agreed on how far their powers extend. William H. Taft espoused a narrow view of president power, while Theodore Roosevelt believed in a more expansive view of the job. It must be noted that presidents frequently act beyond their formally enumerated powers. Washington's Declaration of Neutrality established the presidential power to make foreign policy. Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase was carried out without any constitutional provision for the acquisition of territory by presidential action. In the twentieth century, President Truman explicitly believed that the president could use extra-constitutional means to solve national crises as he did by temporarily nationalizing the steel industry in order to continue production in the face of a strike. The Supreme Court subsequently reversed this action, illustrating that presidential power is not without its checks.
In 1974 President Richard Nixon was forced to resign when Congress investigated the president's role in the burglary and subsequent cover-up of a break-in at Democratic National Headquarters in 1972. In the case of United States vs. Nixon (1974), the Supreme Court affirmed the right of executive privilege in military matters and foreign affairs, but held that in criminal matters, privilege did not apply. As a result, Richard Nixon was forced to surrender recording tapes associated with the Watergate scandal; these recordings implicated his involvement. Executive privilege is the right of the president to withhold from Congress or the Judicial branch confidential communications conducted within the executive branch.
Also in 1974, with the scandal having weakened the presidency, Congress passed the Budget and Impoundment Control Act, mandating that the president spend all appropriated funds. The president may defer expenditures but must send a list of deferrals and Congress may overturn deferral by resolution. The president may also seek a rescission to cancel an expenditure but this must be approved by both houses of Congress.
The courts have ruled that the president is not above the law and his conduct must be lawful. However, the president does have absolute immunity from civil suits that arise from the execution of his duties as president. In a perhaps even more significant limitation on presidential power, in 1997 the Supreme Court also rejected presidential claims of immunity from civil suits over private matters. President Clinton had claimed such suits should be delayed until he left office so as not to impair the execution of presidential responsibilities. The Court disagreed.
The Constitution has a "Congressional tilt," giving Congress the power to override vetoes, impeach presidents, confirm presidential appointments, and require presidents to implement laws they dislike. The Congress is positioned to dominate American government but the president politically dominates public affairs.
Political Resources of the President
The president's real power is his power to persuade. He has a great deal of resources at his call to help him including the ability to mobilize public opinion, to communicate directly to the people and to use the symbols of his office. The president's reputation is one of his key resources and so he must maintain an image of power. His popularity can provide the basis for achieving success in foreign policy and in his legislative agenda. Presidential popularity varies over the length of the term he is in office; it rises during crisis typically as the public rallies " 'round the president." Economic recession and scandals erode presidential popularity. The president has unsurpassed access to the media and is followed by the White House press corps that provides continuous coverage of his actions and words.
Personality Versus Policy
The public evaluates the president on style as much as policy, and a president with a charming, engaging personality can enhance his power. Presidents are the leaders of their party, relying on congressional members of their party to help implement their legislative agenda, and in return they frequently campaign for the reelection of members of Congress who support them.
Chief Executive
The president oversees but does not really command the huge federal bureaucracy. He shares oversight with Congress, which must fund executive agencies and their programs, and which can reorganize agencies or even abolish them. On the other hand, presidents can use executive orders to accomplish goals even in the absence of congressional support. Some 50 to 100 executive orders are issued each year, some with great impact, as Truman's Executive Order 9981 desegregating the armed forces in 1948. Presidential appointments (only 3,000 out of 2.8 million federal civilian employees) and the president's key role in the budget process (departments must submit their budgets through the president's Office of Management and Budget) are both factors which further enhance the president's role as the chief executive.
In support policy initiatives, the president may use the Cabinet, which is not a decision-making body but can be used as a channel of policy influence. Cabinet members must be approved by the Senate. The National Security Council, created in 1947, is a decision-making body in foreign affairs, and though it plays an advisory role, its backing supports the president in Congressional relations over military matters and foreign affairs. Finally, the White House staff of several hundred specialists, who need not be confirmed by the Senate, monitors executive operations and provides research and advice on policy alternatives as well as setting the president's day-to-day schedule of meetings and press appearances.
Chief Legislator and Lobbyist
The president typically initiates national policies and legislation since the voting public holds him responsible for what happens in the nation. The Constitution requires the president to give a state of the union message to Congress and to recommend measures as needed. The president also recommends a budget for the nation. Congress is not required to pass the president's ideas into law but he can use his vast resources to try and persuade them. The president may operate through legislative liaisons, promise support for pet projects of members of Congress, resolve members' problems with the bureaucracy, or simply reward members with invitations to state events. Here is personality and public popularity may benefit in his struggles with Congress. Presidents are most successful during their honeymoon, lasting from the first several months to a year after they assume the office. Whether a president's party is in control of Congress or not is the greatest determinant of his success. When the executive and legislative branches are controlled by opposing parties, government often falls into gridlock where little legislation is successful. The threat of the veto is also a powerful negotiating tool, though the 1997 act to allow veto of individual line items was soon declared unconstitutional. Congress has the power to override vetoes by a two-thirds majority, but is able to do so only about 10 percent of the time or less.
Global Leader
As the leader of the most powerful democracy, the president has a powerful role on the world stage, and his leadership is based upon his powers of persuasion. When the economy is strong, the military is viewed as capable and when he has strong public support at home, the American president can often greatly affect event around the world. The president extends diplomatic recognition, negotiates with heads of state, participates in international organizations, presents treaties for Senate ratification, independently comes to executive agreements with foreign nations, and benefits from a huge national intelligence effort involving the CIA, the National Security Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office, and the Department of Defense.
Commander-in-chief
The president's role as global leader is in large part derived from his constitutional role as commander of the armed forces of the nation. He can lead directly or through military leaders who carry out his orders and wishes. While only Congress can declare war according the Constitution, presidents have exercised a great deal of leeway in ordering troops into combat situations. With the growing unpopularity of the war in Vietnam (which was not a declared war) Congress moved to act to restrict the growing power of the executive branch in military affairs. In the War Powers Act (1973) Congress tried to strengthen that power by restricting presidential powers, notably requiring that U.S. forces may not be involved over 60 days without specific authorization by Congress. Presidents from Nixon to Clinton have held the War Powers Act to be unconstitutional, however, and there have been numerous examples of Republican and Democratic presidential non-compliance. Only rarely, however, have American presidents felt free to send troops to domestic situations, though in principle they have the power to do so. The notable exception was President Eisenhower's sending of federal troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to enforce school desegregation in 1957.
Vice Presidential Waiting Game
The primary responsibility of the vice president has been to succeed the president in case of death. Eight vice presidents have stepped in to fill presidential vacancies. Vice presidents, however, are not usually chosen because of their capability to serve in the top role, rather they are often chose to "balance" the campaign ticket with the presidential candidate.
Vice-presidential roles are determined largely by the presidents whom they serve. Recent presidents have been inclined to give their running mates larger roles, as George Bush had under Reagan, Al Gore under Clinton, and Cheney under George W. Bush. In addition they hold the constitutional role of President Pro Tempore of the Senate, presiding and casting votes in the case of ties.
The vice president must play a political waiting game that can be frustrating. They often build large networks of allies in the hope of a later run for the presidency themselves, all the while being careful to appear loyal to the current president. Only nine vice presidents have won election to the highest office on their own.
Chapter Objectives
After mastering the concepts in this chapter, you will be able to
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