2 presidency
GHOST HAM
Presidency2--ConstitutionalPowers.pptxThe Constitutional Presidency
The President and Article II of the Constitution
Creating the Presidency
Had to reject the Articles, which had no president
Institutional principles: “Energy” and “Unity” (Federalist #70)
Or: speed and accountability
Big questions:
How many presidents?
How long a term? How many terms?
How selected?
The danger of dual executives
2
Formal Powers: Veto
Purpose of veto
Frequency over time
Norms versus rules in constitutional development
Jackson’s national bank veto first real “policy veto”
Jackson’s twelve vetoes attacked by his political opponents
3
Formal Powers: Appointment
The president appoints:
Their own staff/Cabinet members
Ambassadors to foreign countries
Federal judges
Question: how much deference should Senate show to president in confirmation votes?
4
Formal Powers: Treaties
Treaty power:
Mix of legislative and executive functions
2/3rds of Senate required to ratify proposed treaty (why so high a threshold?)
President Wilson’s Failed Attempt to Bring US into League of Nations
5
Formal Powers: Pardon
Unchecked power—its purpose?
Ford and Nixon
Clinton
G.W. Bush and Libby
Obama
Trump
The Surrender at Appomattox
President Ford Signs Nixon’s Pardon
6
Obama’s Pardon Power Frequency
Formal Powers: Commander-in-Chief
We’ll deal with this in a separate lecture at the end of the module.
(Foreign policy is the main area where the president is actually as strong as our expectations.)
Formal Check: Impeachment
Impeachment applies to 1) bribery, 2) treason, and 3) “high crimes and misdemeanors”
Third term not limited to crimes per se; could mean abuse of power, fleeing country during war
Understood not to include just dislike of policies
Process:
Impeachment (House, majority vote)
Conviction/removal (Senate, 2/3rds vote)
A political process, not a judicial one
Have political parties and polarization made impeachment impossible?
9
