1. The structure of the Presidents advisors

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1. The structure of the Presidents advisors

• The Cabinet
• The Cabinet's role is to advise the President on
  subjects relating to duties of respective offices
• The Cabinet is composed of
• The Vice President
• Heads of 15 executive departments, including the
  Secretary of State

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The Vice President

• Richard (Dick) B. Cheney
• His power is determined by the President
• Presides over the Senate
• Votes only in tie situations

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Secretary of State

• Condoleezza Rice
• The highest ranking cabinet member
• Principal adviser to ministers or consuls abroad.
• Head of US department of State concerned with
  foreign affairs
• Director of coordination and supervision of
  interdepartmental activities of the US government
  overseas
• Replies to public inquiries

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The EOP Executive Office of the President

• EOP
• Established in 1939
• Composed of the Presidents personal aids and
  advisors
• Approximately 1550 staff members
• Principal Components
• White House Chief of Staff
• Office of Management and the Budget
• National Security Council
• Press Secretary

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White House Chief of Staff

• Andrew Hill Card Jr.
• Considered the highest ranking member of the EOP
• Senior aid to the President
• Duties
• Overseeing the actions of the other members of
  the White House Staff
• Managing the Presidents timetable
• Controlling outsiders access to the President
• Informal Duties
• Close Friend
• Closest political adviser

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Office of Management and the Budget

• Director John Bolten
• Responsible for assembling annual budget plans
  from departments and agencies and drawing them
  together in proposals that are submitted to
  congress.
• Examines bills passed in Congress then advises
  the President on whether to sign or veto them

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National Security Council

• Stephen Hadley
• Principal forum used by the President for
  considering national security and foreign policy
  matters
• Role to advise and assist the President in
  matters of national security and foreign policy
• Composition The President, regular attendees,
  military advisors, intelligence advisors,
  additional participants.

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Press Secretary

• Scott McClellan
• Senior official with one step below Cabinet level
• Role
• To collect information about events inside the
  administration and around the world.
• To distribute information to the media
• To field questions from press in briefings and
  press conferences.

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2. Role and powers of the President

• George W. Bush
• The American Constitution is based on the
  principle of checks and balances and
• A system of separate institutions sharing
  powers,
• also with regard to the powers of the President.

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The election of the President

• President is elected separately from the Congress
  (strong legitimization on his own)
• Indirect election through the electoral college
• The President is elected for 4 years and can be
  re-elected only once again
• The Congress cant dismiss the President

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The presidential powers

• Head of state and
• Head of government
• Nomination of all senior public officials,
  ambassadors and federal judges with
  simple-majority-confirmation by the Senate, but
• Instrument of circumvention recess
  appointments (appointments on temporary basis
  while Senate is in recess)

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The President as commander-in-chief

• declaration of war only allowed to the Congress,
  but
• the President can dispatch US forces around the
  world without a formal declaration of war
  (example Vietnam War)
• But Congress power of budget and
• War Power Act (1973)

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The President as chief diplomat

• conclusion of treaties between the US and other
  nations, but
• ratification by a 2/3 Senate majority (for
  example no ratification of the treaty of
  Versailles in 1919), but
• possibility to circumvent the ratification
  executive agreements

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The President as chief legislator

• Congress legislative branch, no right to the
  government to initiate laws according to the
  Constitution, but in reality, many laws
  elaborated by the government
• State of Union address (speech in front of the
  Congress to inform the Congress about the state
  of the union) ? legislative agenda of the
  president

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The presidential veto power

• pocket veto final days of legislative session,
  Bill sent for signature to the president may
  simply die if he takes no action
• line-item-veto veto against individual items of
  a law, not its entirety

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Other presidential powers

• executive orders rules with force of law (in
  certain circumstances possible)
• emergency laws
• executive privilege the right to refuse to
  appear before or to withhold information from a
  legislative branch or a court (Watergate scandal)

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3. Historical review the growth of the
presidential power

• The 5 principal reasons for the growth
• - Particular presidential styles of individual
  presidents
• - The USA as world superpower burdens on the
  presidency as the vital center of action and
  decision have grown
• - Congress has repeatedly bowed to presidential
  leadership (foreign policy)
• - US Supreme Courts judgments have enlarged the
  scope of the office
• - The size of the organizational apparatus of
  the president has grown

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The New Deal

• 19th century domination of the Congress
• Turning point F. D. Roosevelt and the New Deal
  (governmental intervention into economic life) ?
  delegation of power from the Congress to the
  executive branch

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The imperial presidency

• Arthur M. Schlesinger
• The growth of presidential power symbolized by US
  involvement in the Vietnam War (no formal
  declaration of war)
• But the military defeat in Vietnam shrank also
  the presidential power

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Limits and constraints of the presidential power

• Treaties require a two-third Senate majority to
  be ratified
• Nominations by the President have to be confirmed
  by a simple Senate majority (Nannygate scandal)
• Constraints by the bureaucracy
• Congress power of budget

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Limits and constraints

• Veto power can be overridden by a two-third
  Congress majority
• The President cannot dissolve the Congress
• Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of
  presidents actions
• Impeachment

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Other factors on which depend presidential
authority

• Role of the mass media critics (Vietnam and
  Watergate)
• Society is changing individualization
• Popularity, personal skills as persuader,
  parties

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Discussion

• Does the President have the power, or is he a
  puppet for his advisors, lobby groups, etc?
• Do you think the mass media has an impact on the
  Presidents image and power?
• After the international crisis (Iraq, war against
  terrorism), do you think the Presidents power
  has grown (united behind the President) or has
  it diminished (more critics)?
• How does Bush have power compared with Chirac?
• What parallels can be seen between the diplomatic
  and international leadership of Roosevelt and
  Bush?