Jordan Griffin

Period 4-A
Burns
Chapter 12 Outline Notes
A. Intoductory Paragraphs
I. The President
a. The President is both one of the most powerful, yet one of the weakest world leders
i. Why the President has great power
The President gets to appoint Supreme Cout Justices
The President gets to deploy the United States army at his whim
ii. Why the president has great weakness
Congress can shoot down prsidential bills and proposals
Compared to world leaders in other countries such as prime ministers, the
President does not get as many actions passed
Also, presidents may be removed from office at the behest of Congress
B. Presidents and prime Ministers
I. The President
II.
a. The Popularly Elected president is an American invention
i. Only sixteen nations have a directly elected president and thirteen of these
nations are in North and South America
b. The subsitution to a president is generally a prime minister
i. Prime ministers rule over arliaments
A parliament only has two houses
In a parliament, the prime minister is selected by the majority party
Voters choose who is a member of parliament
c. Presidents are often outsiders
i. Presidents ecome president by winning votes
Presidential candidates like to disassociate themselves with the mess in
Washington
Only 4 of the last 12 presidents had served in Congress before being elected
d. Presidents Choose Cabinet Members from Outside Congress
i. Uner the Constitution, no member of Congress or the court system can hole a
place in the executive branch execepth the President Pro Tempore
Of the 14 members of Clintons first cabinet, only 3 had been selected from
Congress
Most cabinet members were personal friends etc., representatives of
important constituencies, experts on policy issues, or some of all 3
ii. The members of a prime ministers cabinet are always chosen from the parliament
e. Presidents Have No Guaranteed Majority in the Legislature
i. A prime ministers party always has a majority in parliament while a presidents
party sometimes doesn't have majority in Congress
Congress is often controled by the opposing party
Often even if one party has majority control, they work at different
preferenes
When Kennedy was president, he a majority in Congress but he still couldn't
get bills passed
Only Lyndon Johnson and FDR had any true success in getting their bills
passed
C. Divided Government
I. Divided Government
 a. 2/3rds of the elections between 1952 and 1960 created divided government
b. When George Bush became president in 2000, it was only the third time sice 1969
that the executive branch and Congress were under control from the same partyin a
unified government
i. This was until ine senator went democratic
c. Americans say they dislike divided government
i. There are two things wrong with this statement
It is not clear that divided government makes gridlock
It is not clear if gridlock even exists
II. Does Gridlock Matter
a. It is difficult to tell if divided government is more or less productive than unified
i. This is hard to tell because unified government is a myth
Periods of unified government tend to not be so unified
The only time unified government can occur is when the same ideologcally
based party is in a majority in both places
III.Is policy Gridlock Bad
a. An American President has less ability to decide than a prime minister
i. Some may think that if its the job of the president to lead a country, then is is
alarming that the president can't pass laws
The only solution woiuld be to change the Constitution
b. Americans who hate gridlock aren't likely to make sweeping Constitutional changes
c. In fact some Americans actually seem to like gridlock
i. of Americans were likely to vote for one party Congressionally and the other
one Presidentially
d. Gridlock is a neccesary part of a representative democracy
i. This system is the opposite of a direct democracy

D. The Evolution of the Presidency

I. 1787
a. Few things ionspired debate at the 1787 Constitutional convention as the what
powers should the executive branch have
i. In 8 states before the convention the governor was chosen by the state legislature
ii. In ten states the governor could not serve more than one year
iii. Finally they all came to the conclusion that a nation threatend by enemies should
have significan powers vested in one leader
This was aided in the idea that George Washington would become president
II. Concerns of the Founders
a. Some were concerned that the President woould use the militia to take over America
or would be manipulated easily
b. The largest concern was over reelection
i. People were concerned that after their term was done, the President would
remain in office
ii. An idea was to have Congress directly elect him
But this would make him to weak
iii. Another idea was to have the President be directly elected
But then Americans were concerned that other Americans wouldn't make any
informed decisions
Thus the electoal college was formed
III. The Electoral College
a. They decided that electors would represent each states senate and House and this
seemed to sate everyones opinion
IV. The Presidents Term of Office
 a. This issue was put to rest after George Washington only limited himself to 2 terms,
which set the precedent for presidents
b. Only FDR really went above this
i. Because of his long king like reign, the 22nd amendment officially limited
presidents to serving 2 terms or 10 years
c. The orderly transfer of an old president to a new president has been conducted
professionally if not admirally every single time
V. The First Presidents
a. The first presidents were among the most prominent men in the nation
i. All but one of them went on to serve 2 terms, Washington and Monroe were not
even opposed in the running
b. The first cabinet had at the highest levels Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson,
and many other prominent men
c. Washington spoke out strong ly against political parties believing faction to be a
very bad thing
i. There was this stigma attached to factions that it was not good to take sides early
on in Americas history and divide America even more
ii. However thsi stigma to parties beacme unrealistic because democracy is to
factions as religion is to churches
d. The treasury under Alexander Hamilton became the strongest principial federal
office
e. The rule of fitness for the American government is that only those with high
standings in their community get appointed
f. Washington wished the presidency to be a humble and simple position
i. Congress decided that a president could only get their face on currency
after they had died
g. It was originally the senates job to advise the president
i. When Washington had gone to the senate to discuss native American affairs
but he got so fed up with their manner that he refused to return to them, and that
had also set the precedent for presidents through today
h. Washington only had 2 vetoes, Jefferson and Adams cast none

VI.The Jacksonians
a. Jacksons presidency ushered in broad changes to the American presidency
i. Jackson instituted 12 vetoes none of which were overturned, this was the
most until Andrew Johnson
ii. Jacksons belief in a strong central presidency was to ultimately triumph
VII. The Reemergence of Congress
a. After Jackson's rain, for the next 100 years except under Lincoln, Polk and
Cleveland, the executive branch was subordinate to Congress
b. Only Lincoln's expansive use of power was to show any executive authority
i. Lincoln used these powers by vaguely interpreting the second article of the
Constitution especially those powers he believed were implied, or inherent
ii. After Lincoln Congress became the principal federal power
c. It is showed that only in the cases of emergency, or particularly strong willed
presidents does the executive branch gain powers
i. It is showed that he idea that the President is the figurehead of America is
wrong and that Congress is the most in control
This increase struggles between the 2 branches
E. The Powers of the President
I. The Presidents Powers
a. Powers of the president alone
 i. The Commander and Chief
ii. Commisioner of officers in the armed forces
iii. Reprives and Pardons
iv. Convene Congress in special sessions
v. Receive ambassadors
vi. Execute laws
vii. Executive power
viii. Appoint officials
b. Powers of the President shared with the senat
i. Make treaties
ii. Appoint ambassadors, judges, high officials
c. Powers of the C&C shared with Congress as a whole
i. Approve legislation
d. The presidents experessed powers do not seem as impressive but vague phrases in
the constitution as the presidents duties are to take cares that laws be faithfully
executed have become elastic
e. Also, the American people are looking more to the president as a leader
F. The Office of the President
I. Assistants
a. The Amount of assistants for the President have largely increased
i. Presidents make it deliberately hard to keep track of how many assistants they
have
II. The White House Office
a. The Presidents assistants have offices in the white house
b. There are 3 ways a president may organize his staff
i. In a pyramid structure
A strong structured hieracrchy
ii. In a circular structure
where assistants report directly to the president
iii. In an ad hoc structure
where everyone deals directly with the president
c. It is common for presidents to mix structures
d. Each structure has its advantages and disadvantages
i. A pyramid structure is nice and ordered but a president could easily be
misinformed
ii. The circular strategy gives more info,but confuses everyone
iii. The ad hoc one gives the president the most information, in fact almost too much
e. Assistants do it for the perks of power instead of mostly material incentives such as
money etc.
III. The Executive Office of the Presidents
a. Agencies in the executive office report directly to him
b. Agencies Include
i. Office of Management and Budget
ii. Central Intelligence Agency
iii. Council of Economic Advisors
iv. Office of Personnel Management
v. Officeof the U.C. Trade Representative
c. The OMB is the most important
IV.The Cabinet
a. It is a product of tradition and hope
b. The seating of the cabinet members depends on the age of the organization headed
c. The President appoints and controls vast more members of his/her cabinet than the
 prime ministers of other countries
V. Independent Agencies, Commissions, and Judgships
a. The President also appoints heads to about 4 dozen other minor orgnizations
i. The president is able to fill federal courts subject to the approval of the senate
ii. The senate has 120 days to vote on Presidential appointees an dif they don't act in
that time period, the appointtee stays in office
G. Who Gets Appointed
I. The President rarely knows who he/she is appointing
a. Appointees come from, foundations, law firms, think tanks...
b. A president is lucky if their cabinet members to agree with them him/her
c. Cabinet members generally aren't government lifers while cabinet members in a
parliamentary government are generally parliament lifers
d. Before 1824, the post of secretar of the state was seen as being a stepping stone to
becoming the President
e. It has become clear that it would be an egregrious blunder not to have an African
American serve in a Presidents cabinet
H. Presidential Character
I. Presidential Flair
a. Presidents bring their own styles to the office of the presidents
i. Dwight D. Eisenhower
Orderly, military style to the white house, delegation of authority
ii. John Kennedy
A bold, articulating style of president
iii. Lyndon Johnson
A master legislative strategist
iv. Richard Nixon
Highly intelligent man with a deep knowledge and interest in foreign policy
and a large distrust in the media
v. Gerald Ford
More of an at home give and take discussion type of president
vi. Jimmy Carter
An outsider to Washington who was proud of it
vii. Ronald Reagan
An outsider who wanted to set broad dirctions of Congress
viii. George Bush
More of a hands on manager who lacked speaking skills
ix. Bill Clinton
Paid alot of attention to public policy and preffered informal discussions
x. George W. Bush
He was an outsider with a difference that gave him the advantage, his father
had been president, deeply religious, ran a very tight ship
I. The Power to Persuade
I. The Three Audiences
a. Presidents persuasive powers are aimed at 3 audiences
i. The most important is fellow politicians
ii. The second is party activists and office holders
iii. The public
Presidents no one slip up of the tongue will mess up their campaigns so they
are cautious in everything they say
II. Popularity and Influence
a. The effects of coattails have declined through today
 b. Members of Congress find it risky to campaign aganist the policies of a president
c. A presidents popularity is measured by the amount of legislation they get passed
d. There are 4 factors used to be able to measure a presidents popularity
i. If he is successful on a big bill and not on trivial ones then his popularity ratings
will be off
ii. a president could not take a side on a presidential issue keeping his ratings higher
iii. if most of his bills are passed out and a few get passed while the rest stay their,
the president looks more popular
iv. factors nobody even the president can control
III.The Decline in Popularity
a. Presidential Popularity is an invaluble asset but it always seems to decline
b. Only presidents serving in extraordinary times have really easy times with Congress
and presidents in normal times such as Kennedy, Nixon, Ford, and Carter only had
average 1st years

J. The Power to Say No

I. Veto
a. A president may veto in one of two ways
i. A veto message
The president give a set reason to veto within 10 days and they get the
veto off
ii. A pocket veto
may only be used before life of a Congressional session so the president
wouldn't have to sign it but Congress wouldn't be in session so he isn't
obligated to
b. The line-item veto is something only governors may do
i. This is where the governor approves some parts of the bill and cuts other parts
out
ii. As of 1996, a president can use a recisission veto which is like this but it applies
only to government spending
II. Executive Privilege
a. The President is not required to divulge private information to the other branches
i. This is based on the principals of the separation of powers
ii. Also the President may need to aquire confidential information that can not be
exposed to public scrutiny
b. U.S v. Nixon
i. The President was not required to divulge information until the Supreme court
decided in the U.S. v. Nixon that the President is required to reveal secret
information if the S.C. Commands and that the President has no absolute
immunity from the other branches.
III.Impoundment of Funds
a. Occasionally the President has refused to spend money alotted to him by Congress
i. From Truman not spending all of his alotted money on the armed forces to
Kennedy not spending money on weapons he personally did not approve of
ii. In 1972, Nixon proposed to Congress that they reduce the federal budget to 250
billion dollars, the Democratic Congress refused
Nixon responded by pocket vetoing 12 bills on the budget proposed by
Congress and impounding funds appropriated under other laws he hadn't vetoed
So in turn Congress passed the Budget Reform Act of 1974
This act said that the President must spend all appropriated funds unless he
tells Congress which funds he wishes not to spend within 45 days and they
agree to delete the funds from the deal, if he doesn't want to spend he just needs
 to inform Congress but then through a resolution they can make the president
spend the money

K. The President's Program

I. Putting Together a Program
a. A president will draw on several sources to pull policies together
i. Interest Groups
Will have strong yet narrow ideas
ii. Aides and campaign advisers
They will test their ideas but they do no have many to test
iii. Federal bureaus and agencies
They will know what is reasonable but try to foster their own gain
iv. Outside, academic, and other specialists and experts
They will have many ideas and criticisms but not the know the point of the
policy
b. There are 2 ways for a president to develop a program
i. One is to work endless hours trying to research ways to form it
Carter and Clinton bought into this idea
ii. Another way is to focus on 3-4 and to send other ideas to subordinates
Reagan used this strategy
c. There are 3 constraints on a President's ability to plan a program
i. One is the limit of the President's attention span
A president has worked harder than they have ever worked before but even
then thehy can't keep up with everything
ii. The second is the unexpected crises
Such as the Bay of Pigs or 9/11
iii. The third is that federal programs may only be changed marginally
The vast bulk of federal expenditures are beond control
iv. The result of these constraints is that the President must be selective about what
he wants to do
v. Again, the trustee v. delegates approach
vi. Now its about voter approval ratings when before it was about what was said
above
II. Attempts to Reorganize
a. President Bush after 9/11 reorganized thousands of bureaus under 1 cabinet head
i. Bush could do this and only barely consult Congress
Bush could consult Congress by sending them what he wanted to do, and if
they didn't return it within 60 days with a concurrent resolution (legislative
veto) it was passed

L. Presidential Transition
I. The Vice President
a. 8 times has the Vice president become president after their colleagues abidicated
i. The Vice President is not the best way to become president
ii. The Preseidents only other assigned duty to stepping in ios to break a tie in the
Senate
iii. Absent a crisis, the V.P. Is at best an advisor to the President

II. Problems of Succesion

a. Problems were that there were no clear solutions to who would fill the v.p's position
 should the President die or not be able to serve his term
b. The 25th amendment fixed these propblems by stating that if the President were to
die or state that they cannot fulfil their duties the Vice President would fill in with a
strict hierarchy behind it.
c. The first time in history where both the v.p. and the c&c in charge were not elected
officials
III.Impeachment
a. Impeachment is an indictment on someone elected to a public office
i. The senate rules on the trial much like a jury
ii. A two thirds vote of the Senate is needed to remove them from office
Only 16 Reps, 7 senators and 2 presidents have been impeached
Andrew johnson was impeached in a flimsy case because he was unpopular
while Bill Clinton was impeached on more serious charges and more than a
majority of the senate voted to impeach him
No one knows exactly when to impeach the preseident but scholars,
researches etc. agree that they must have don esomething gravely illegal not
just immoral
M. How Powerful is the President
I. Presidents and Congressmen are both losing power as they squabble over who gets more
of it
a. It is harder to uphold past programs such as the social security act of 1935
b. Presidents have some rules of thumb for dealing with political problems
i. Move it or lose it
A president who wants to get stuff done should get it done early in his term
ii. Avoid details
Don't do to much, focus on 3-4 top priorities and forget the rest
iii. Cabinets don't get much accomplished ; people do
Find capable white house subordinates and give them well defined
responsibilities, then watch them closely