Political Role of the Presidency - AP Government and Politics

Devolution as a concept relates to the decentralization of power by offering some powers previously reserved for the Federal government to the states. It’s purpose is to reduce the overwhelming power held by the national government. Because it focuses on reducing Federal power, it should be understood as a conservative policy and therefore should lead you to select Ronald Reagan as the correct answer.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was first proposed and established by President Richard Nixon in 1970. Its purpose is to regulate the conduct of businesses and individuals for the purpose of protecting the environment and human health.

A lame-duck president is one who has been voted out of office or finds his or her term limit has expired, but is still serving as president for a few months until the inauguration of the new president. The term is generally used solely to refer to a president who has been voted out of office; it is generally thought that he or she has lost the mandate of the people and therefore cannot try to pass any significant legislation for the remainder of his or her term—he or she is a "lame duck." Probably the most notable lame duck president of the twentieth century is Herbert Hoover, who was voted out of office during the early years of the Great Depression in favor of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Ever since Franklin Roosevelt greatly expanded the powers of the Presidency, during the New Deal era of American history, the nation’s policy agenda has more and more often been set by the President. The expanding power of the Presidency is one of the defining traits of twentieth-century American politics.

Although Congress has come close to removing four Presidents from office, none has ever been removed from office due to impeachment. Congress introduced a resolution to impeach John Tyler over the issue of states’ rights, but the resolution failed; Andrew Johnson was impeached for his handling of the Reconstruction Era, but he was found not guilty in his senate trial (by one vote); Richard Nixon, who might have become the first President to be removed from office due to impeachment, resigned during the process; Bill Clinton's case went to the Senate, where he was found not guilty. Because a two-thirds vote is needed to convict the President in the Senate, it is very difficult to convict a President during an impeachment (his party will likely support him unless doing so will cause such a massive drop in public support).

The President is given numerous powers under the Constitution—including Executive Clemency, which allows the President to pardon criminal offenders. The President has many powers related to war and foreign relations. The President may appoint ambassadors, receive foreign ambassadors, and negotiate treaties with foreign nations. The President, however, cannot ratify a treaty. For a treaty that is negotiated by the President to be ratified, it must be approved by a two-thirds vote in the Senate.

In the event that a special session of Congress becomes necessary after Congress has been adjourned, only the President may summon Congress back into session.

The Stewardship Theory of the President states that the President is the steward of the people, who must act in their best interests at all times. The theory was promoted by Theodore Roosevelt.

There are three main types of powers held by the President: enumerated powers, powers granted by Congress, and inherent powers. Enumerated powers are those given to the President in the Constitution. Powers granted by Congress are just as the name states. And, inherent powers are those that the President has that are derived from either of the two categories, and exist to allow the President to complete his duties. Of the powers listed above, all besides “to issue a veto” are inherent powers. The President has the power “to issue a veto” according to Article 1, Section 7 of the Constitution, making it an enumerated power.

While the President has many informal and formal powers, one thing they cannot do is declare war against other countries without the consent of Congress. In order to declare war, Congress must pass a vote to do so.

The President is the only person (thus the Executive the only branch) who can recognize new governments. This is somewhat of a read-between-the-lines tradition that stretches back all the way to Washington, who interpreted the clause “\[the President may\] receive Ambassadors” to mean that the President had the sole ability to recognize new governments. President Truman, for example, recognized the state of Israel.

A treaty is the only device which is explicitly mentioned by the Constitution. One of the recurring themes of American Politics, however, is institutions looking beyond the “four corners” of the Constitution for power. The president does so in terms of war by his (constitutional) ability to direct troop movements which he can (extra-constitutionally) use to intervene in foreign affairs without the Congressional consent necessary to declare war. The president does something similar with executive agreements. The President has the (constitutional) ability to create treaties—the downside to treaties, however, is that they must be ratified by the Senate. Presidents have maneuvered around that requirement, however, by using an (extra-constitutional) device called the “executive agreement.” An executive agreement is basically exactly what it sounds like—two heads of state agreeing to something. Clearly, however, it must come with more strings attached than just a treaty (because it, unlike a treaty, is not ratified by Congress). An executive agreement cannot supersede existing law, on top of which Congress may pass a law nullifying it, and the courts may strike it down as unconstitutional.

Upon inauguration, the President and Vice President must be natural born citizens, at least 35 years of age, and United States residents for at least 14 years.

Those Presidents who have taken it upon themselves to expand the powers of their office have most often done so in times of either national financial distress (as with Franklin Roosevelt and his New Deal) or in order to engage in warfare (as with Thomas Jefferson’s decision to send a secret military expedition to defend US shipping against Tripoli pirates). Such power shifts have become increasingly linked and/or abetted by the technological advantages (such as our nuclear capabilities) and international dominance to which the nation has climbed. Presidents have justified these expansions by citing the government’s need to acclimate to the demands placed upon it by the changing times, adjustments which they assert that the Executive Branch, due to its smaller size, can much more rapidly and effectively make than can the often unwieldly Legislative or Judicial Branches. This claim, however, has been often vigorously challenged by many members of Congress, with varying degrees of success.

Most Presidents, regardless of the era in which they govern, find themselves clashing with the media. During his second term, George Washington spoke out against newspaper journalists whom he alleged were committing “outrages against common decency,” while more recently, both Presidents Bush and Obama have criticized cable news channels and/or hosts. Throughout the nation’s history, nearly every President has accused the press, in one form or another, of covering either their administration or themselves in a biased manner. Bias is the most consistently leveled charge because Presidents naturally have a vested interest in seeing their person, their motives, and their policies presented to the public in the most favorable light, while the press, in all its myriad forms, tends to seize upon drama or controversy as its top priority.

When it comes to determining how much support a President has amongst the public, there are two key factors that must always be assessed: approval ratings and election mandates. Approval ratings are derived from polls presented to the public by various interest groups, think tanks, and impartial government assessors (among other bodies), in which average Americans are asked to rate their satisfaction with and overall opinion of the current President. These results are synthesized and analyzed to determine the approval rating of a President – what percentage of the public approves of the job that the President is doing? What percentage disapproves? Presidents, Congress, the media, and Washington insiders pay close attention to the results of these ratings. The other key factor is election mandates, aka the conclusion from the result of presidential elections that a great majority of the public enthusiastically endorses the President and his/her policies. Taken together, election mandates and approval ratings provide Presidents with a powerful advantage when it comes to advocating for their ideas, urging the passage of favored legislation through Congress, and getting politicians to cooperate with their policies. Most government officials, Congress people, and politicians find that it is to their benefit to work with a President who has positive poll numbers and an election mandate on their side, lest they be seen by the public as not fairly representing their interests and dominant attitudes.

George Washington (term: 1789-1797), one of the Founding Fathers of America, made several moves that established various roles and expectations of American Presidents. He enacted the idea of the President heading the military when Washington led the military in the Whiskey Rebellion of 1794. He also deeply respected law and the Constitution, so he gave Congress the authority that this new republic (new at the time) imbued it with. He refused to side with one political party. Washington saw political parties as symptoms of fractures in the nation.

Maybe most importantly, he left the office after eight years (two terms) because he believed in the freedom they had gained from the British monarchy’s rule.

He did not make the Louisiana Purchase – that was done several years later by Thomas Jefferson.

John Adams (term: 1797-1801) restricted the rights of the press, non-citizens, and the right of free speech with the Alien and Sedition Acts. These laws were enacted during a time in which war with France seemed more than likely to happen, creating varying levels of paranoia among different groups. These acts created a wave of unpopularity towards Adams and the Federalist Party.

This resulted in John Adams and the Federalist Party losing the election to Thomas Jefferson in 1801, and Adams serving only one term.

Prior to his presidency, James Madison (term: 1801-1809) contributed several articles promoting the new American government and explaining the nuances of our landmark Constitution. These articles are known as the Federalist Papers.

Federalist #10 is a very important piece of writing. In it, Madison explains that factions have the ability to tear apart the country due to the proverbial line in the sand that a faction creates. Factions are known today as interest groups.

A strong enough faction with a large enough majority could take on powers that would challenge the government’s functions and erode civil rights and liberties of the minority. Whether it is over a religious principle, supporting leaders, or government policy, factions create a serious division between the people on either side of the argument. James Madison accepts that factions will exist, so his approach to balancing them is through governmental regulations (which would, ideally, protect the citizens from a faction becoming tyrannical).

In the first line of the excerpt above, note what Madison describes as the root cause for factions to rise: “the nature of man”.