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A Level Politics > US Presidency > Flashcards

US Presidency Flashcards

1
Q

what formal powers does the president have?

A
  • propose legislation
  • submit the annual budget
  • sign legislation
  • veto legislation
  • act as chief executive
  • nominate executive branch officials
  • nominate all federal judges
  • act as commander-in-chief
  • negotiate treaties
  • pardon
  • head of state
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2
Q

how many regular vetos did Obama use and how many did congress override

A

made 12 regular vetos of which congress overrode 1 (the last one - the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act)

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3
Q

how many people did Obama pardon and how many commutations did he make?

A 
212 pardons (142 in his last month) 
1715 commutations (including 330 in one day) (eg Chelsea Manning)
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4
Q

what constitutional powers does the Vice President have?

A
  • Presiding officer of the Senate (rarely takes place)
  • Break a tied vote on the senate
  • Counts an announces results of electoral college
  • Becomes President if the President dies, resigned or is removed from office
  • 25th amendment - acting president in cases of disability
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5
Q

examples of vice president succeeding to the presidency without election?

A
  • Theodore Roosevelt 1901 after assassination of William McKinley
  • Lyndon B. Johnson 1963 after assassination of JFK
  • Gerald Ford 1974 after resignation of Richard Nixon
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6
Q

what are examples of vice presidents careers after being vp?

A

Joe Biden vp 2009-2017 elected president in 2020

Dick Cheney vp 2001-2009 no subsequent career as already old

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7
Q

what is an example or a vice president being given special responsibilities?

A

Obama gave Biden oversight of the federal governments $787bn economix stimulus package.

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8
Q

what are the functions of the us cabinet?

A
  • to advise the president in decision making processes
  • co-ordination of the work of the federal government
  • heads of executive departments (originally 3, now 15)
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9
Q

what is the composition of the US cabinet?

A
  1. members draw from congress must resign their seat (eg senator Jeff Sessions joined Donald Trumps cabinet in 2017)
  2. president may seek expertise of individuals who have made outstanding contributions to their fields
  3. Clinton sought a cabinet that ‘looked like America’ - reflection of American society - race (Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice under GWB 2001) and gender 1970s onwards
  4. Possibility of an ideologically divergent cabinet - Obama had Robert Gates continue as Defence Secretary (appointed by Bush) to send a message that there was no change in defence policy
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10
Q

what pools of recruitment does the president have for the cabinet?

A
  1. congress
  2. serving or former state governors (eg Sonny Perdue of Georgia served as secretary of agriculture in Trumps cabinet)
  3. Big City Mayors (eg Anthony Foxx of Charlotte, North Carolina served as secretary of transportation in Obamas second cabinet)
  4. Academia (Steven Chu, appointed by President Obama as secretary of energy in 2009, was professor of physics at the University of California )
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11
Q

what are the functions of cabinet meetings for the president?

A

team spirit, collegiality, exchanging information, policy debate, presenting ‘big picture items’, monitoring Congress, prompting action, personal contact

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12
Q

what are the functions of cabinet meetings for cabinet officers in the US?

A

getting to know each other, resolving disputes, speaking to cabinet colleagues, speaking to the president, increased statues for cabinet officers

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13
Q

what are reasons why the presidents cabinet cannot be of prime importance?

A
  1. the constitution grants all executive power to the president
  2. there is no doctrine of collective responsibility
  3. cabinet officers are not the presidents political rivals
  4. the members of the presidents cabinet have loyalties other than to the president
  5. EXOP
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14
Q

arguments that the presidents cabinet is important

A
  • It contains some of the most important people in the executive branch
  • all the heads of the 15 executive departments are automatically members
  • the president always chairs the meetings
  • cabinet meetings can fulfil a number of important functions, both for the president and for cabinet officers
  • some presidents hold frequent meetings (eg Reagan)
  • powerful figures such as Henry Kissinger and Hillary Clinton)
  • some departments are very large with massive budgets
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15
Q

who is currently the white house chief of staff?

A

Ron Klain

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16
Q

what is EXOP?

A

The Executive Office of the President - the umbrella term for the top staff agencies in the White House that assist the president in carrying out the major responsibilities of office

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17
Q

what is the White House Office?

A

The personal office of the president, containing the staff who facilitate his communication with Congress, department and agency heads, the press and public

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18
Q

who is the current National Security Advisor?

A

Jake Sullivan

19
Q

what is the OMB?

A

Office of Budget and Management - The office within EXOP that reviews budget requests, legislative initiatives, and proposed rules and regulations from the executive departments and agencies

20
Q

what is the NSC?

A

National Security Council - The president’s official forum for deliberating about national security and foreign policy. It is part of EXOP

21
Q

what are the two ways of organising the executive?

A

sphere of the wheel system - common with democrats

pyramid system - popular with republicans

22
Q

what are some examples of chiefs of staff who have left/been fired?

A

Donald Regan 1985-87 became too obstructive and was eventually fired
Thomas McLarty 1993-1994 overwhelmed by job

23
Q

why is physical distance a reason for rivalries between EXOP and the cabinet?

A

cabinet officers are physically distant from the White House. eg the office of the secretary of state is on the seventh floor of the State Department Building in Foggy Bottom - an area of Washington about 7 blocks left of the White House. In comparison the national security advisers office is a 30-second walk from the Oval Office

24
Q

why can divided loyalties be a reason for rivalries between EXOP and the Cabinet?

A

cabinet officers also have loyalties to congress whose votes decide their departmental budgets and whose committees can call them to account in person whereas EXOP only have loyalty to the president

25
Q

why are policy ‘czars’ a cause of rivalry between EXOP and the cabinet?

A

Obamas extensive use of White House policy ‘czars’ signalled that policy making was going to take place at the White House and not in the 15 executive departments around Washington.
the term ‘czar’ is used to refer to members of the administration who seem to be obviously in charge of particular policy areas (eg in Obamas first term Carol Browner was portrayed at the energy and climate czar)
Obamas cabinet resented the White House czars and the treatment from Chief of Staff Emanuel

26
Q

what lines of communication do presidents have to persuade congress?

A

The vice president, members of the office of legislative affairs, cabinet officers, party leadership in congress

27
Q

arguments that the presidents power is still the power to persuade

A
  • the president has no formal disciplinary hold over members of congress
  • party discipline in congress, though tighter than it used to be, cannot guarantee votes for the president
  • the president may be faced with one pr both houses of congress controlled by the other party
  • the president is dependent upon members of congress for legislation, confirmation of appointments and treaty ratification
  • the presidents ‘direct authority’ has limited use
  • the president can offer his support for things members of congress regard as important
28
Q

arguments that the presidents power is not still the power to persuade

A
  • In an era of partisanship, few (if any) members off Congress from the opposition party are open to presidential persuasion, especially on big ticket items
  • Partisanship also makes persuasion a less useful tool for the president trying to persuade voters to support him and then pressurise recalcitrant members of Congress to do likewise
  • Presidents nowadays tend to have low approval ratings and therefore persuasion is much less effective
  • second-term presidents have always found their persuasive power to be very limited
29
Q

what deals did Trump make with democrats?

A

on 6 September 2017 Trump agreed a deal with Democrat Congressional Leaders Charles Schumer and Nancy Pelosi on a 3-month plan to fund the government and raise debt ceiling level

30
Q

how many members of congress visited the white house in the first four months of the Obama administration?

A

320 house members and 80 senators

31
Q

what is an example pf a president going over the heads of congress and appealing directly to the American people?

A

Obama toured the country in early 2010 to try to gather support for his health care reforms

32
Q

what are the key foreign policy roles of the presidency?

A
  1. commander in chief of armed forces. overall conduct of war
  2. attending summits and meetings with other world leaders
  3. negotiating treaties
  4. appointing ambassadors
33
Q

what is an example of the president setting the tone with foreign policy?

A
  • The Bush Doctrine
  • Obamas ‘soft power’
  • trump setting tone against immigration with his policy of building the wall between Mexico and the US
34
Q

what does the imperial presidency mean?

A

a presidency characterised by the misuse of excessive secrecy - especially in foreign policy - and in high-handedness in dealing with congress

35
Q

what does the imperilled presidency mean?

A

a term coined by president Gerald Ford to refer to a presidency characterised by ineffectiveness and weakness, resulting from congressional over-assertive

36
Q

what is an example of presidents acting without the authorisation of congress in foreign policy?

A

President Trump authorised the assassination of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in January 2020

37
Q

what is an example of a president seeking authorisation from congress before committing troops to hostile situations?

A

In 2002 President Bush got authorization from congress to use military force in Iraq.

38
Q

When is the last time congress used it’s power to declare war

A

1941

39
Q

What did the War Powers Act 1973 establish?

A

The war powers act established that the president should consult congress before introducing troops when possible and provide a report to congress where possible. It also said that in the absence of a declaration of war or specific authorisation a deployment of forces must be ended in 60 days unless congress authorizes another cause of action.

40
Q

What is an example of the executive branch saying the war powers act does not apply?

A

In 2011 under Obama a key foreign policy issue was airstrikes in Libya and as it went on for 2 months without congressional approval critics sought to act under the provisions of the War Powers Act but the white house responded saying it did not apply.

41
Q

What is an example of Obama successfully vetoing something and how many things did he veto in his Presidency?

A

President Obama used the regular veto 12 times during his presidency such as the ‘Restoring Americans’ Healthcare Freedom Reconciliation Act’ of 2015. The veto was sustained.

42
Q

How many of President George W. Bush’s vetoes were overridden by Congress?

A

4 out of 11.

43
Q

When is the last time a senate rejected a treaty of it’s own party?

A

1935

A Level Politics (20 decks)

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