Politics

1. The President is the Chief of State. This means he is the ceremonial head of the government of the United States, the symbol of all the people of the nation. 
2. The President is the nation's Chief Executive; he is vested by the Constitution with "the Executive Power" of the United States. That power is immensely broad in both domestic and foreign affairs. The American presidency is often described as "the most powerful office in the world." 
3. The President is also the Chief Administrator, or director, of the Federal Government, heading one of the largest governmental machines the world has known. Today, the President directs an administration that employs more than 2.7 million civilians and spends more than $2 trillion a year. 
4. The President is also the nation's Chief Diplomat, the main architect of American foreign policy and the nation's chief spokesperson to the rest of the world. 
5. In close concert with the President's role in foreign affairs, the Constitution also makes the President the Commander in Chief of the nation's armed forces.  The 1.4 million men and women in uniform and the nation's entire military arsenal are subject to the President's direct and immediate control. 
6. The President is also the nation's Chief Legislator, the main architect of its public policies. Most often it is the President who sets the overall shape of the Congressional agenda. As chief legislator, the President initiates, suggests, requests, insists, and demands that Congress enact much of its major legislation. 

• These six (6) presidential roles all come directly from the Constitution. 

7.  The President acts as the Chief of Party, the acknowledged leader of the political party that controls the executive branch. 

8.  The office also automatically makes its occupant the nation's Chief Citizen.  The President is expected to be "the representative of all the people."  As chief citizen, the President is expected to work for and represent the public interest against the many private interests. 

1. Be "a natural born Citizen." 
2. Be at least 35 years of age. 
3. Have lived in the United States for at least 14 years. 

• The Framers considered a number of different limits on the length of the presidential term. Most of their debate centered on a four-year term, with the President eligible for reelection, versus a single six-year or seven-year term. 
• Until 1951, the Constitution placed no limit on the number of terms a President might serve. Several Presidents, beginning with George Washington, refused to seek more than two terms, however. Soon, the "no-third-term tradition" became an unwritten rule in presidential politics. 
• Franklin D. Roosevelt broke this tradition by seeking and winning a third term in 1940, and then a fourth in 1944. To prevent future Presidents from following this precedent, the 22nd Amendment made the unwritten custom limiting presidential terms a part of the written Constitution. 

• Presidential succession is the scheme by which a presidential vacancy is filled. 
• If a President dies, resigns, or is removed from office by impeachment, the Vice President succeeds to the office. 

Presidential Succession:  

1. Vice President 
2. Speaker of the House 
3. President pro tempore of the Senate 
4. Secretary of State 
5. Secretary of the Treasury 
6. Secretary of Defense 
7. Attorney General 
8. Secretary of the Interior 
9. Secretary of Agriculture 
10. Secretary of Commerce 
11. Secretary of Labor 
12. Secretary of Health and Human Services 
13. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development 
14. Secretary of Transportation 
15. Secretary of Energy 
16. Secretary of Education 
17. Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
18. Secretary of Homeland Security 

• In formal terms, the President is chosen according to the provisions of the Constitution. 
• In practice, however, the President is elected through an altogether extraordinary process that is not very well understood by most Americans. 
• That process is a combination of constitutional provisions, State and federal laws, and, in largest measure, a number of practices born of the nation's political parties. 

• If an incumbent President wants another term, the convention's choice of a nominee is easy. 
• The President is almost certain to get the nomination, and usually with no real opposition from within the party. 
• The President's advantages are immense: the majesty and publicity of the office and the close control of the party's machinery. 
• When the President is not in the field, up to a dozen or so contenders may surface in the pre-convention period. 
• at most, two or three of them may survive to contest the prize at the convention. 

• The presidential campaign--the all-out effort to win the votes of the people--begins soon after the conventions. 
• Each candidate's campaign organization works to present its candidate in the best possible light. 
• Voters are bombarded by radio and television speeches; "whistle-stop" tours; press conferences and press releases; public rallies; party dinners; newspaper, radio, and television advertisements; stickers and buttons; placards and pamphlets; billboards and match-covers; websites and e-mail. 
• The candidates pose for hundreds of photographs and shake thousands of hands as each of them tries to convince the people that he or she is best for the country. 
• The presidential campaign ends on election day. 
• Millions of voters go to the polls in all 50 States and the District of Columbia. 
• But the President, whoever that is to be, is not formally elected until the presidential electors cast their votes, several weeks later. 

The Constitution assigns the position two formal duties: 

1. To preside over the Senate. 
2. To help decide the question of presidential disability. 

Beyond those duties, the Constitution makes the Vice President  a "President-in-waiting." 

• Both parties have selected their vice-presidential candidates with little or no thought of how effective they would be should the single heart between them and the White House cease to beat. 
• Preserving party unity and adding strength to the ticket in a particular state or region . . ., not the ability of the person selected, continued to be the determining factors in nearly every case. 

• The vice presidency has been vacant 18 times thus far; nine times by succession to the presidency, twice by resignation, and seven times by death. 
• Yet, not until 1967 and the 25th Amendment did the Constitution deal with the matter. 
• This provision was first implemented in 1973. In that year, President Nixon selected and Congress confirmed Gerald R. Ford to succeed Spiro Agnew as Vice President. 
• It came into play again in 1974, when President Ford named and Congress approved Nelson Rockefeller. 

• Many people have long urged that the Vice President be given a larger role in the executive branch. 
• The more recent Presidents have in fact made greater use of their Vice Presidents. 
• So far, however, no President has upgraded the Vice President to the role of a true "assistant president." 
• The major reason: 
  • Of all the President's official family, only the Vice President--who is elected by the people, rather than appointed by the President--is not subject to the ultimate discipline of removal from office by the President. 
  • No matter what the circumstances, the President cannot fire the Vice President. 

Members of Congress play five major roles: 

1. Legislators 
2. Representative of their constituents 
3. Committee members 
4. Servants of their constituents 
5. Politicians 

• The Constitution says that the Senate "shall be composed of two Senators from each State," and so the Senate is a much smaller body that the House of Representative. 
• The Senate had only 22 members when it held its first session in March of 1789, and 26 members by the end of the First Congress in 1791. 
• Like the House, the size of the upper chamber has grown with the country. 
• Today 100 senators res]present the 50 States. 
• The Framers hoped that the smaller Senate would be a more enlightened and responsible body that the House. 
• Many of them thought that the House would be too often swayed by the immediate impact of events and by the passions of the moment. 
• The Framers reinforced that hope by giving senators a longer term and by setting the qualification for membership in the Senate a cut above those they set for the House. 

• Originally, the Constitution provided that the members of the Senate were to be chosen by the State legislatures. 
• Since the ratification of the 17th Amendment in 1913, however, senators have ben picked by the voters in each State at the regular November elections. 
• Only one senator is elected from a State in any given election, except when the other seat has been vacated by death, resignation, or expulsion. 

• Senators serve for six-year terms, three times the length of those for which members of the House are chosen. 
• Senators may be elected to any number of terms. 
• Senators' terms are staggered. 
  • Only a third of them--33 or 34 terms--expire every two years. 
  • The Senate is, then, a continuous body. 
  • That is, all of its seats are never up for election at the same time. 

• A senator must meet a higher level of qualifications than those the Constitution sets for a member of the House. 
  • A senator must be at least 30 years of age. 
  • A senator must have been a citizen of the United States for at least nine years. 
  • A senator must be an inhabitant of the State from which he or she is elected. 

Members of Congress play five major roles: 

1. Legislators 
2. Representative of their constituents 
3. Committee members 
4. Servants of their constituents 
5. Politicians 

• The exact size of the House of Representatives--today, 435 members--is not fixed by the Constitution. 
• Rather, it is set by Congress. 
• The Constitution provides that the total number of seats in the House of Representatives shall be apportioned (distributed) among the States on the basis of their respective populations. 
• Each State is guaranteed at least one seat in the House, no matter what its population. 

• According to the Constitution, any person whom a Sate allows to vote for members of "the most numerous Branch" of its own legislature is qualified to vote in congressional elections. 
• Congressional elections are held on the same day in every State. 
• Since 1872, Congress has required that those elections be held on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November of each even-numbered year. 
• Congress has made an exception for Alaska, which may hold its election in October. 
  • To date, however, Alaskans have chosen to use the November date. 
• Those congressional elections that occur in the nonpresidential years--that is, between presidential elections--are called off-year elections. 

• Article I, Section 2, Clause 1 of the Constitution provides that "Representatives shall be . . . chosen every second Year"--that is, for two-year terms. 
• This rather short term means that, for House members, the next election is always just around the corner. 
• That fact tends to make them pay close attention to "the folks back home." 
• There is no constitutional limit on the number of terms any member of Congress may serve. 

• The Constitution says that a member of the House:  
  • Must be at least 25 years of age 
  • Must have been a citizen of the United States for at least seven years 
  • Must be an inhabitant of the State from which he or she is elected. 
• Longstanding custom, not the Constitution, also requires that representative must live in the district he or she represents. 
• The custom is based on the belief that the legislator should be closely familiar with the locale he or she represents, its people, and its problems. 

• Joseph Rainey (R), took office on December 12, 1870 and left office on March 3, 1879. 
• Jefferson F. Long (R), took office on January 16, 1871 and left office on March 3, 1871. 
• Robert C. De Large (R), took office on March 4, 1871 and left office on January 24, 1873. 
• Robert B. Elliott (R), took office on March 4, 1871 and left office on November 1, 1874. 
• Benjamin S. Turner (R), took office on March 4, 1871 and left office on  March 3, 1873. 
• Josiah T. Walls (R), too office on March 4, 1871 and left office on January 29, 1873.  Took office on March 4, 1873 and left office on March 3, 1875.  Took office on March 4, 1875 and left office on April 19, 1876. 
• Richard H. Cain (R), took office on March 4, 1873 and left office on March 3, 1879. 
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The governor is the principal executive office is each of the 50 states. He or she is always a central figure in State politics, and is often a well-known national personality as well. Governors today hold an office that is the direct descendant of the earliest public office in American politics, the colonial governorship, established in Virginia in 1607. 

In colonial America, the actions of the royal governors inspired much of the resentment that fueled the Revolution. That attitude was carried over into the first State constitutions. Most of the powers of government were given to the legislatures; the new State governors, for the most part, had little real authority. 

That original separation of powers soon proved unsatisfactory. Many of the State legislatures abused their powers. Several fell prey to special interests, and the governors were unable to respond. So, as new constitutions were written, and the older ones revised, the powers of the legislatures were curbed and the powers of the governors increased. 

Through the early 1800s, the power to choose the governor was taken from the legislature and given to the people. The veto power was vested in the governor, and the gubernatorial powers of appointment and removal were strengthened as well. 

Beginning with Illinois in 1917, most States have reorganized and strengthened the executive branch to make the governor the State's chief executive in more than name. To a greater or lesser degree, governors are much more powerful today than in decades past. 

Anyone who wants to become the governor of a State must be able to satisfy a set of formal qualifications. 

• He or she must be an American citizen 
• He or she must be of at least a certain age (usually 25 or 30) 
• He or she must have lived in the State for a given period of time (most often for at least five years) 
• He or she must be a qualified voter 

The governor is chosen by popular vote in every State. 

• In all but five States, only a plurality is needed for election. 
• If no candidate wins a clear majority in Arizona, Georgia, or Louisiana, the two top vote-getters meet in a runoff election. 
• If no one wins a majority in Mississippi, the lower house of the legislature picks the new governor. 
• In Vermont, both houses make the choice. 
• The major parties' gubernatorial candidates are usually pick in primaries. 

Governors are elected to four-year terms nearly everywhere today. 

• More than half the States limit the number of terms a governor may serve, usually to two terms. 
• Only Virginia has a single-term limit. 

Governors are mortal. Occasionally, one of them dies in office. Many f them are also politically ambitious. Every so often, one resigns in midterm--to become a United States senator or to accept a presidential appointment, for example. 

• When a vacancy does occur, it sets off a game of political musical chairs in the State. 
• The political plans and timetables of a number of public personalities are affected by the event. 
• No matter what causes a vacancy, every State's constitution provides for a successor. 
• In 43 States the lieutenant governor is first in line. 
• In Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and West Virginia, the president of the senate succeeds. 
• In Arizona, Oregon, and Wyoming, the office passes to the secretary of state. 

The mayor-council government is the oldest and still the most widely used type of city government. It features an elected mayor as the chief executive and an elected council as its legislative body. 

The Mayor: 

• Generally, the voters elect the mayor. 
• In some places, however, the council chooses one of its members to serve as mayor. 
• The mayor presides at council meetings, usually may vote only to break a tie, and may recommend--and usually may veto--ordinances. 
• In most cities, the council can override the veto. 

Mayor-council governments are often described as either the strong-mayor type or the weak-mayor type, depending on the powers given to the mayor. 

Most mayor-council cities operate under the weak-mayor rather than the strong-mayor plan. The strong-mayor form is generally found in larger cities. 

The success of the mayor-council form depends in very large measure on the power, ability, and influence of the mayor. In weak-mayor cities, responsibility for action or inaction is hard to assign. The strong-may plan helps to solve the problems of leadership and responsibility. 

In a strong-mayor government, the mayor heads the city's administration, usually has the veto power, can hire and fire employees, and prepares the budget. Typically, the mayor is able to exercise strong leadership in making city policy and running the city's affairs. 

In a weak-mayor government, the mayor has much less formal power. Executive duties are shared with other elected officials--for example, the clerk, treasurer, city engineer, police chief, and even council members. Powers of appointment, removal, and budget are shared with the council or exercised by that body alone. The mayor seldom has veto power. 

• Magruder's American Government, by William A. McClenaghan 

• US Office of the Historian