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Jessica Hillis
Bailey
Government
12 October 2007
Unit 4
1. List the roles of the president and then under each give a short description fo
the role with an example:
Chief of State (ceremonial head of the government)
Director of the Federal Government
Chief Diplomat (head ambassador to overseas relations)
Commander in Chief (In charge of armed forces)
2. What are the three formal qualifications to be President of the United States?
A person is eligible for presidency when they have been born in the United States,
are at least 35 years of age and have lived in the country for at least 14 years,
consecutively.
3. Explain the 22nd amendment and how it affect the president’s tenure in office:
The 22nd amendment limits the president to two terms, a period of eight years. A
vice president who succeeds to president in the middle of a term can technically
serve for more than two terms but no president is allowed to serve for more than
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ten years.
4. What are the constitutional provisions for succession to the Presidency?
The order of succession is as follows: Vice President, Speaker of the House,
President pro tempore of the Senate, Secretary of State, Secretary of Treasury,
Secretary of Defense and Attorney General.
5. How is presidential disability determined and dealt with? Under what
amendment is this defined?
Under the 25th amendment, the vice president and a majority of the cabinet can
challenge the President’s ability to perform his duties. Congress then has 21 days
to either agree or disagree with that claim.
6. Summarize the entire process of how a person goes from being a candidate to
being President of the United States.
From January to June, primaries, caucuses and conventions are held to decided
nominees. In midsummer, presidential candidates are chose. The first Tuesday in
November is Election Day. The 3rd Monday in December the winning electors
meet and cast their votes. On January 20th the winning candidate is worn into
office.
7. What are the three flaws in the Electoral College system?
The three flaws in the Electoral College system are:
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The winner of the popular vote is not guaranteed the presidency
Electors are not required to vote in accord with the popular vote
Any election might have to be decided in the House of Representatives.
8. What are three reasons for historical growth in presidential power?
Because the president is only one person and sole commanding chief
executive
The need for a larger role in transportation, education, health, etc. has
landed on the president.
The need for the president’s immediate and decisive action in crisis/war
9. What is the ordinance power and an “executive order”? In what way can the
executive branch affect he meaning of a particular law.
An “executive order” is a directive, rule or regulation that works like a law. The
ordinance power is the power to issue these orders and it arises from both the
Constitution and Acts of Congress. The executive branch has the power to decide
for themselves how aggressively they wish to interpret the laws.
10. What offices does the President appoint? What is the Senate’s role in the
appointment process, especially the unwritten rule of senatorial courtesy?
The Senate must approve all nominations for office before the President can
actually hire them. They are:
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Ambassadors and diplomats
Cabinet members
Heads of independent agencies
Federal judges
U.S. marshals
Attorneys
All armed force officers
11. How does the President usually exercise the power of recognition and how
can this power be used as a weapon?
The president usually recognizes small or young countries that the president
wishes to ally the country with. The president uses that as a weapon by
recognizing young countries or when countries first start into a war to help said
country win the war.
12. What is the president’s major military power? What limits are placed on that
power?
The president is the commander in chief of the US military; therefore he controls
the armies. The president does not have the ability to just declare war on
whomever he so wishes, though. The president must have congressional approve
to declare war or send troops into someone else’s land.
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13. For what purpose was the War Powers Resolution designed? What is the
controversy surrounding the resolution?
The War Powers Resolution of 1973 required the president to:
Report the action of undeclared war to Congress within 48 hours
Resolve the action in 60 to 90 days
Congress may end the action at any time they see fit.
14. What legislative powers are given to the president by the constitution? What
judicial powers?
The president has the power of the “veto” which is, he can basically refuse to sign
a bill to create a law. The president can also call Congress into a special session,
which only he can do. He can also adjourn Congress as well. The president can
also grant pardons and reprieves to whomever he feels deserve one.
15. What vote is required for Congress to override a presidential veto? In what
way is the threat of a veto at times an important presidential tool?
Congress must have a twothirds vote in order to override the president’s veto. The
president can threaten a veto when he is not satisfied with the bill and thus
changes will be made until he is satisfied enough to sign the bill.
16. What difference between a pocket veto and an item veto?
A pocket veto can only be used at the end of a congressional session. If Congress
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adjourns before the President signs the bill, it automatically dies. An item veto, on
the other hand, is a system in which the president can veto specific dollar amounts
in a bill, creating an effective weapon against costly spending.
17. What is the role of the National Security Council, the Office of Management
and Budget and the Cabinet?
The National Security Council advises the president on all affairs dealing with
domestic, foreign and military matters that relate to the nation’s security.
The Office of Management and Budget is the largest unit in the executive branch.
The OMB prepares the federal budget that is presented to Congress each year.
The Cabinet is an informal advisory board appointed by the president himself.
They are called upon whenever the president is in need of assistance in the areas
covered by the cabinet.
18. What makes up a nation’s foreign policy?
A nation’s foreign policy is made up of treaties, alliances, trade, the defense
budget, foreign economic and military aid, the United Nations, nuclear weapons
testing, and disarmament negotiations.
19. What are the two main roles of the Secretary of State? Who is our current
Secretary of State?
The secretary of state’s duties include: making and conduct policy and managing
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work of the department. The current secretary of state is Condoleezza Rice under
President George W. Bush.
20. For what reason does the Constitution provide for civilian control of the
military?
The secretary of defense cannot have served on active duty for at least ten years
before being appointed to that position. If the military were strictly controlled by
the military, it was begin to undermine the principle that the country is governed
and thus controlled by the people.
21. What are the two major roles of the Secretary of Defense? Who is our
current secretary of Defense?
The secretary of defense has to main responsibilities. They are: to serve as the
president’s chief aid and advisor in making and carrying out defense policy and in
operating the defense department. Our current secretary of defense is Robert M.
Gates, under President George W. Bush.
22. Who are the principle military advisors to the President?
The military advisors to the president are: the chairmen of the Joint Chiefs, the
Army chief of staff, the chief of Naval operations, the commandant of the Marine
Corps. and the Air Force chief of staff.
23. Why did the policy of isolationism make sense to the United States in its early
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years?
The United States was still a young country, not quite set in it’s ways yet, and if
they hadn’t have been isolationists they could have opened themselves up to
invasion or attack from foreign countries.
24. Briefly outline the major political and military events of the Cold War.
Josef Stalin had promised free elections to liberated countries in Eastern Europe,
but instead imposed dictatorial regimes. He built the Berlin Wall in separate West
Berlin from East Berlin. The Cuban Missile Crisis happened, which was the
closest to firing nuclear weapons anyone has ever come.
25. Explain each of the following: The Monroe Doctrine, The Good Neighbor
Policy, The Roosevelt Corollary, The Open Door Policy, Collective security,
deterrence, The Truman Doctrine and Containment, and Détente.
The Monroe Doctrine: America would withdraw from dealing with Europe’s
affairs but that they would protect that which was on the North American
continent.
The Good Neighbor Policy: Was previously called the Roosevelt Corollary to
the Monroe Doctrine, but was designed to help create friends in Latin
America.
The Roosevelt Corollary: Allowed America to get involved in Latin American
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affairs when they were deemed dangerous to the peace in the area.
The Open Door Policy: An attempt to protect China from being carved up by
European countries. Allowed China to regain the land that was taken from it
Collective security: an attempt to keep international peace and order. The
United Nations was born out of it.
Deterrence: A strategy for maintaining the military might of the US at such a
level that will discourage an attack on the country.
The Truman Doctrine and Containment: Congress approved a bill to give
Turkey and Greece financial and military aid to help prevent them from falling
in the hands of the Soviet Union. The US began to destroy communism any
way they could.
Détente: Nixon’s attempt to improve relations between the Soviet Union and
China.