the president. qualifications formal: natural-born citizen of the united states 35 years old ...
TRANSCRIPT
The President
Qualifications
Formal: natural-born citizen of the United States
35 years old
Resident of the United State for 14 years
Informal: Experience of government (senators and governors most
common)
Personal wealth (public funding vs. private funding)
Political beliefs (moderate)
Term
George Washington example: President for two terms
Each term is for 4 years
Lasted until Franklin Roosevelt (4 terms)
22nd amendment: officially limits the president to two terms (8 years)
Salary and Benefits
Salary: $400,000 taxable
$100,000 non taxable travel allowance
$50,000 expense account
Benefits Air Force One (x2)
Helicopters, limousines
Free medical, dental and health care
White House (132 rooms—swimming pool, bowling alley, private movie theater, and tennis courts)
Government pays for state dinners
Pension—$148,400
Vice-President
Two Duties: Presides over the Senate. Votes only in a tie.
25th Amendment: decides if the President is disabled.
14 Vice Presidents have become presidents 9 have succeed the president upon death or resignation
John Tyler Millard Fillmore Andrew Johnson Chester Arthur
Theodore Roosevelt Calvin Coolidge Harry Truman Lyndon Johnson
Gerald Ford
Informal Responsibilities
Before the 1950s, the Vice President was largely ignored by the President Hubert Humphrey (Lyndon B. Johnson’s VP): “The only
authority the VP has is what the President gives him.”
Modern examples: VP participates in policy meetings
Special assignments (speeches, own projects)
Members of the National Security Council
Bush/Cheney: “When you’re talking to Cheney, you’re talking to me. When Cheney’s talking, it’s me talking”. –George W. Bush
Presidential Succession
8 Presidents have died in office (4 assassinated, 4 natural)
25th Amendment: first applied in 1973 VP Spiro Agnew resigned
Richard Nixon nominate Gerald Ford (congress approved)
Less than a year later Nixon resigns
Ford becomes President
Ford nominates Nelson Rockefeller to be VP (congress approved)
William Henry Harrison Zachary Taylor Abraham Lincoln James A. Garfield
William McKinley Warren G. Harding
Franklin Roosevelt
John Kennedy
PneumoniaGastroenteritis Assassinated Assassinated
AssassinatedHeart Failure
StrokeAssassinated
Presidential Succession (continued)
Vice President
Speaker of the House
President Pro Tempore of the Senate
Secretary of the State
Secretary of the Treasury
Secretary of Defense
Attorney General
Secretary of the Interior
Secretary of Agriculture
Secretary of Commerce
Secretary of Labor
Secretary of Health and Human Services
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Secretary of Transportation
Secretary of Energy
Secretary of Education
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Secretary of Homeland Security
Presidential Disability
Woodrow Wilson had a stroke in office—wife took over much of his duties
Dwight Eisenhower had a heart attack—assistants ran the executive branch
25th Amendment says VP takes over in one of two ways:
President tells Congress he can’t perform his duties
The VP and majority of the cabinet informs Congress the President is disabled
If there is a power struggle between President and VP, Congress has 21 days to settle dispute
2/3 vote of Congress to side with VP or President takes office again