Reading Guide 12.1 & 12.2.docx

Unit VI– The President Ch. 12 section 1 & section 2 Objective 1: Describe the American presidents—who they are, how they got there, and what they do.

Chapter 12.1: The President 

Great Expectations o When a president takes the oath of office, he faces many daunting tasks. The big struggle, is meeting the expectations of the American People o “The President… is held to be responsible for the state of the economy…and for inconveniences, or disappointments, or concerns of the American people” – President Jimmy Carter 

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What are the two contradictory expectations that Americans have about the presidency?

Who They Are o What are the Constitutional Requirements to become president?  Besides President Obama and President Kennedy, what did all other presidents have in common?  Who was the youngest President?  Who was the youngest elected president?  Who is the only president to never be elected to the office of president or vice president o What has been the common stepping stone to the EOP (Executive office of the President) see table 12.1 on pg. 381 How They Got There o The Constitution created a 4 year term for the office of the president, tradition had been doing no more than two terms. However, during WWII, FDR ran for a third and then a forth term as President. After this, Congress moved to create a Constitution Amendment limiting the term to two terms, or a maximum of 10 years. This Amendment was the 22nd Amendment.  Define the 22nd Amendment  How could you serve 10 years as President under the 22nd Amendment?  Out of 45 Presidents, only 13 have served two or more terms o Succession  After JFKs assassination, there was a call for a more specific order of succession  The constitution only stated, that the VP would become president at the time of death, resignation or impeachment of the president.

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This caused issues when President Wilson had a sever stroke, his wife stepped in and acted as President  After JFK, the 25th Amendment was written and ratified, allowing for the VP and the Cabinet to determine if the president could not serve the post because of health or mental state, making the VP the President, even if the president was still alive. It also created an order of succession to the office if something happened to the President and the VP (creating the Speaker of House next in line etc…) Define the 25th Amendment  Not only did it create the order of succession, it also stated that the new president would appoint a new VP  The 25th Amendment has been used four times since its Ratification in 1967 o Resignation of VP Agnew, allowed Nixon to appoint Ford as VP o After Nixon’s resignation, Ford became president and nominated Nelson Rockefeller as VP o When Reagan was shot, G.H.W. Bush became President for a full hours when Reagan was in surgery o VP Cheney acted as President when G.W. Bush went in for routine surgery. Impeachment  Define the term Impeachment  Who brings up charges of impeachment?  Who acts as the jury in impeachment?  Who acts as the judge in impeachment?  Which two presidents have been impeached?

Chapter 12.2: President Powers Objective 2: List the constitutional powers of the president and explain how these powers have expanded. 

The presidency hardly resembles that which the framers created/envisioned. The original office has limited authority, fewer responsibilities and much less organizational structure. Remember, the founders feared a strong executive office o Constitutional Powers o The constitution is pretty vague to the powers of the executive branch (see table 12.3)  Look at Table 12.3 on page 385, what are the four main areas of presidential powers  Describe two ways in which the power of the president has expanded from its constitutional base