The document discusses the presidency under the United States Constitution. It covers: 1) Qualifications for the presidency including age, citizenship, and term limits. 2) Powers of the president including appointments, convening Congress, treaty negotiations, veto power, role as commander-in-chief, and pardon power. 3) The evolution of presidential power over time from Washington to modern presidents like FDR who expanded executive authority.

1. The Presidency
Was there a President under the Articles of Confederation? No.
Qualifications, Terms, Removal, Replacement
1. Must be 35 years old or older, natural born citizen, resident of U.S. for 14 or more years.
2. Four-year terms, originally with no limit on number of terms.
3. After FDR was elected to 3rd term, country passed the 22nd Amendment limiting Presidents to
two terms.
4. Presidents can be removed from office using the impeachment process. The House votes to
impeach, the Senate holds the trial.
Powers of the Presidency
1. Appointment
a. Senate must approve many appointments but not all
b. The Presidential Cabinet evolved over time, it’s not in the Constitution
2. Convene Congress
a. President gives State of the Union
b. Can call Congress into special session
3. Make Treaties
a. Senate must approve with 2/3 vote
b. President can get around this with an executive agreement
4. Veto
a. Congress can override the veto, but has only happened about 100 times out of 2,500
vetoes.
5. Commander in Chief of the military
a. Congress attempted to regain control with the War Powers Act (1973:Vietnam)
6. Pardon
a. Overturn guilty verdicts (except impeachment)
The Powers over Time
1. George Washington established office as strong chief executive.
2. Most of later presidents allowed Congress to dominate.
3. With FDR, power of the President increased a lot, and continues to expand today.
The Presidential Establishment
1. The Vice President
a. His duties depend on the President
b. Clinton allowed Mondale a major role
c. Cheney (under Bush) the most powerful VP ever
2. Cabinet
a. Not in the Constitution

2. b. Helps President execute laws and make decisions
3. First Lady
a. Role varies with the woman
4. Executive Office of the President
a. Helps the President oversee the bureaucracy
b. National Security Council
c. Council of Economic Advisors
d. Office of Management and Budget
5. White House Staff
Presidents and Public Opinion
Public opinion plays a major role in modern Presidents’ ability to act.
Assignment:
1. Go to http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu/
2. Click on Presidential Approval Ratings under 'Important Links.'
3. Choose a President to research.
4. Describe the trends in that President's popularity. Where did his approval ratings start and end?
Was there a single overall trend or were there lots of ups and downs?
5. Find out what events had an impact on major changes (good or bad) in that President's
popularity.
6. Create a time line tracking both.
7. Produce a final product that includes the following:
a. Name of your chosen President.
b. His term of office.
c. A paragraph describing popularity trends during his term of office.
d. A paragraph listing major events that had an impact on popularity.
e. A time line in table form with four columns: Date, Event, Impact on popularity (+ or -),
Approval rating. Your timeline should have at least four events