The Presidency and Green Technology

The PresidencyWhat Has the Executive Branch of Government Done

About Green Technology?

By: Erika Martinez, Timothy Macdonald, Forrest Wood, Gregory Wolfson Period 6

The President’s Job Description

The President of the United States has Eight Major Roles

1. Chief of State - this means that the president is the figure head of the government and the representative of all the people in the country. In other countries, such as England, Denmark, Norway and Germany, the Chief of State has little to no ruling power (i.e. Queen of England, the German and Italian presidents etc.). The president of the United States, however, does hold ruling power.

2. Chief Executive - The Constitution gives the president “executive Power.”

3. Chief Administrator - this means the president is the head of the executive branch of the Federal Government. The President is the head of an administration that employs more than 2.7 million civilians

4. Chief Diplomat - this means the President is in charge of making America’s foreign policy (the type relationship America chooses to have with other countries)

The President of the United States has Eight Major Roles (Cont.)

5. Commander in Chief - The President had direct control over the armed forces (with some checks and balances by congress to keep the President in check)

6. Chief Legislator - The President initiates, suggests, requires, insists and demands Congress to focus on creating and passing laws he sees benefit the country.

7. Chief of Party - The President is the leader of the political party that has control over the executive branch.

8. Chief Citizen - The President is supposed to work for, represent, advocate, and defend public interests from private interests.

Qualifications for Presidency

To become president of the United States, one must meet three main qualifications:1. A president must be a “natural born citizen,” meaning

that not only do they have to be a citizen of the United States, but they had to have been born within the state’s boundaries.

2. A president must be at least 35 years old.3. A president must have been a permanent resident of the

United States for 14 years .

Presidential Terms• Originally, there was much debate over the term

length of the president, but it was ultimately decided that a 4-year term was long enough for the president to develop skills and set up policies.

• Before 1951, there was no office law stopping a president from being elected again and again until the creation of the 22nd Amendment.

• The 22nd Amendment limits the president to hold office for a maximum of 2-terms or 10 years (in the event that he or she has to finish a predecessor’s term.)

It Pays To Be President

1789$25,000 a year ($566,000 in 2009 dollars)

TodayToday the president earns $400,000 a year along with an expense allowance of $50,000 that is mostly unregulated. The president also enjoys a 132-room mansion (The White House), a Catoctin Mountain resort home, full security detail, and of course the luxurious Air Force One.

The president’s salary can not change during the term of a president, and can only be changed by congressional vote.

V.S.

Fun Facts• The Department of Energy was created in 1977 by President

Jimmy Carter in response to an oil crisis (due to issues with OPEC, especially in the Middle East). The Department was originally created to focus on energy production and regulation. The focus of the Department of Energy has expanded to include the developing more efficient energy sources.

• The current Secretary of Energy is Steven Chu. He was heavily targeted for not for-seeing Solyndra’s (a solar energy company being backed by the Obama administration) bankruptcy.

What Roles make the President Responsible for Energy?

1. Chief Diplomat - Today, our foreign policy and our energy policy are heavily interconnected. Our dependence on oil for energy forces America to have strained relations with the oil providing countries (OPEC), particularly the ones in the Middle East. It is important to elect a President who can approach the oil providing countries in a manner that will benefit America most.

2. Chief Legislator - The President’s role in setting the tone and pace for what laws and acts should be passed by Congress is a big reason why it is important to look at the presidential candidates position on energy. With tensions rising with the oil providing countries, particularly the ones in the Middle East (where we are currently involved in 2 economy killing wars and where there is widespread government instability), it is crucial that America no longer stays reliant on oil and those countries. Electing a President that will push for and advocate for new oil alternatives will help alleviate the diplomatic, economical, and environmental strain that America is currently facing.

3. Party Chief - The President, as the leader of his/her party has the responsibility in giving those of the same party in Congress the layout of what he wants done for energy. Seeing as the President is the party leader, a good amount of the other party members (being of a similar mindset to the President) will be more inclined to pass laws, acts, and initiatives to improve the energy situation in America.

4. Chief Citizen - As Chief Citizen the President is supposed to have the public’s best interests at heart. Keeping up to date with the latest technology for energy and looking out for the most affordable and safe sources of energy for the American people, without compromising America’s integrity, is part of the Presidents job.

Presidential Succession and the Vice Presidency

Presidential SuccessionPresidential succession is the system by which a presidential vacancy is filled. If a president dies, resigns, or is impeached, the vice president succeeds office. The Constitution originally did not provide for the succession of the vice president. This was changed with the adoption of the 25th Amendment in 1967.

10.) Secretary of Commerce11.) Secretary of Labor12.) Secretary of Health13.) Secretary of Housing and Urban Development14.) Secretary of Transportation15.) Secretary of Energy16.) Secretary of Education17.) Secretary of Veterans Affairs18.) Secretary of Homeland Security

1.) Vice President2.) Speaker of the House3.) President pro tempore of the Senate4.) Secretary of State5.) Secretary of the Treasury 6.) Secretary of Defense7.) Attorney General8.) Secretary of the Interior9.) Secretary of Agriculture

• Before the passage of the 25th amendment, the Constitution nor Congress had made any provision for deciding when a president was disabled. Nor was there anything to indicate by whom such a decision was to be made.

• Sections 3 and 4 of the 25th Amendment fill the disability gap. The Vice President is to become Acting President if (1) the President informs congress in writing, “that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office,” or (2) The Vice President and a majority of the members of the Cabinet inform Congress, in which that the President is incapacitated.

• The President may resume the powers and duties of the office by informing Congress no inability exists. However, the Vice President and majority of the Cabinet may challenge the President on this score. If they do, Congress then has 21 days in which to decide the matter.

Presidential Succession

Vice Presidency

• The 25th Amendment states that should a president die in office the Vice President will become president in his/her place. This is in addition to the provision in the Constitution that states that should the President be disabled, ill, or unable to act out his duties the Vice President shall become Acting President until the President is able to return to work or until another election was held.

• The Vice President should be just as qualified as the elected President. Most political experts say that one of the main reasons McCain lost support of many Republicans and eventually the 2008 elections is because of his choice for Vice President: Sarah Palin. McCain’s age paired with the fact that he has a history of melanoma (the deadliest form of skin cancer) was enough to get people to scrutinize the Vice President should he have died in office. Not only was Sarah Palin too right winged she was not qualified to be president.

Fun Facts• President William H. Harrison was the oldest President to be elected President until President

Reagan. He was 68 years old• President William H. Harrison got pneumonia from giving his inaugural speech in the cold rain

without a coat or hat on. He have the longest inaugural speech in American history: 2 hours.• In 1841 and in 1881 there were three Presidents in one calendar year. 1841: Van Buren, Harrison,

Tyler. 1881: Hayes, Garfield, Arthur.• William H. Harrison holds the record for the shortest presidency ever.• Not-so-Fun Fact: Eight Presidents have died in office (four were assassinated and four died of

natural causes): William Harrison (natural), Zachery Taylor (natural), Abraham Lincoln (assassinated), James Garfield (assassinated), William McKinley (assassinated), Warren Harding (natural), Franklin D. Roosevelt (natural), John F. Kennedy (assassinated).

• President Eisenhower suffered three serious but temporary illnesses while in office: a heart attack in 1955, ileitis in 1956, and a mild stroke in 1957. Two other presidents were disabled for much longer periods. James Garfield lingered for 80 days before he died from an assassin’s bullet in 1881. Woodrow Wilson suffered a paralytic stroke in 1919 and was an invalid for the rest of his second term. He was so ill, that he could not meet with his Cabinet for seven months after his stroke.

• To this point, the disability provisions of the 25th amendment have come into play twice. On the first occasion in 1985, Ronald Reagan transferred the powers of his presidency to Vice President George H. W. Bush for a period of nearly eight hours, while surgeons removed a tumor from Mr. Reagan’s large intestine. And in 2002, George W. Bush conveyed his powers to Vice President Dick Cheney for two hours, while Mr. Bush was anesthetized during a routine medical procedure.

Presidential Selection: The Framer’s Plan

Background

The Framers of the Constitution met great difficulty in deciding how a President should be selected. Most of the Framers were against either of the clear ways: by direct vote of the people or by Congress.

Why not by direct vote of the people?• Many felt that such a process would lead to “tumult and disorder.”• Many also felt that the citizens, spread over such a large area, wouldn’t

be informed enough to make wise choices.Why not by Congress?• At first, many delegates preferred election by Congress, but soon, many

felt that it would put the President “under the legislative thumb.”

The Framers finally agreed upon a plan set forth by Alexander Hamilton.

The PlanThe President and Vice President will be chosen by a special body of presidential electors. Each elector will cast two electoral votes, each for a different candidate. The candidate with the most votes will become President, and the candidate with the second most votes would become Vice President. 1. Each state will have as many presidential electors as it has senators and representatives

in Congress.2. The electors from each State will be chosen however that State’s legislature decides.3. The electors will then cast two votes, each for a different person for President. These

electoral votes will then be counted before a joint session of Congress.4. The candidate with the most electoral votes, provided that it is a majority of all the

electors, will become President. The candidate with the second highest number of electoral votes will become Vice President.

5. If a tie occurred or no candidate received a majority of the votes, the President will be chosen by the House of Representatives, voting by States.

6. If a tie occurred for the Vice Presidency, then the spot will be chosen by the Senate.

Its All Fun and Games Until Someone Throws a Party

• In 1796, the rise of political parties uncovered some flaws in the electoral college system. In this election year, John Adams, a Federalist candidate, was elected President, and Thomas Jefferson, a Democratic-Republican and Adams’s arch-rival, was elected Vice President.

• By 1800, there were two well-defined parties: the Federalists, and the Democratic-Republicans. These parties nominated candidates for president and vice-president, but they also nominated candidates to serve as presidential electors in the electoral college. These elector-candidates were chosen to vote for their party’s presidential and vice presidential nominees.

Federalist LeadersDemocratic-Republican

Leader

The 12th Amendment

• The 12th Amendment was added to the Constitution in 1804 as a result of the tumultuous election of 1800.

• The amendment separated the presidential and vice-presidential elections: “The Electors…shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President….”

• The new electoral college system, with the appearance of parties, the election of 1800, and the 12th amendment, is vastly different from what the Framers had in mind in 1787.

• "The Constitution." The White House. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. <http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/the-constitution>.

• Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. <http://uselectionatlas.org/>.

• "The Executive Branch." The White House. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. <http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/executive-branch>.

• "President Barack Obama." The White House. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. <http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/president-obama>.

• Stout, David. "Amid Gloom, Obama Pledges a Recovery - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. 07 Dec. 2011. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/25/us/politics/25web-obama.html>.

• "Vice President Joe Biden." The White House. Web. 07 Dec. 2011. <http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/vice-president-biden>.

Works Cited