President the most important player in legislation influence on Congress power to veto or sign legislation Formal power appointing federal judges and justices Informal powers head of party moral inspirational leader head of state Executive power vested in President laws faithfully executed Signing statements executive borders impounding funds Congress sends President bill and almost always Presdient likes some of it and dislikes some of it If signed must put into effect all parts can t do this himself President head of largest organization in the world Executive branch employs excluding military 3 million people President is the head of the these federal employees A few very high ranking officials Attorney general secretary of state members of cabinet who must be approved by Senate 6 000 people who are administrative officers President without approval from Congress appoints those people Vast federal bureaucracy president is center of concentric circles Inner circle kitchen cabinet President has an informal group 1 2 a dozen of hand chosen advisors may or may not be federal employees president trusts them and respects them they will tell President when he comes up with a bad idea people vary from President to President possibilities include Chief of staff Vice president First lady National Security Advisor Cabinet officer Long time friend no position in government Chief of Staff chief of the white house staff second only to the President in terms of power White House staff 500 600 people who work in the White House varies from Cooks Advisors to the President Next circle Executive office of the President EOP includes councils and committees that adivse the president Office management and budget Office of national security council sciene and technology policy committee Department of State Department of Homeland Security Department of Defense Department of Justice Department of Agriculture Department of Labor Department of Commerce Department of Health and Human services Department of Urban Development Education Treasury Heads of these departments secretary of Cabinet meetings Exception attorney journal is head of justice department 100s of government agencies independent regulatory gov t NASA Environmental Protection USPS Amtrak Federal Trade Commission CIA How does President organize the executive branch A lot is already done for him either By laws written by Congress and signed by past president By historic tradition For top level positions according to own style of each president organizes in a way that works for him Pyramid Structure Formal hierarchical top down structure President gives orders to chief of staff gives orders to highest level advisors gives orders to people below them and so on If you are an advisor and have a great idea to tell President you go to the chief of staff and ask for an appointment with president you tell chief of staff and he decides whether President should hear that or not Like the military Pros very efficient Cons President can be isolated o They only know what chief of staff wants them to know Typically used by republican presidents no special reason o Dwight Eisenhower in military so he s used to it o Nixon very close relationship with his chief of staff o Bush leaned on VP more than chief of staff o Ford used Hub of the wheel o Reagan went from this to a mix Hub of the Wheel Structure Very opposite of pyramid structure Unclear lines of authority You can go around people that block you off from president President wants people talk to them Clinton loved groups of advisors arguing with each other o Wants to hear all ideas not caring how crazy they are or aren t Chief of staff is powerful but not as powerful President won t just stay in oval office they ll walk around and talk to random people FDR was famous for this would go around to lots of people to find things out Used mainly by democrats Pros allows President to have maximum access and influence Cons tends to be inefficient Presidential Success Every president comes into office saying I want to be a great president remembered by history Very few leave saying I was a great President Others leave saying compared to others I was a failure Newstat wrote book about Presidential power Presidential power is the power to persuade Newstat successful presidents form coalitions cultivate good relations with media and public focus on two or three major goals cultivate appearance of success o Ex Carter had list of 23 major goals had to spread efforts out accomplished several but failed to accomplish a lot of them o Ex Reagan had an ad no flags where Reagan was looking into camera talking about himself and his goals to cut taxes 30 increase military spending decrease budget deficit accomplished first 2 out of 3 Presidential Approval Presidential Approval Rating Do you approve or disapprove the job that the President is doing Rallying effect Rally around the flag presidential approval increases during times of crisis Over time presidential approval declines scandal economy goes down decisions alienate someone