The presidency is the most visible position in the U.S. government. During the Constitutional Convention of 1787, delegates accepted the need to empower a relatively strong and vigorous chief executive. But they also wanted this chief executive to be bound by checks from the other branches of the federal government as well as by the Constitution itself. Over time, the power of the presidency has grown in response to circumstances and challenges. However, to this day, a president must still work with the other branches to be most effective. Unilateral actions, in which the president acts alone on important and consequential matters, such as President Barack Obama’s strategy on the Iran nuclear deal, are bound to be controversial and suggest potentially serious problems within the federal government. Effective presidents, especially in peacetime, are those who work with the other branches through persuasion and compromise to achieve policy objectives.

What are the powers, opportunities, and limitations of the presidency? How does the chief executive lead in our contemporary political system? What guides his or her actions, including unilateral actions? If it is most effective to work with others to get things done, how does the president do so? What can get in the way of this goal? This chapter answers these and other questions about the nation’s most visible leader.

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Weekly Objectives

-Topic 4 The Executive Branch-

Topic 4.1 Powers and Roles of the President

Objectives: List the powers of the President. Explore the roles of the president. Identify the requirements, salary, and benefits for being the president. Explain the line of presidential succession.

Topic 4.2 The Cabinet and Executive Agencies

Objectives: List the department heads and their roles. Understand the importance of federal departments.  Explain how policy is implemented through the federal bureaucracy.  

Assignment Due 3/15

1. Topic 4.1 Powers and Roles of the President
2. Topic 4.2 The Cabinet and Executive Agencies

Late Assignments that Close 3/15

1. Topic 3.2 The Powers of Congress
2. Topic 3.3 Legislative Committees