How the Federal Gov’t Works: Executive Branch

Part 5 – pg 134

• Article 2 sets up executive branch to carry out laws and run the affairs of the national gov’t– President is head of executive branch– Others that help run the gov’t: Vice President, the

Cabinet, and ppl in the many departments and agencies

Pg 134

Powers of the President• Founding Fathers intended the Congress to have

the most control– Very little is said about the job of the president– Many president have had to take necessary action just

to keep the nation running• Ever since the Korean War, Article II, Section 2 of the

Constitution – which refers to the president as the “Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States” – has been interpreted this way: “The president has the power to initiate hostilities without consulting Congress.”

Pg 134

Powers of the President Include:• Veto bills• Serve as commander in chief of armed forces• Negotiate foreign treaties• Appoint federal judges, ambassadors, and other high

officials• Grant pardons to federal offenders– In his final day in office, George Washington granted the first high-

profile federal pardon to leaders of the Whiskey Rebellion.– A symbolic use of the presidential pardon is the National

Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation each Thanksgiving, in which a domestic turkey is pardoned from being slaughtered for Thanksgiving dinner and allowed to live out its life on a farm.

• Propose laws Pg 134

Electing the President• 4 year term• No more than 2 terms• Electoral college: The President and Vice President are not

elected directly by the voters. Instead, they are elected by "electors" who are chosen by popular vote on a state-by-state basis

Pg 135

Who got the most electoral votes?

If you were a Presidential Candidate which states would you visit during your campaign?