Flashcards
US presidency evidence
Cards in this deck (36)
- 1Evidence of the President needing member of Cabinet to pass legislationHealth and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Obamacare. SoS Colin Powell and Iraq War.
- 2President using the power of persuasionMarjorie Margolies and Clinton's budget 1995
- 3Successful executive order x2Sanctions in N.Korea
The right for identified transgender people to use toilets according to gender identity - 4Executive order overturned x2Obama to close Guantanamo Bay 2009 (no. 13492) - didn't have funding.
2008 Farm Bill. - 5Position of the president is now more partisanReliant on their own party: Economic Stimulus Package 2009 (98%/100%). Reagan got 33% of Dem votes, Obama got 86% of registered Dem vote. Congress more extreme - Tea Party support 60 Reps. Bernie, Trump, Cruz. Merrick nomination.
- 6Position of the president is not bipartisanPragmatism - 30 methods of persuasion used for Obamacare, 7 presidents tried before. Central candidates most successful, approval ratings usually 53% - 2001: Bush 86%, 2009: Obama 64%. Single exec designed to represent both.
- 72 presidential vetoes Congress overruling a vetoStem cell research by Bush 2006 + Clinton's 'line by line' veto 1997
2008 Farm Bill by Bush - 8Difficulty in overturning a presidential veto?Need a 2/3 majority in both houses in a house with support for president
- 9President using 60 days military action without CongressCapturing Osama Bin Laden in 2011, "Situation Room"
- 10Current Chief of StaffObama: Denis McDonough
Trump: Reince Priebus - 11Evidence that EXoP is growing in sizeBudget of $400m, 2500 staff
- 12Evidence of cabinet role being used to launch presidential bidHillary Clinton was Secretary of State 2009-2013
- 13Bipartisanship can exist in cabinetRay Lahood - Republican Secretary of Transportation 2009-2013
- 14Obama foreign policy successWithdrawal from Iraq, Afghanistan, Egypt - Arab Spring. 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. Killing Bin Laden 2011.
- 15Obama foreign policy failuresGaddafi in Libya - didn't do the same as in Egypt, Syria, ISIS
- 16Obama approval ratings2009: 67% (highest rating)
May 2016: 48% + only 6% think he's doing an outstanding job
November 2016: 52% - 17President's number of vetoesClinton - 37, 2 overturned
Bush Jr - 12, 4 overturned
Obama - 12, 1 overturned - 18Evidence that Obama didn't use many presidential pardons Clinton pardonsUsed 22 times in first term, fewest since 1881
In first term - 40 pardons e.g. Mark Rich - tax avoidance - 19Cabinet less important nowObama met 19 times in first term. Last time Congress didn't confirm cabinet appointment was in 1989 - John Tower, Defense Secretary
- 20Evidence of academics appointed to cabinet / top agency positionsMIT physicist professor Dr Ernest Moniz - Energy Secretary 2013 / John Brennan, Head of CIA
- 21Evidence of businessmen being appointed to cabinetTrump's cabinet: Rex Tillerson (CEO of Exxon-Mobil) as SoS
- 22- Obama making cabinet representative - Trump making cabinet less representative- Antony Foxx Transport + Sally Jewel Secretary of the Interior
- 15 of 20 cabinet positions are white males - 23Evidence of Cabinet-EXoP rivalryJohn Volpe "bus driver" comment
- 24Evidence that 2 new agencies have been added to federal bureaucracy in the last 30 yearsDepartment of Veteran Affairs (1989) Homeland Security (2002 in response to 9/11)
- 25Evidnece of an authority of the federal bureaucracyNuclear Regulation Authority
- 26Evidence of a private company (lowest tier) in the federal bureaucracyUS Postal service was privatised and is now contracted in govt work. Bush tried to privatise it more - 83% won back.
- 27President making appointments to the federal bureaucracyClinton made 2000 appointments to upper levels. Obama credited for avoiding nepotism and appointing specialists
- 28Evidence that the federal bureaucracy is representative44% are women, 33% are BME
- 29Evidence that the federal bureaucracy is too big + inefficient4 million employees. 2005 Hurricane Katrina - who's responsible: FEMA, Bush, state governments?
- 30Federal bureaucracy is guilty of bureaucratic imperialismParochial (inward looking). Pre 9/11: CIA and FBI wouldn't share information, which was investigated by committee after 9/11.
- 31Congress can check the federal bureaucracyFEMA after New Orleans. Can establish and abolish agencies e.g. 2002 - Homeland Security established (240k now employed, began with 177k. Third largest cabinet dept)
- 32Imperial president Imperiled presidentPresident Ford
President Bush Jr/Reagan - 33Obama has been successfulForeign policy: Bin Laden 2011, Arab Spring speech, leaving Iraq + Afghanistan
Domestic policy: after 2008 financial crisis, delivered the longest streak of job growth in history. All time percentage low of Americans without health insurance. Cut dependence on foreign oil by half. - 34Limits to presidential power by CongressPower of the purse, impeachment (Clinton + Nixon), ratify treaties, confirm appointments, increasing partisanship.
- 35Limits to presidential power by Supreme Court Limits to presidential power by public opinionJudicial review, constitutional cases.
Legacy, elections and midterm elections. - 36- Limits to presidential power by events - Limits to presidential power by the federal bureaucracy- Obama - no saviour event. Bush - 9/11 defined his presidency, Reagan - Cold War. Can be imperial or imperiled president.
- It is complex, enlarging, unwielding.