-State constitutions of NY and Penn

-written by Baron de Montesquieu

-had a huge effect on the founding fathers for writing the constitution

-separation of powers guru

-mentioned in Federalist No.47 by Madison

-articles written by Hamilton, Madison, and Jay

-expounding on the things that they worried about in creating the constitution

-by Madison

-written about how constitution is made to ensure separation of powers

-written by Hamilton

-writes specific powers he thinks president should have:

--foreign relations

--prepatory plans of finance

--execute the will of the legislature

--commander in chief 

--also says cabinet works for pres and subservient to him 

-Hamilton

-talks about need to protect executive from congress

-veto power to protect against bad legislation, protect executive from legislative. (not just to protect against things that are clearly unconstitutional, as first couple presidents used it as). 

-believed in seperation of powers, checks and balances (partial agency)

-believed human nature made it impossible for people to not want to expand their power

-parchmant solutions and human nature 

-does not want a strong executive branch

-believed in strong executive

-need to protect executive from congress

-written mainly by James Wilson (who examined the state constitutions to figure out how to do things)

-section 1: vests the power of the executive to the president (length of term, pres oath, selection process, etc)

-section 2: powers of the presidency

-duties of the presidency: preserve, defend, protect, executing the law, run day-to-day functions

-section 4: impeachment process 

-founding father

-wrote article 2 of constitution

-original justice to supreme court 

-the idea that it should be hard to get things done in government

-created by the seperation of powers

-ensures stable and safe democracy 

-something Washington created for the country

-hard to do debts individual states had both foreign and domestic 

-Washington had gov. take over these state debts and created taxes to pay these debts off, as well as a national bank 

-reason why Washington set a precedent for foreign policy as president (says president, not congress, controls foreign policy)

-says that the US should not have entangled alliances

-how washington created an insistence on respect for the federal gov. 

-unpopular whiskey tax leads to people, farmers protesting into full violence in Penn.

-Washington rode into Penn with Hamilton to put rebellion down and instill martial law 

-in 1796, announced retirement from presidency

-published, rather than spoken

-Washington did not want his voluntary retirement setting precedent for two term limits, rather he wanted the country to learn that the constitution would function without him as president. 

-helped clear the way for a more partisan form of presidential politics

-responsible for another big expansion of pres powers

-however, was a huge critic of expanding pres powers before office

-leader of party government and leader of his party

-wanted to follow constitution and believed in majority will

-believed popular will should guide the government

-rejected notion that the courts should be final judge of what is constitutional and that all 3 branches should decide 

-believed he had a mandate by the people 

-lousiana purchase (nothing in constitution about buying land specificially)

-

-presidential tendency to act in his own way where the law is silent or even against existing law if he deems it necessary--basically expanding presidential power 

-Jefferson with Louisiana Purchase and alien and sedition acts (which banned shit talk in print on gov.)

-locke has a hand in this theory of prerogative power 

-established judicial review

-under T.Jeffs administration 

-Marshall's dilemma of partisan politics within the court for political party power 

-Marshall's solution: ultimately broadened the supreme court's power to judge the constitutional validity of acts of congress in exchange for Jefferson barring some Federalist appointees from office

-not spoken, but rather a written report sent to congress

-set precedent for states of the union

-associated with T.Jeff and party politics

-changed a system in which electors cast two votes for presient, with the candidate receiving the largest majority elected as president and the second-place finisher as vice president, to a system in which the electors were charged to vote separately for president and vice president, with a majority of electoral votes required to win each office.

-created as a response to the new realities of party politics and the Federalists' willingess to exploit the process' weaknesses by the Democratic-Republicans. 

-reinforced unitary character of the executive by eliminating the possibility that the vice president would be the leader of the opposition party--making vice president weak AF

undeclared naval war between US and france

-Jefferson, war opponent, beats John Adams for reelection even as Adams is ending war

-first real assertion of American power

-told Europeans and Russia to stay out of the americas or else we'll attack

-never voted on in congress 

-James Monroe 

-charistmatic, viewed as a demagogue by some

-about democratizing the presidency, along with Jefferson

-first president elected by popular vote--he feels this gives him a mandate by the people

-believed legislature was the institution of gov. closest to the people

-did not like congress

-type of president framers feared

-mass political party born under him--reaches out to the constituents and not just elites

-modern election format created under him

-strengthened prerogative power 

-before Jackson, presidential appointments were supposed to be politicaly neutral, however under him this system emerges

-uses presidential power of appointment to hire and fire employees for political reasons

-used constant rotation in office to guard against corruption 

-this expanded the powers of the executive enormously 

-old way of presidential nomination system by meeting informally of congressional delegates to nominate pres and vice pres

-made way for national party conventions 

-used veto almost twice as much as predecessors 

-used veto to do away with bad legislation (not only unconstitutional legislation)

-used mandate by people--his reelection--as evidence that his way of using the veto was right 

-national bank veto said to be most important veto ever by a president, establishing the right to veto based on if a bill is bad, not only unconstitutional

-argued against the right to censure presidents, claiming it unconstitutional and bad for presidents 

-emerged even stronger from this centure, after it was stricken down 

-executive order by Jackson requiring payment of government land to be in gold and silver 

-carried out by Van Buren 

-led to panic of 1837

-has to do with south carolina wanting to succeed because of tariff of abominations

-Jackson threatened to use military at home to put down violence or an insurrection 

--this was a huge assertion of power 

--used as a precedent by Lincoln during civil war

-threatened to undo all of Jackson's expansion because whigs hated expansionist government 

-howver, jacksonian executive survived whig challenge 

-one of his major achievements was to coordinate the budget

-for the first time ever, the president oversaw the formation of a fiscal policy

-also insisted that department heads revise their planned expenditures downward

-philisophically committed to limiting federal spending 

-success in directing budget demonstrated in by tight fiscal rein he imposed on the war department at the end of the mexican-american war--returning to prewar levels of expenditures 

-would have banned slavery in the territories acquired from mexico in the mexico-american war 

-one of major events leading to civil war 

-established model for a crisis president with his handling of the mexican american way

-by demonstrating that the president could plan and oversee the execution of a wartime strategy, Polk effectively asserted the principle that the president is responsible for american military operations 

-established that a pres without military experience could provide decisive wartime leadership--insisting on being final authority of all war matters

-gave the country its first demonstration of the administrative capcities of the presidency as a war agency 

-established by Lincoln

-said that only the presidency can act quickly and decisively to a crisis--not congress, making executive even stronger 

-suspended writ of habeaus corpus in selected places in country

-ordered increase in size of military w/o congressional approval

-spent money not appropriated by congress to get war effort going

-blockaded southern ports

-proclaimed marshall law in various places

-truly pushed the executive's power as commander in chief to its limits

-built on Polk's wartime powers 

-felt that the executive should not interfere with work of congress and should not veto unless for unconstitutional legislature (clearly he did not obey this noninterference)

-vetoed civil rights act of 1866

-veto overruled by congress (the first time in history)

--this made congress now the master of reconstruction and not the president

-also, he was the first pres to try and appeal to public over congresses head--something people thoght was very unpresidential at the time and eventually led to a charge of impeachment 

-set a tone for a long line of weak presidents following him 

-elaborated on precedents set by lincoln during the civil war by extending the concept of executive emergency powers beyond the bounds of war and domestic insurrection

-upheld by this supreme court case

-related to Grover clevelands presidency 

-extended presidential power 

-conceived as a way to make sure US stayed in trade with China 

-you can't keep us out and britain and france cant stop up from trading with china

-established huge american presence in foreign policy and world powers 

-a bridge from the 19th century presidency to the 20th century presidency (modern presidency)

-staff and size of staff increased under him

-first to give formal recognition to news media--press room in white house 

-wanted to build canal through panama.

-resistance but he got his way

-emblemic of his stewardship theory of the presidency to foreign policy

--he was not reluctant to act quickly and independently, even when congressional suport was weak and the legal foundation for his maneuevers was uncertain. 

-making changes for the good of the people whther they know it or not 

-president should be able to do anything not expressedly said no to in constitution 

-right of US to intervene in things in central america, but not the right of europe to intervene 

-US as policeman of central and south america 

-promoted intervention for democracy and world good 

-used these instead of treaties a lot

-expansion of presidential power, getting around congress 

TR

-it is the proper role of gov. to balance the factions of gov--business/labor, producers/consumers

-extended government into areas of life it had never been before, more closely tied with the economy and business

-significant because this marked the dividing line between the traditional jacksonian commitment to party patronage and the modern recognition that a nonpolitical administration was necessary for governance 

-merit began to supplant spoils under him. 

-used executive orders readily 

-used the bully pulpit to speak to the people (but not when congress was in session, yet still more than any previous pres)

-used the media and cheap newspapers efficiently 

-gave unprecedented press access 

-had a magnetic, charming personality that allowed him to command attention

-Taft

-TR

-Neustadt

-theory that the presidency cannot do anything the constitution did not permit or that congress does not say it can do

-giving the president unnamed powers is not only limitlesss, but unsafe in the security of private rights

-each branch of gov. had its own specific jursidiction, function but had to cooperate to get things done 

-president has the right to do anything the nation needs him to do unless specificially banned by constitution or by law 

-role models:

--jackson

--lincoln

--jefferson 

-this view prevailed as the presidency has expanded mightily over time 

-wrote presidential power for JFK

-examines the presidents ability to give an order and have it be carried out 

command authority needs:

--clear that order was given

--no doubt about its meaning

--no doubt of the pres. authority

-however, command authority not the best way to handle situations and the real power of the president is in persuasion 

-gov. a set of seperated institutions sharing power

-not just congress, but the courts, the media, etc 

-"political capital" comes from 3 things:

--inherent advantage of the position

--expectation that the pres will use these advantages skillfully

--and his amount of likeability to the public 

-modernization of presidency starts will TR and ends with this guy

-didn't view presidency as seperate institution, but place in a system of gov.

-wanted a close tie between congress and gov and ruled by emotion

-political science professor

-thought the seperation of powers was the central defect of the presidency 

-also rejected framers distinction between crisis politics and normal politics 

-started doing more public speaking than his predecessors (first pres. since john adams to do public speaking of state of the union)

Newton had an idea like intelligent design where it just runs perfectly by itself

-applied to gov by framers

-Wilson did not like this idea and thought the gov. should evolve, like a Darwinean model of the presidency 

-policy was about reading the publics will and creating dialogue between leaders and the public

-interpret the peoples needs

-felt he had a mandate by the people--felt this much more strongly than Jackson 

The New Freedom

-Wilson's agenda

-tariff reform

--underwood tariff act

-banking reform

--federal reserve act

-business reform

--Clayton anti trust act

--Federal trade comission act

-said he wanted less government, but in reality expanded it 

-all of this strengthened gov. authority in business 

-favored neutrality and saw US as peacemaker

-did not want to get US invovled in fighting

-congress gave wilson unprecedented levels of authority and power over domestic economy, foreign policy, food production, industrial production

-once he had this massive amount of power, he was very progressive, even if he hadnt been while in persuit of this power 

-Lever Fuel and Food Control Act effectively gave him the authority to regulate the entire economy  

-Mexico gets new leader

-Wilson repudiated the historic presidential practice of recogniing all foreign govs. and improvised for mexico a radical new test for recogntion: "constiutioal legitimacy." 

-determined to teach nations how to govern themselves

-his fatal flaw of uncompromising idealism although this was an expansion of presidential and american power 

Wilson and his intoleratance of opposition

-Committee on Public Information: persuade the american people that the war was a crusade for freedom against the barbaric germans

-The Sedition Act: made treasonable or seditious materials or speak illegal

-Espionage Act: made it a crime to aid the enemy 

-became basis for terms of german surrender during WWI

-only war aims publicly stated, broadening americans influence and power internationally 

-first day in office, suspended the heavy and unwarranted withdrawals of gold and currency from the banking institutions, closing the banks

-unprecedented exercise of executive powers in peace time

-FDR

-marhaled the full resources of the Federal Reserve Board to support the faltering banks and thereby restore the peoples confidence in the banking system

-FDR

-radio announcements by FDR

-used to to avoid reporters, publishers, etc and speak directly to the people

-gave the president much more power over what he said and could say, not having to go throgh the press

-FDR

-his remarkable first days in office where so many things were passed and got down

-set the unfair standard for presidents even today and what they do with their first hundred days 

-FDR

-advent of the welfare state

-series of legislative acts, executive orders, and presidential proclamations that sought not only to secure individual security but also to remedy the broader economic problems that underlay the great depression

-just a huge expansion of gov and presidential powers 

Social Security Act

-FDR

-most important peice of new deal legislation

-not passed in first 100 days

-created the welfare state we have today 

-FDR

-created to study how the executive should respond to the many new demands it faced

-Executive Reorganization Act of 1939 passed because of this commission, which increased the size and level of expertise of the president's staff

--Executive Office of President created because of this act, which consolidated many executive agencies into a smaller, more manageable number of agencies. made president more of a manager over a company-like structure than he had been before

-FDR

-attempt by him to pack the supreme court full of justices who were friendly to his policies 

-court shot down Humphreys Executor vs. US and Schechter Poultry Corp. vs US because they gave too much power to the executive, and away from congress, "damaging seperation of powers"

-however, "The switch in time that saved nine" was when Supreme court started finding new deal policies constitutional, after FDR threatened to pack courts  

-precedent for FDR's court packing

-shows that number of justices was a political issue before, as well, with Andrew Johnson

-FDR's foreign policy power greatly increased a a result of this

-US said that plane makers could not sell planes to people outside of the US' sphere of allies 

-Court said president is supreme when it comes to foreign policy, thus US won the case

-also said that president can conduct foreign policy in ways that congress should not and cannot 

-FDR

-gave executive agreements constitutional authority 

-made executive decisions more common in the long run 

-FDR

-US woud give british some destroyers and the british would give US 99 year leases on some british naval bases during WWII

-ended the US' policy of neutrality

-FDR's last exercise of prerogative power came during this

-here, FDR agreed to a weak Declaration on Liberated Europe

-senate had no say in the plan 

-architect of welfare state and big government

-skillful crisis management

-effectively built trust with american people

-permanently changed presidency by making it an activist agency

-established idea that it is morally proper and right for gov. to protect economic well-being of its citizens

-established idea that pres. is able to direct national policy, is the gov.'s central figure, and set's gov.'s agenda on an annual basis, not just in crisis

-established the 22nd amendemnt after him: formally creating the two-term limit 

-Truman's agenda

-called for:

--return to peacetime economy

--universal health care

--full employment

--increase in minimum wage

--

-truman

-after mixed relationship with congress during his first term (250 vetos, of which 12 were overturned) he campaigned against the "do nothing congress"

-established the President's Commission on Civil Rights

-investigated civil rights issues in the US

-Truman

-banned racial discrimination in federal hiring and promotion practices and established the federal employment board 

-called for equality of treatement and opportunity in military

-truman

-established President's Committee on equality of treatment and opportunity in the armed services in order to investigate issues of race in the military 

-Committee eventually desegregated armed forces 

-all of these executive orders show that Truman was the firs president executive power to deal with issues of discrimination and racism 

-reversed law and said that the president could fire members of independent commissions

-strengthened president power

-Truman's plan of rebuilding Europe after WWII and preventing european nations from becoming communist

-NATO was also created to help spread communism under Truman 

-with this, Truman became the first president to commit ground troops to a full scale war on foreign territory without the approval of congress

-justified this by saying that United Nations called for intervention during this, and since US was a founding member of UN, they must send troops. 

Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. v. Sawyer

-Truman tried to gain control of steel mills during Korean War so that the mills would not shut down during the war

-went to supreme court and truman lost--a stinging rebuff to his presidential power  

-he had a willingness to tell it like it was

-strong character

-made many tough decisions

-great foreign policy strategist

-showed that even a politically weak president can set the agenda for public debate in the era of the modern presidency 

-proposed changing the constitution to curtail the presidents authority to conduct the nation's foreign policy

-executive agreements would only take effect is approved by congress and did not conflict with state laws

-essentially to strike down FDR's expansion of the presidency

-ike, however, defeated this amendment, showing that he wanted to uphold this modern expansion of the presidency and keep all of the expanded powers that came with it

-describes the difference between ike's public and private persona

-in public, he was seen as mediocre who was not in very good control and had most of his decisions made by others, and had bad health

-in private, however, he was quite the opposite

-to make much of this hidden hand work, he created two distinct offices:

--chief of staff: presidents gatekeeper, guards against press and makes dirty decisions

--office of legislative leisan(sp?): white house lobbying arm of congress, facilitates negotiations with congress

-desegregated little rock school by military force

-established federal interest in the nation's schools and in race relations, which until this time had been regarded as essentially state and local matters

-broadened presidency 

-first civil rights bill passed since reconstruction, under ike

-voting rights bill

-60 introduced ways to monitor voter registration and enforced the bill of 57 essentially 

-created our highway system

-under ike

-used, however, for national defense so that the army could get around better

-has become the biggest source of pork barrel spending, arguably 

-very strong anti-communist movement

-ike refused to debate mccarthy is public about it and instead worked behind the scenes to bring about the hearings that would eventually lead to mccarthy's downfall

-another example of his hidden hand tactics

Washington

-Jefferson

-Monroe

-Jackson

-Polk

-Lincoln

-Johnson

-Cleveland

-McKinley

-TR

-Wilson (1913)

-FDR 

-Truman

-Eisenhower

-