The Presidency

22nd Amendment: adopted in 1951, prevents a president from serving more than two terms or more that ten years if he came to office via the death or impeachment of a predecessor.

Impeachment: the power delegated to the House of Representatives in the Constitution to charge the president, vice president, or other “civil officers,” including federal judges , with “Treason, bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” This is the first step in the constitutional process of removing such government officials from office.

Executive Privilege: an implied presidential power that allows the president to refuse to disclose information regarding confidential conversations or national security to Congress of the judiciary.

U.S. v. Nixon (1974): Key Supreme Court ruling on power of the president, finding that there is no absolute constitutional executive privilege to allow a president to refuse to comply with a court order to produce information needed in a criminal trial.

Presidential Succession Act: The act, passed in 1947, which states that after the Vice President, the order of succession is:
1. Speaker of the House of Representatives
2. President pro tempore of the Senate
3. Secretaries of state, treasury, and defense, and other Cabinet heads in order of the creation of their department. 

25th Amendment: adopted in 1967 to establish procedures for filling vacancies in the office of president and vice president as well as providing for procedures to deal with the disability of a president. 

Cabinet: The formal body of presidential advisers who head the fifteen executive departments. Presidents often add others to this body of formal advisers.

Executive Agreement: Formal government agreement entered into by the president that does not require the advice and consent of the U.S. senate.

Line-item Veto: The authority of a chief executive to delete part of a bill passed by the legislature that involves taxing or spending, The legislature may override a veto, usually with a 2/3 majority of each chamber.

Clinton v. City of New York (1998): The Supreme Court ruled that the line-item veto was unconstitutional because it gave powers to the president denied him by the U.S. Constitution. Significant alterations of executive/congressional powers, said the court, require constitutional amendment.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution: Passed in 1964, it acknowledged Johnson's claim to war-making authority. 

War Powers Act: passed by Congress in 1973; the president is limited in the deployment of troops overseas to a sixty-day period in peacetime (which can be extended for an extra thirty days to permit withdrawal) unless Congress explicitly gives its approval for a longer period.

Pardon: an executive grant providing restorations of all rights and privileges of citizenship to a specific individual charged or convicted of a crime. 

Inherent Powers: Powers of the president that can be derived or inferred from specific powers in the Constitution.

Executive Office of the President (EOP) (e): establishment created in 1939 to help the president oversee the executive branch bureaucracy 
Ex. important members include the National Security Council

National Security Council: Established in 1947 to advise the president on American military affairs and foreign policy. The NSC is composed of the president, vice president, and the secretaries of state and defense. 

White House Staff: personal assistants, senior aides, domestic policy aides, etc. 

Honeymoon period: a time early in the presidency when the goodwill towars the president often allows a president to secure passage of legislation that he would not be able to gain at a later period

Executive Order (e,s): A rule or regulation issued by the president that has the effect of law. All executive orders must be published in the Federal Register. Ex. Affirmative Action (Lyndon B. Johnson). 
Significance: Presidents can make policy without legislative approval.

Presidential Records Act of 1978: “established that the records of presidents belong to the American people.” George W. Bush eviscerated the act with an executive order.

Richard Neustadt: political scientist who says that a presidents power to persuade is key because constitutional powers alone don't provide modern president with the authority to meet rising public expectations

Bully Pulpit (e): A public office of sufficiently high rank that provides the holder with an opportunity to speak out and be listened to on any matter. The bully pulpit can bring issues to the forefront that were not initially in debate, due to the office's stature and publicity. 
Ex. Bill Clinton speaking on the Larry King Live show about his health care plan

Presidential Approval Ratings (s): The percentage of the American people who approve of the presidents job performance. This significance is a president with high popularity can make policy decisions which would otherwise be very difficult.