Complete each of the following: 1. Three of the financial powers of the Congress are: a. b. C. 2. Under its power to regulate commerce the Congress may control: 3. Three subjects on which the Congress may pass laws that should be the same for all of the people of the United States are: a. b. C. 4. An example of authority that is not given to the Congress in clear terms but that is suggested by the Constitution is: 5. Two kinds of laws that the Constitution says that the Congress shall not pass are: a. b. 6. The Senate and the House of Representatives have committees on such important matters as: a. b. C. 7. Two things that a committee may do with a bill that has been referred to it are: a. b. 8. Two official actions that the President may take with regard to a bill that has been passed by both Houses of the Congress, when he receives it, are: a. b. CHAPTER XIII The President of the United States "To obey the law is to support democracy. If every man thinks every law must suit him in order that he shall obey it, he does not support democracy but destroys it. The basis of good government lies in the fact that the people are willing to obey the law as they have determined it to be." -William Howard Taft. The people do not always obey a law just because it has been passed by the Congress. There must be officers to enforce the laws. The Fathers of the Constitution had learned this fact by their experience with the Articles of Confederation. When they came to write the Constitution they agreed that the Federal Government should have one branch to enforce the laws. We shall now study that branch of our Federal Government to learn how it does its work. THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES Let us look at the first sentence of Article II of the Constitution. It says that the President shall have authority to carry out the laws of the Nation. It does not give this authority to any other officer. The whole authority is given to the President of the United States. The Constitution says that there shall be a Vice President. He must have the same qualifications as the President. The Constitution makes him the President of the Senate. He can vote when there is a tie vote in the Senate. If the President quits, dies, or is not able to use the authority of his office, the Vice President takes over the office. THE PRESIDENT Term of office-4 years. Salary-$200,000. Election-November of every fourth year. Inauguration-January 20 following election. Elected By the people through the election of "electors." Qualifications-Natural-born citizen at least 35 years old and at least 14 years a resident of the United States. (Order in which other officers may become President 1. Vice President. 2. Speaker of the House of Representatives. 3. President pro tempore of the Senate. 5. Secretary of the Treasury. 6. Secretary of Defense. 7. Attorney General. 8. Secretary of the Interior. 9. Secretary of Agriculture. 10. Secretary of Commerce. 11. Secretary of Labor. 12. Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare. 13. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. 14. Secretary of Transportation. Chief power and duty-To enforce the Constitution, the laws made by the Congress, and treaties. Other powers 1. To veto bills. 2. To suggest bills to the Congress. 3. To call special sessions of the Congress. 5. To appoint judges of Federal Courts. 6. To appoint representatives to foreign countries. 7. To appoint Department heads and other high officials. 8. To pardon. 9. To carry on official business with foreign nations. 10. To be Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. Figure 11 The President of the United States The President is elected for a term of four years. The Constitution says that he must have three qualifications. First: He must be a natural-born citizen of the United States. This means that a naturalized citizen cannot be President. Second: He must be at least thirty-five years of age when he takes office. Third: He must, at the time he takes office, have lived within the United States for at least fourteen years. He is limited to two terms in office. HOW A PRESIDENT IS NOMINATED The Constitution tells how we are supposed to choose our President. We still follow that plan. But we also use the party system. No man can hope to be elected President unless he is nominated by a political party. During the summer of the year in which a President is to be elected, each party holds a national convention in one of the large cities. The members of the party in each State send delegates to the convention. After the delegates agree upon a party platform, they are ready to select the party's candidate for President. The names of the States are called. As each State is called, any delegate from that State may rise and place a name before the convention. After every delegate has had a chance to suggest a name, a vote is taken. In this way, the party nominates its candidate for President. A candidate for Vice President is nominated in the same way. THE PEOPLE ELECT "ELECTORS" WHO ELECT THE PRESIDENT The people do not vote directly for the President. The Constitution says that each State shall elect a number of persons equal to the combined number of its Senators and Congressmen. These persons are called "electors." Each party in each State nominates persons for "electors" from that State. The "electors" nominated by a party promise to vote for the candidate who was nominated by the party at its national convention. When we come to choose a President in November of every fourth year, we vote for those "electors" who have agreed to vote for our candidate for President. The "electors" who receive the most votes in our State are elected. They meet in the State capital in December. They vote for the candidates nominated by their party. They make several copies of the result of their vote. They send one copy to the chief officer of the Senate at Washington, D.C. The "electors" in the other States do the same thing on the same day. In January, when the Congress meets, the two Houses gather to count the votes of the "electors." The candidate who receives a majority of the total votes of the "electors" in all of the States is elected President. If no candidate receives a majority, the House of Representatives elects the President from among the three candidates who received the most votes. THE PRESIDENT GOES INTO OFFICE The people accept the vote of the majority of the "electors." We do not use force to keep a man from an office to which he has been elected. Before we vote, we may quarrel over who is the best man for President or who the "electors" should be. But when the majority vote is made known, the man elected is to be the President of the whole people. Soon after the Congress counts the votes of the "electors, the candidate who is elected becomes President. He takes the oath that the Constitution requires him to take. After he takes the oath, the President makes a speech. He tells what he would like to see done during the next four years. Many people from all parts of the country go to Washington to see the President take his oath and to hear his speech. The people who do not hear the speech in Wash |