Each year, as required by the Constitution, the President reports to the Congress on the state of the Union. In his State of the Union Message, he talks about the needs of the people, about our relations with other countries, and usually recommends legislation which he believes to be necessary for the nation. He may also send a special message to Congress for similar purposes. If necessary, he may call Congress into a special session, as provided by the Constitution, and recommend legislation to solve a particular problem. When Congress does not respond to his wishes, he may call upon the people directly for support. He does this through the press, radio, and television.

The Judicial Authority of the President

The President has the authority to select and appoint judges of the Supreme Court, and other

Federal courts, provided the Senate approves his nominations.

Many of the 55 men who helped to frame the Constitution were very able lawyers. They had learned that sometimes even a judge may not be fair, or he may make an honest mistake. These wise leaders believed that injustice would not happen often, but they wanted someone to help the person wrongly convicted. Therefore, authority was given to the President to grant reprieves and pardons to persons convicted in Federal courts. He cannot, however, pardon lawbreakers who have been sentenced by a state court, nor can he pardon any government official for a Federal offense which resulted in his impeachment and conviction.

As you can see, the President has many powers. How he uses his powers determines whether he is a weak or strong leader. His personal popularity

The newspapers are filled with examples of democracy in action. Read these familiar everyday headlines:

Senate Discusses New Treaty
NATO Chiefs Meet in Brussels
Government Hopes to Avoid Railroad Strike
New Interstate Highway Opened
Record Farm Production Last Year

New Income Tax Law Passed by House If we read the stories under the headlines, we will notice that they concern problems relating to foreign affairs, national defense, labor unions, transportation, farm production, and income for the Federal government. We will also notice a com

mon thread that runs through all the articles: The important role played by the President in helping to solve these problems. Actually, they are only a few of the many problems which are considered by our President, and this should make us realize how great his fund of knowledge must be if he is to handle them and all the other problems which he must help to solve. We should also realize the great amount of work which must be done to solve the problems described in the newspaper stories. No single individual, not even the President, could possibly know about and handle all of these matters without assistance. For this reason, the President has a Cabinet. Each member of the Cabinet is a skilled administrator and heads one

of the large executive departments. The members of the Cabinet are well informed concerning the matters handled by the departments they head, and they act as advisers to the President and assist him in solving problems relating to such matters.

This chapter tells about the work of the President's Cabinet.

DISCUSS:

Why is it important to get advice from others before making a decision?

MEETING NEW WORDS:

civil service: Having to do with working for the government of a nation or state

conservation: Preserving from harm or decay; protecting from loss or from being used up counterfeit: Imitation; false; to make false money

duplication: The doing again of something that has already been done

estimates: Judgments or opinions about how much, how many, how good; evaluations handicapped: Disabled; not able to do something because of a disadvantage or disability initiate: Begin; set things going; introduce national security: The safety of the nation natural resources: Things that come from nature patent: A government grant to a person stating

that he is the only one allowed to make or sell a new invention for a certain number of years. policy: Plan for present or future official action prosecute: To take action to convict a person of a crime

research: Careful hunting for facts or truth urban: Relating to cities and towns vocational training: Education to prepare a person for some new job or kind of work Fill in the blank in each of the following sentences with the correct word(s) listed in the other column:

1. The Secretary of State advises the President about foreign

ADVISING THE PRESIDENT-THE CABINET

The first Congress of the United States met in 1789. One of its first acts was to provide for a group of men to advise and assist President Washington. This group of advisers soon came to be known as the President's Cabinet. It consisted of a Secretary of State, a Secretary of the Treasury, and a Secretary of War, each of whom headed an executive department, and an Attorney General and a Postmaster General.

The President's Cabinet today has 11 members. The titles of these Cabinet members and the year in which their departments were officially created by Act of Congress are:

Secretary of State (1789)

Secretary of the Treasury (1789)

Secretary of Defense (First called Secretary of War (1789); Department of Defense (1949) includes former Departments of War (1789), Navy (1798), Air Force (1947))