The President
The notable Presidents.
The Man and the Office.—Forty years ago, an eminent English writer on American government spoke of the presidency as the greatest secular office in the world “to which anyone can rise by his own merits”.[[122]] In view of this fact, he asked, how does it come that the position is not more frequently filled by great and striking men? There have been twenty-nine presidents since the constitution went into force in 1788. Of these at least three, Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln have won an assured place in world history. Five or six (including Adams, Jackson, Grant, Cleveland, and Roosevelt) displayed during their respective terms of office some qualities which marked them as men of uncommon force or ability. Three others are still living and their achievements cannot yet be fairly estimated. But taking all these together, and even adding a few more for good measure, would it not still be a fair statement to say that at least half the presidents have been men whose names would be entirely forgotten nowadays were it not for the fact that they occupied the presidential chair?
Alexander Hamilton, Daniel Webster, John Marshall, Henry Clay, and John C. Calhoun are great and striking figures in American history although they never reached the presidency; on the other hand the nation has, at various times, bestowed its highest honor upon men of commonplace qualities. This, of course, was not what the Fathers of the Republic expected. It was their anticipation that the presidential office would always be filled by men of “pre-eminent ability and virtue”.
Why has this expectation been in part disappointed? That is a question which can only be answered by a study of the methods by which presidents are chosen, the relations between the office and the party system, and the duties that presidents are required to perform.
Why the plan of indirect election was adopted.
How the President is Chosen.—The Articles of Confederation did not provide for a President; executive functions were performed by committees of the Congress. But this plan was found to be altogether unsatisfactory and the framers of the constitution decided in 1787 that the new federal government ought to have a single executive head. How to choose this head, however, was a problem which gave them great difficulty and they debated it for a long time. They did not approve a plan of election by direct popular vote, for they feared that this might result in the choice of men who were personally popular but had no other qualifications. Their study of ancient and mediaeval republics made them averse to choosing the head of the nation by direct popular vote. They were not prepared to trust the people; in those days the risk seemed too great. On the other hand they did not desire to have the President chosen by Congress because this would give Congress control of the office, whereas their aim was to make the presidency a check upon Congress. So they finally decided upon the expedient of direct election by means of an electoral college.[[123]]
The presidential electors.
The Original Plan of Election.—Stated briefly the plan which they agreed upon and inserted in the constitution was as follows: Each state shall choose, in such manner as its legislature may determine, a number of electors equal to the state’s combined quota of senators and representatives in Congress. A state having, for example, two senators and twelve representatives, is entitled to fourteen electors. On a definite date, once in four years, the electors meet in their respective states and give in writing their votes for President and Vice President. These votes are sealed up, sent to Washington, counted, and announced. This plan did not contemplate that nominations should be made in advance, or that political parties should have anything to do with the election, or that the various states, in choosing their electors, should pledge them to vote for any particular candidate. It was expected that the electors would meet, discuss the merits of all the available men for the position, and give their votes accordingly.
How the plan worked in the earlier elections.
The Actual Methods of Election Today.—At the first two elections this plan was followed. There were no nominations and no campaign preceding the election. But at the election of 1796 it was well understood, even before the electors met, that the contest would be between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. And as time went on the actual practice drifted further away from the original plan of free choice by unpledged electors. Political parties grew up; the electors were chosen with the definite understanding that they would vote for a particular party candidate, and their share in the election became purely nominal. In 1804 some changes were made in the method of election but they did not affect the general plan or the current practice. Gradually the people took into their own hands the function of choosing the President; everywhere the state legislatures turned the work of choosing the electors over to them, so that the presidential elections became, in everything but name and form, direct elections by the people.[[124]]
Five steps in the choosing of a President:
In the choice of a President there are now five steps, but only two of these are of any practical importance. First, each political party nominates its candidate at a national convention, as already described.[[125]] |1. The nomination of candidates.| Second, in each state the political parties nominate, either by primaries or state conventions, their respective slates or groups of electors. |2. The nomination of electors.| Third, the voters on election day decide which group of electors shall be given the formal function of electing the President. This the voters do on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November every fourth year. |3. The polling.| Each voter marks his ballot for a group of electors but what he really does is to indicate his preference for one of the candidates already nominated at the party conventions. This means, of course, that one or the other group of electors is chosen as a whole and the state’s vote cast solidly. It rarely happens, for example, that a state casts ten electoral votes for one candidate and five for another; if it has fifteen votes they all go to one candidate. For this reason it sometimes happens that a candidate receives a majority of the electoral votes although not a majority of the popular votes, taking the country as a whole. |4. The action of the electors.| Fourth, the electors meet in their respective states and cast their votes. Fifth, these votes are opened in Washington and counted in the presence of Congress. |5. Counting the votes.| Among these five steps the first and third are the important ones. The last step is nothing but a formality unless it appears that no candidate has received a majority. In case this happens the House of Representatives proceeds to choose a President from among the three candidates who have stood highest. In the case of the Vice President the choice rests with the Senate.[[126]]
The “availability” of candidates.
Factors which Influence Presidential Nominations and Elections.—As matters have worked out it is not possible for anyone to be elected President without first obtaining a nomination from one of the two leading political parties. The party organizations and the party conventions are influenced by groups of political leaders and these leaders are often more interested in a man’s strength as a candidate than in his personal qualifications for the work which a President has to do. The consequence is that candidates have sometimes been nominated by party conventions because they were compromises on whom opposing factions of the party could agree, or because they could be counted upon to carry some important state at the polls, or for some other reason having nothing to do with the executive capacity of the individual concerned.
“Dark horses”
A big national convention, comprising more than a thousand delegates, cannot be expected to do its work with calm deliberation or to weigh carefully the personal qualifications of all those who seek to be nominated. If there is a prolonged contest between two or three strong candidates, no one of whom can obtain the requisite number of votes in the convention, the delegates in their impatience are likely to turn to a “dark horse”, that is to someone less prominent on whom there is a chance of agreement.[[127]] This has often happened.
The real work of nominating candidates is not done on the floor of the convention. The plans are laid and put into operation by groups of leaders in private conferences, the delegates following these leaders when called upon. And the fact that a candidate possesses “great and striking qualities” does not always commend him to these party leaders. On most occasions they are likely to prefer a man who, if elected, will work in harmony with the party organization rather than take the reins of office wholly into his own hands.[[128]] By various combinations of circumstances, therefore, men of mediocre quality have sometimes been nominated.
The election may turn upon various things.
Narrowness of the People’s Choice.—A nomination by one of the two leading parties is in some cases almost equivalent to election. There are times, of course, when the election turns chiefly upon the merits of the two leading candidates; but more often the result is determined by other factors entirely. Each candidate embodies the strength of his party as well as his own, and each political party is for various reasons stronger in some years than in others. When a party has been in power for a term of years the people usually grow disgruntled with its policy and refuse to support the candidate of that party at the next election no matter how capable he may be. There is every reason to believe that the Democratic candidate was doomed to defeat in 1920 no matter who he might have been. When one political party remains in power for eight or twelve years it makes many enemies; people find fault on one score or another and decide that they will vote for a change. Even a strong candidate in such circumstances has very little hope of winning.
Public opinion is a very fickle thing. It exalts a public man as a hero today and execrates him tomorrow. It is strong for one policy this year and often veers around to something quite different a year or two later. Men are borne into the presidential office on this surging tide, sometimes without much reference to their individual qualifications. They are nominated because they are acceptable to the party leaders, or because they come from some strong and doubtful state, or because they are agreed upon by compromise, or for any one of a dozen other reasons. The capacity of the man is not always, and indeed not usually, the chief factor in determining a presidential nomination.[[129]] Under the circumstances the wonder is that the country has obtained, in the presidential office, such a high general level of personal capacity and character.
Presidential powers:
Powers of the President.—The actual powers of the President are greater than those of any other ruler in the world, whether hereditary or elective. He is the chief engineer of a great mechanism which controls an army, raises several billion dollars a year in taxes, enforces laws, regulates commerce, and employs the full time of more than half a million public officials. Congress makes the laws, it is true; but were it not for the President and those whom he appoints, the laws would not be enforced. Congress decides what taxes shall be levied; but the President and his subordinates collect them. Congress appropriates money out of the treasury; but the executive branch of the government, of which the President is the head, spends the money. The President, in other words, is the nation’s chief executive—he is charged with the duty of executing the laws. This is a large responsibility and a good deal of the work is necessarily entrusted to subordinates whom the President appoints.
1. Appointments.
The appointing power is, then, an important phase of the President’s authority. He names all the higher officials of the Government subject to confirmation by the Senate as has already been explained. He has the power to remove any national official. In the case of minor officials he may, and usually does, depend upon the advice of senators or congressmen both as regards appointments and removals; but in the case of all high officers these things must have the President’s personal attention. Naturally they take a great deal of his time.
2. The executive veto.
In relation to Congress the President has the right to make recommendations and to veto any measure which he does not approve. These recommendations he may make either by written message or by appearing before Congress in person. The veto power places a powerful weapon in the President’s hands. Every bill or resolution which passes both Houses of Congress must be laid before the President. If he approves, he signs it. If not, he is entitled, at any time within ten days, to return the bill or resolution without his signature, giving his reasons for the refusal to sign. |Scope of the veto power.| When the President vetoes a measure in this way Congress reconsiders it and a vote is then taken to determine whether the action of the President shall be sustained or overridden. If two-thirds of the members present in both the Senate and the House vote to override the veto, the measure becomes effective; if less than two-thirds so vote, the measure becomes null.
The “pocket veto”.
But suppose the President neither signs nor vetoes the measure within ten days after it is sent to him, what then? The constitution provides that in such case the measure shall become a law. If Congress adjourns before the ten-day period has expired, however, the bill does not become a law. It is not necessary for a President to veto any measure that may come to him during the ten days immediately preceding the adjournment of Congress. If he does not approve the measure, he merely withholds his signature and it dies on his table. This is known as the “pocket veto”.
Its use and abuse.
The veto power has been used very little by some presidents and a great deal by others. During the first forty years of the Republic only nine bills were vetoed. But during the past forty years presidential vetoes have been very common. When a measure has been vetoed there is great difficulty, as a rule, in obtaining the necessary two-thirds vote to override the veto; but vetoes, nevertheless, are occasionally overcome. The use of the veto, although it is an exercise of executive power, makes the President a vital factor in legislation. Under ordinary circumstances he can defeat any measure that is not acceptable to him.[[130]] There are exceptions to this rule, to be sure, but it is valid in the main.
3. The conduct of foreign relations.
Although the power of appointment and the veto power in normal times the two chief sources of the President’s authority, he has others of considerable importance. He conducts relations with foreign governments and negotiates all treaties. Treaties do not become valid, however, until ratified by the Senate. He decides whether ambassadors and other diplomats sent to Washington from other countries shall be formally recognized. He has power to pardon offenders sentenced in the federal courts. He is commander-in-chief of the military and naval forces. All these functions are vested in the President by the constitution and the laws.
4. Other powers.
Other powers have been acquired by usage, for example, the right to have a large voice in controlling the policy of the political party to which the President belongs. The President is a party man, a party leader. He is elected on a party platform. The people expect the President to carry out the pledges which this platform contains. To do this the President finds it necessary at times to take the initiative in securing the passage of laws by Congress and also to bring influence to bear upon the members of both Houses. Strictly speaking, the President has no formal share in the making of the laws; but as a matter of usage he has a highly-important influence upon legislation.
Succession to the Presidency.—In case the President should die, or resign, or be removed by impeachment, or be otherwise incapable of performing his duties, the Vice President succeeds. In the absence of the Vice President it has been provided by law that the members of the cabinet, beginning with the Secretary of State, have the right of succession according to the seniority of their offices.[[131]] No President has ever resigned or been removed from office. On several occasions, however, a Vice President has succeeded by reason of a President’s death. Some presidents have been seriously ill during their terms of office, and President Wilson was absent in France for several months during 1918-1919; but in no case has the Vice President been called upon to exercise the presidential functions.
The Vice President.
The office of Vice President, apart from the right of succession which it carries, is not of much importance. In selecting their candidates for the office the two leading political parties have usually given very little thought to the problem of getting the most capable man. By the time the great task of nominating a candidate for the presidency has been finished, the delegates are in a mood to get home. They will not spend hours and days taking ballot after ballot for the second place on the ticket. Apart from presiding in the Senate the Vice President has no regular official duties, but there is the ever-present chance that he may have to step into the chief executive position. For that reason the work of selecting candidates ought to be done more carefully than has usually been the case.