Lecture 1 — Overview and Introduction:

I Introduction
Founding generation had a strong sense of serving posterity
Extant models: loose federations (Greek city states), Rome’s slide into corruption,
hereditary monarchies, general theme of a strong reaction against executive power
(Thomas Paine)

II The American Revolution, State Experience, and the Articles of Confederation

State Constitutions: PA no governor, 1 term executive council
Articles of Confederation (1781): unicameral legislation, no executive
Problems: little common defense, limited capacity to control domestic insurrections
(Shay’s Rebellion), barriers to commerce between states, varying currency between states

III The Constitutional Convention 1787

Long hot summer of 1787
Young, but experienced (Declaration of Independence, state constitutions) delegates
Important Decisions:
1. Singular or Plural Executive
a. Efficiency, effectiveness, dispatch v. potential for abuse of concentrated
powers
2. Method of Selection
a. Legislative selection
b. Electoral college with legislative tie-break (committee on unfinished
business)
3. Powers
a. Deliberately vague – recognition of George Washington as first executive
b. Formal power, checks and balances, appointments, negotiate treaties
Themes: the desire for efficiency, energy, effectiveness; the fear of despotism and
concentrated power; the symbol and role of G. Washington

IV George Washington
Eschewing monarchical precedents, reluctant candidate without any sons
Precedents and Traditions:
Cabinet meetings, appear before Senate on foreign policy issues, Whiskey Rebellion,
declining to run for 3rd term

V The President in the Nineteenth Century

Foreign policy: Louisiana Purchase
Crises to preserve the nation and the Constitution, Civil War

VI Early Twentieth Century Developments

Teddy Roosevelt: foreign policy action outside of national interest (Spanish-American
War), world leadership, bust trusts, conservation, food & drug laws, “steward of the
people”
Woodrow Wilson: six months in Europe, League of Nations, power and authority directly
from people

VII Franklin Roosevelt and the Modern Presidency

Architect of nation’s foreign policy, world leaders, entangling alliances
Setting national agenda, legislative program (FDR’s New Deal)
Institutional Presidency, huge staff resources

Federalist No. 47 by James Madison

Structure of the government and distribution of power
Separate and distinct legislative, executive and judiciary branches
Distributed and blended power
There can be no liberty where the legislative and executive powers are united in the same
person or body of magistrates.
Comparison to state constitutions in which departments of powers have not been kept
absolutely separate and distinct  shared power!

Federalist No. 70 by Alexander Hamilton

Energy in the executive!
Protection of the community against foreign attacks, steady administration of the laws,
security of liberty against the enterprises and assaults of ambition, faction, and anarchy
A feeble executive = feeble execution of government
Ingredients for energy in the executive: unity, duration, adequate provision for its
support, competent powers
Legislation = deliberation and wisdom, but executive needs decision, activity, secrecy
and dispatch
A plurality in the executive would lessen the respectability, weaken the authority and
lower accountability
The UNITY of the executive of this State was one of the best of the distinguishing
features of our Constitution

The Constitution of the United States

Article II
Office of the President
Election of the President
Requirements of the President
Pay of the President
Powers of the President
1. Commander in Chief
2. Grant pardons and reprieves for offenses against the United States
3. Make treaties (with the advice and consent of the Senate)
4. Nominate appointments for Ambassadors, Public Ministers and Consuls, Judges
of the Supreme Court, etc (with the advice and consent of the Senate)
5. Give State of the Union to Congress
6. Recommendations to Congress
7. Receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers
 8. Take care that the laws be faithfully executed
Note that Congress has the power to Declare War
Eddie Lee

Lecture 2 : Perspectives on the Presidency [ Matthew Dickensen ]

September 22, 2005

Neustadt - originally created this course

• His book, pres powers, presents tools to analyzing whats at the heart of this
course, what is it, how do you keep it, how do you lose it?
• His father was a new deal democrat
• He served in the Navy
• Truman - worked for the budget - during its golden age
• He was event drafted into the administration -
• Then decided to go into academia, while serving as a consultant
• Wrote pres powers - there is a good chance that times have passed

1. Neustadt's argument
a. You have to take yourself back in time to the time he wrote the book
b. Legal formalism -
c. Some may study different hats that pres wears
d. But Neustadt had no background in academia
e. He said these perspectives do not capture the essence of he
presidency as it was with Truman
f. He wanted a class that was as if you were in the preseident's office,
looking over his shoulder
i. He was there when McCarther made the decision to go to Korea
g. The firing of MacArthur -
h. Exercise of formal power, doesn't capture the essence of power
p. He defines presidential power : a president's effective influence on
outcomes
i. The grants of authority
ii. Powers do not translate into power
q. His analysis is in strategies of power, not tactics [ of getting something
through congress ]
1. He argues that power is limited
a. Doesn't dismiss constitution, or vantage points
a. But some one focuses on vantage points, do not have whole picture,
why not focus simply on the Pres powers?
a. Why? Because power is shared
a. We have separated institutions - sharing powers
a. Each of these actors approach decision from diff perspectives -
a. If pres wants to be more than chief clerk, they must bring to bear not
only their persp, they must understand others
a. Pres power becomes not the power of command
1. Bargaining of power
a. Vantage points (formal powers)
a. Professional reputation - perceptions that other washingtonians view
about the president's willingness and ability and skill to achieve his
ends,
i. Over time, these become settled
ii. The illustration he uses as someone not protecting his rep was
eisenhower
 a. In Addition, president's public prestige - public opinion, it is
nuanced, rather than national
i. Standing in constituency that he is interested in
i. Why pres is tailoring speech towards the group from
which he may need support at a particular time
a. Think of it as a stool - 3 - legs
i. They need formal powers, reputation, and support
amongst those he is bargaining
1. Out side of that , the president is weak - most outcomes are driven by things
outside of the pres control
a. Every pres then must undertake office with one thing in mind, how
does my decision affect longterm ability to achieve in end
0. Analysis and critiques of neustadt's argument from three perspectives:
conceptual, empirical, normative orientation
1. Conceptual - logical argument - Presidential power isn't what Neustadt says it
is
a. The pres has a lot of power, sometimes they have enough power to do
what is necessary - ignores formal powers (Tulis)
b. Pres bush didn't bargain to hold people in guat bay - he just said that
he'd do it
a. So N underestimates the ability to rely on pres power to make
decisions
• Yet N would say, that this weakens power later on down the road
• We now know that in Gbay - the Court has stated that you can not do
that , thus eroding the president's power
• Truman made great use of pres power - he fired MacArthur - in the
immediate sense this is power, but for N , that is not enough - this
undercut Truman, and weakened him
• Critique of bargaining -
i. N bargaining ability puts them into pres overload -
i. Must delegate
• Response: those people who are delegated share different
points from the pres
• Thus you are risking when you delegate,
• there is ways to minimize that - have more than one individual
- in the case of Reagan - delegating came and bit him in the
rear
• Critique 3: Going public has replaced bargaining (cornell)
• A breakdown of protocoalitions - now everything is much more
fragmented and public
• When N wrote, hearings were outside of public, but now they
are more public
• Media -
• Reagan - passed bill only after making appeal to write to
congressmen
• Response: not enough evidence that this arg is right
 Approval rating not related to outcome
• Also, those who oppose the pres can also go public
 Many different forms of public - though people may say
he had ability to go public, there is an argument made
that it is much
  Rather than going public, N would say r's success has to
do with bargaining
 In order to get congress to pass things, reagan had to
bargain
• Institutionalized Presidency - administrative influence/unilateral action
• If you rely on your staff, you can get a lot of good things done
• N's response: Those who you delegate to, don't know your
interest - pres decision has to be viewed as a whole
 In Iran's issue, R's staff, thought that he was doing R's
work - but undermined president
• N recognizes that the staff are overzealous , and do more than
what the president should do - no matter what you do, the
actions are always traced back to the president, whether he
knows about it or not
• It provides a source of excellence , but risky
• Skowronek - modern and premodern presidents - N is looking at pres
through secular time, but should be through political time - he says
that presidents take place when the existing
• Reagan has more in common with , than with Carter or HW
Bush
• It doesn't capture what we want to know about this president
• N says despite what kind of pres you are or what time the pres
is in, the pres still must have bargaining
7. Empirical Critiques
• There is nothing to test - You cant test N's argument
• There is a difficulty measuring "bargaining skill"
• N says bar skills is exercized at margins - so , that presidents are
weak,
• Decision are determined by partisanship of congress
• So, bargaining is weighted down
• SO it's difficult to measure because there are other factors
• Case studies - he illustrated his point with case studies - tried to
measure out when they wanted to bargain, and determine whether
they won
• Say how many times the president was able to pass legislation
(legilative box scores)
• We find that bargaining matters, but def not only thing that matters -
and this is only in congress, there are other times he has to bargain
• Are there particular people who make most impact in advising?
• We also have to take in particular
• N would urge caution , and if you make mistake, don't fight, let it all hang out
1. Normative Orientation
a. "Democratic" president - activist president - some one who does some
thing
b. Does he focus on a n active presidency? No
a. N says they can be powerful without doing anything or passing
anything
a. Ie. Clinton after OK bombing
a. Another critique is that it's machiavellian - ethical standards ( water
gate ) - is N responsible for Watergate?
a. N worked wit hthe assumption that people who read his book would be
experienced
 a. You bargain, because the formal system around you forces you to
bargain
1. N is the dominant work in the American presidency
a. Power is weak , because the president's system of sharing power -
a. In doing so it is important that the pres learn of other points - why so
they can know his vantage point
a. In the end, there is a normative component
a. The pursue of power is good - why because N is hamiltonian
i. "pursuit of power rightly conditioned in limits , is good because
it adds energy to the system"
ii. No other actor is better situated to focus enrgy of people to
serve broader good
i. In this sense , power serves all of us
Lecture 3:

LECTURE: GETTING ELECTED

1) Lord Bryce: Why great men aren’t elected Pres.

a) Great men are not elected as Pres. Because they are more into the biz. Of
developing resources than politics
b) Party system also rules out great men
2) 3 Pts to lecture
a) What do we want in the electoral process?
b) The evolution of the process
c) Look at the elements that shape electoral outcomes
3) 4 Criteria in evaluating
a) Does our electoral process inhibit or encourage talented people from running?
b) Does our e. process provide voters w/ info they need to make informed and wise
decisions?
c) Does the outcome have legitimacy?
d) Does our system reinforce both the skills and the commitments necessary to
govern while in office?
4) Our nomination system has become more democratic
a) 1830s/40s: Convention system emerged, emphasizing ability to build and hold
together coalitions
b) Hunt Commission transformed our nominating process so that primary voters
selected the pres.
c) Parties play much less signif. role in their selection of candidates
d) Have changes made a difference?
i) Grtr voter independence, tv more important
ii) Selection process not determinant but rather that the candidates are
professional politicians (many former office holders)
(1) In last 140 years, only 2 people who have run have not held high civil
office (Eisenhower, Wilke)
iii) 1860: Stephen Douglas tours country speaking on slavery
iv) 1912: Exciting election between Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson
(1) Roos. Gave speech despite being shot, but Wilson won 40 state landslide
and Roos. Came in 2nd
v) 1920: Harding gets nomination (handsome but dumb)
vi) 1932: FDR used whistle stop train in ’32 to spread and the words and speak in
32 states
vii) TV has transformed Pres. Election and campaign since ’52 when Eisenhower
spent millions on ads
viii) Tech and mktng have played huge pt (esp in key electoral states)
e) Alternating Party Theory
i) In US, we are reluctant to give one party too much power for too long
(1) Pendelum shifts every 8-12 years
(2) Only during ’44, ’48 did party have 4 elections
(a) Carter held as dem for only 1 election
(3) Last 13 elections have involved either incumbent pres or incumbent VP
(a) 9 of 13 times, incumb. Won presidency. Of that 9, 5 won, 3 lost, 1 still
undecided
(4) Why did these 5 (Eisen, Johnson, Nixon, Reagan, Clinton) win?
(a) None of these were challenged with the party nomination
(b) Of 3 who lost (Ford, Carter, Bush), each was challenged for nom. By
party
(5) 1980: Carter was challenged by Kennedy and barely selected the
nomination
(6) 1992: Pat Buchanan challenged Bush
(a) BUT, incumb. Pres in all 3 cases secured his party’s nomination (this
is almost always the case)
(7) Incumbs who win v. those who lose
(a) State of the economy plays a huge part
(b) How you well you do wrt to the econ
(c) Debates matter
(i) Lincoln declined debating because he felt it was wrong to
campaign for pres.
(ii) Debates were first televised in ’60 (Nixon, Kennedy)
1. Radio thought Nixon won but those on TV thought Kennedy
won (looks matter)
2. Debates declined from then until ’76 (Nixon declined several)
when Ford debated Carter
3. Reagan challenged Carter in 80, along w/ Repub Anderson
who ran as indep. Carter refused to show up to 1st deb. Cuz
Anderson was there.
a. Reagan and Carter later debated alone
b. Reagan kept saying “there he goes again” and was
remembered for this…he won
c. Reagan prepped w/ briefing books when he debated
Mondale but lost because people thought he was being
uncharacteristic by spitting out facts
4. 1988: Bush and Dukakis held 3 pres. Debates
a. Bush looked at watch and was caught on TV
b. Now, supposed to be no cutaways to either candidate
Lecture 4: Presidential Selection: nominations 9/29/2005
• Criteria for evaluating the nomination process: 1. Does the system motivate
talented people to run for office? 2. Does the system give adequate time and info
for voters to make informed decisions? 3. Does the system have legitimacy
consistent with democratic norms? 4. Does the system select for skill needed to
govern effectively?
• History of the nomination: Framers feared direct democracy. Compromised on
Electoral College scheme, with each state having 1 elector for each senator and
representative in Congress. Each elector casts 2 ballots, one of which must be for
someone from a different state. Majority of college vote goes to President, second
most votes go to Vice President. If no majority, then the House decides among the
top 5 vote-getters. Did not foresee campaigns or parties.
• King caucus: 1800 – 1824. Congressional party leaders met in closed sessions to
nominate their party’s candidate after the Congressional session was over.
Domination of party and government insider candidates like Secretary of State.
System fell apart after 1824 election of J. Q. Adams who had not received
majority of popular votes.
• National Conventions: 1831 Anti-Freemason Society held the first national party
convention to choose a presidential candidate. State parties send delegates who
vote on platforms and candidates. Favored party insiders, dark horse candidates,
and back-room dealing. Reflected power of political parties.
• Unimportance of Primaries: TR beat Taft in most primaries in 1912, but only 42%
of convention delegates were chosen by primary, so Taft won anyway. Primaries
became less prevalent after WWI because people said they were too expensive.
• 1968: Humphrey won nomination at the Democratic Party convention in Chicago
without having entered a single primary. Protests and fights on the convention
hall floor on national television prompted the McGovern-Frasier reform
commission to examine reform options. By 1972 every state had to choose
delegates by primary or open caucus systems. New rules were also forced on
Republican Party by Democratically controlled state legislatures.
Today’s campaigns: all delegates except a few Democratic Super Delegates are chosen
by primary, and the winner is known well in advance of the convention, which has
become a media-orchestrated coronation. Today there are really 2 contests: who can raise
enough funds to stay in the game, and who can win enough votes. Candidates must
endure a very long and expensive process, appeal to a national audience, advocate a
coherent set of ideas, and handle themselves well in debates. Favors well-known and
well-financed Washington outsiders with executive
Lord Bryce in 1888
• Great Men do not become president because
o Great men drawn to other things
o Voters don’t mind mediocrity
o Parties prevent the best men from becoming president

I. Criteria for Selection – Important questions for consideration

• Does our system motivate or inhibit talented people from seekeing the
Presidency? Does it tend to produce individuals with the requisite abilities to
succeed once in office?
• Does our electoral process give voters good data on which to make an intelligent
and informed decision?
• Does the process have legitimacy?? Is it consistent with our democratic norms?
• Does our system of nominating and electing Presidents reinforce the skills and
commitments needed to govern effectively?

II. The Constitutional System: The Framers’ Intentions

• Potential selection methods
o Legislature
o Popular Vote
o Indirect means
 Committee on Unfinished business settled on Electoral College
chosen by the state.
• Framers envisioned EC as system of elite choosing by ability among themselves.
• 2 initial concerns
o Thomas Jefferson – Re-election for life.
o That president would be chosen by Congress most of the time.
o Neither ended up as major concern in long run.

III. Caucus System (1800-1824)

 • King Caucus originated as a system in which Congress deteremined nominees.
Against constitution.
• Virginia Dynasty was product of King Caucus system.
• Downfall was in 1824 when Crawford not strong enough health to run and Mass
Legislature pushed John Quincy Adams.
o Emergence of a state-based party system.

IV. The Party National Convention System (1832-1912)

• Origins of the system
o Were concerned about Congressional involvement in choosing process.
 Anti-Masonic party held first convention in Maryland.
• System was challenged with 9 million signatures.
o People wanted more say in choosing presidents.

V. The Mixed System: Conventions and Primaries (1912-1968)

• The Progressive era
o 1912 split between Taft and TR helped lead toward direct election.
• Argumetns against party controlling decisions
o Expensive
o Low voter turnout
o Not many major candidates
 1952 last election that went beyond first ballot.

VI. The Primary/Media Dominated System (1972-Present)

• 1968 Democratic National Convention
o President Johnson backed Humphrey over McGovern and McCarthy
though he didn’t win a primary.
o Riots inside and outside of Convention in Chicago.
• McGovern-Fraser Commission and Hunt Commission Reforms
o Nationally based and media based elections.
 o Evolving still. Very different even from 1976.
• 2 Contests: Financial and Electoral
o A very long process.
o Many drop out for lack of funds.

VII. Conclusions and Evaluation

• The trend has been a movement toward greater democracy.
• Qualities now needed
o They can run a campaign
o They have ideas.
• Differing qualities in a President over time.
o 1800-1824 – cabinet members and diplomats.
o 1824-1892 – almost exclusively generals.
o 1900- Present – 16 govs, 12 senators, 12 representatives, 3 judges, 2
cabinet members, 2 non-professional politicians.
• Conclusion: We now turn to people with government experience!
• Care&Feeding
• Correspondence ------------------------|-------------------------Leg. Affairs
• Scheduling NSC, NEC, DPC, HSC Press
• Staff Secretary Communications
• Speechwriting & research Public Liaison
• Advance Intergovernmental Affairs
• Counsel’s Office Political Affairs
• Personnel Global Communications
• Cabinet Liaison
• Mil affairs
• Clerk’s office
•
• If asked, White House employees likely state office of employment rather than
simply “the White House” – arrived sometime between 6 & 6:15 am, always after
reading President’s daily news summary & NY Times, Washington Post (poss
WSJ), etc.
o Thus most activities would relate to your specific office.
• Three great groupings of offices –
o Porter’s nomenclature still used in White House
o 1. Care and Feeding offices (handout) –
 Correspondence – largest office. Single largest job, opening,
reading, and deciding how it should be responded to. Today – over
11 million/year.
• People expect responses from letters. Thus presidents and
staff put energy into corresponding. Substantive – likely to
policy office.
• One of the least known, or appreciated, yet one of the most
important office.
 Scheduling office – now, weekly requests = 350 outside requests
 Office of staff secretary – similar role to director of presidential
scheduling; in coordination with COS – determines who gets to the
president on paper, i.e. memoranda during the night – usu. 2-3
hours of paperwork after evening meal. Disperses to other
members of staff who needs to know about which memos, etc.
Thus, instead of the President having to ask others their opinions
on memos, opinions of other staffers are already commented on.
Very efficient.
• Powerful because he controls perspectives on memos.
• Podesta was Clinton’s first staff secretary.
 Speechwriting and research – Obv., large quantity of speeches.
• Also, in lieu of speeches by president, greetings are sent for
regrets.
• Yearly – over 4,000 sent.
  Advance – whenever President leaves 18.5-acre White house
complex.
• Small type – briefing book for all staffers.
• Challenging, time-consuming. Works with
communications and secret service.
• Always sets up secure lines in case of emergency.
 Counsel’s Office
• Ensures not only legality of POTUS’s actions, but also that
his prerogatives are being protected. (e.g. – if a bill
contains language that circumscribes previous priorities –
provides counsel to veto, amend, or implement signing
provisions – to establish POTUS’ rights on paper) based on
interpretations of Constitutionality.
• 90% rule – no effort unless 90% confidence (?)
• also advise on district and appellate court justices.
 Personnel
• 5,500 appointment possibilities – thus, during one term,
likely around 8,000 appointments.
• Actions, gather information, interview. Seek advice from
experts on staff.
• Asst’t to POTUS for Pres. Personnel met at least weekly
with COS to hire.
 Cabinet liaison
• Relatively small, non policy related matters, personnel
matters – to help get hiring through
 Military aides office
• 5 – army, navy, coast guard….
• Removes seal from podium after POTUS speaks (NOT
ADVANCE?)
o Hires have to pass horseriding tests?
 Clerks office??
o 2. Policy Formulation Offices
 Presidents are expected to be able to answer any and all questions
– never delegates questions from public. Policies for 275-300
issues constantly formulated for POTUS.
 Who organizes? The following four channels (National Security
Council, National Economic Council, Domestic Policy Council
staff, Homeland Security Council staff).
• Yet simply deciding policy is not final step; one needs also
to get other people to agree and go along, so a third set of
offices exist – the offices of packaging and selling:
o Policy implementation offices – deal with entities outside of POTUS’
control
 Leg affairs (deals with Congress)
  Press (Media) - 1800 people staff
 Communication (non white house press corps entities) – over
5,000 organizations not represented at WHPC
 Public Liaison (over 7,000 nat’l ass’ns hq’ed in DC)
• 1977 DC more national ass’ns hq’ed.
• Plus corporations and other organized groups.
 Intergovernmental affairs (80,000 governments in US) – NGA,
Nat’l league of cities, na of state legislators, all governors, mayors,
etc) – principal point of contact.
 Political Affairs – Strategery in GWB WH
 Global Communications – sends overall message
• Myth that WH staff has grown quite large and huge.
o In 1960, after election, JFK sent Ted Sorenson and Mike Feldman to
Eisenhower WH to scout – and concluded that they could do it with half as
many people.
 Thus JFK staff was leaner than usual.
 LBJ started growth of WH (and programs – Great Society)
• Though not necessarily shown on WH payrolls – bc of
detailing, through other departments/agencies. i.e. may be
employed by OMB, but comes to work in WH.
• Many didn’t want to so many employees to show up on
rolls.
• Looks like LBJ white house on 350 less (because 250 on
detail, 90 on special projects)
• Ashe report (Nixon commissioned to study this) – lets
count accurately.
• When WH pressured to reduce staff, merely moved 30% to
an office with a different title, though jobs stayed the same.
o The size of staff is difficult to measure over time is difficult because of
DETAILING
o AND interns! (new development)
 Clinton wanted to cut by 25%
• Porter – “take out of nat’l drug control policy, 200, but 25
needed”
• They reported that they took out of white house staff…
were they really eliminated?
 Porter did a literal visit of every office to count desks, and found
there was actually a 30% increase. (Not one person questioned
why he came in!)
 Answer? INTERNS! Don’t show up on payroll yet still do work!
• With such large staff, coordination must be difficult.
o Vertical coordination
o The danger for a packaging and selling office is that they are captured by
their constituents – meaning??
o Horizontal coordination is most difficult acc. to Porter.
LECTURE NOTES 10/13
The President’s Domain II: The Executive Office of the President

I. Introduction
- During Depression, FDR created Brownlow Commission – 3-man
commission – to assess how/if president needed help
- “the president needs help” was the conclusion
i. Needs help producing unified budget
ii. Needs administrative help
iii. Needs planning office
iv. Needs office to assist him with personnel
- (Brownlow suggested these offices be staffed by career civil servants)
- FDR did not want his staff to have public profile – “passion for
anonymity”
- 1921 – Budget and Accounting Act
- 1939 – Congress passed bill creating EOP
i. Brownlow sought BOB in EOP
ii. EOP in 1939
1. budget
2. administration
3. personnel
4. planning

Offices left today

EOP currently
WHO OMB NSC CEA

OPD USTR OSTP CEQ

PFIAB ONDLP OA OFBCI

USFC

- WHO = White House Office (1939)

- OMB = Office of Mgmnt & Budget (formerly BOB) (1939)
i. Budget (Federal budget has 10 k line items!! He needs help)
ii. Legislative Reference Department reviews proposed leg.
1. comes up with unified executive position
iii. Reviewing regulations that will be issued by dept.
- CEA = Council of Economic Advisors (1946)– 3-person council advises
pres.
- NSC = National Security Council (1947)
- USTR = Chief negotiator in trade agreements (1962)
- OSTP = Office of Science and Technology (1962)
- CEQ = Council on Environmental Quality (1969)
 - Also part of executive office – Office of Policy Development, Office of
Administration (1977), Office of National Drug Control Policy (1988)

II. Origins and Evolution

- In the very beginning, the president had very little staff, also he had to pay
the staff from his own budget. Therefore, presidents would appoint/hire
relatives. As a result of this there was very little spending: In 1930, the
Federal Budget was less than 3% on GNP
A. FDR coordinates Brownlow Committee
- the goal is to look at what staff needs in respect to the president and what
president needs in respect to Congress
- Main thing committee reports”
1) In the White House president needs 6 personal assistants/advisors with
“passion for anonymity”
2) Pres needs more than just the WHO, he needs an executive office:
i. WHO
ii. OMB
iii. PLANNING
iv. PERSONELL
3) These four offices should be staffed by civil servants (“careerists”),
because they known what they have knowledge/experience/institutional
memory
(Background about the Budget Office: The Budget Office had been in the dept of the
Treasury. Only one person in the office was a political appointee and the others were civil
servants. There was also a General Accounting Office that made sure that the money
appropriated to X,Y,Z was in fact being given to the proper sources. The Brownlow
Committee lifted the Budget Office out of the Treasury to bring it closer to the president.)

III. How the Executive Office of the President Grew

- High turnover rate of units in the EXOP
- Congressional interest in creating new units in EXOP
i. End of WWII – high unemployment. Congress passes the Full
Employment Act: 1) Gives the president the responsibility to
ensure full employment and price stability, 2) Forms a Council of
Economic Advisors (same thing as the Joint economic
Committee).
1. Criticism of CEA: The Secretary of the Treasury can advise
the president on economic issues, so there is no need for
outside advisors.
2. Regardless of criticisms, act is passed and under Truman,
there is a CEA – unclear what role is – To advise the
president or to support any policies he comes up with??
ii. National Security Council Staff (1947)
Created in reaction to FDR’s mismanagement and skepticism over
Truman’s becoming president
iii. US Trade Representative
 Congress influential in creating this when called for it in 1962
Trade Expansion Act to develop this office
- Special Interest groups also influential in setting up executive offices
i. Office of Science and Technology Policy
For many of the decisions that the pres makes, he must rely on
scientific experts
ii. Council on Environmental Quality
Washington Senator Jackson is the driving force behind this office

IV. Elements in the Executive Office of the President

- Office of Management and Budget
i. This is the largest and most important office because the first thing
the president does is propose his federal budget to disperse across
agencies – needs this office for advice
- Main functions
- 1) OMB helps pres produce “Unified Federal Budget”
- 2) The OMB includes the Legislative References Division that receives
and decides on proposals before they are sent to the house
(Example: The National Park Services asks to increase the entrance fees at parks, which
would decrease the amount of money put into the Internal Revenue. So, the Leg Ref Div.
must decide which departments this proposal will be sent to, so that the representatives
from these offices can speak before Congress about what they think of the proposal. The
department reps send drafts of their testimonies to the Leg Ref Div which will make sure
that all of the testimonies are in sync so that there is a unified administration decision,
which is a main goal of the president.)
- 3) Regulations (OIRA): This section scrutinizes the regulations issues by
departments and agencies – the departments and agencies must do cost-
benefit analyses and of their proposed regulations and send to OIRA
where it is decided if the analyses are correct and if the regulations will be
optimal
(Note; Because of these 3 functions, the OMB has “chokeholds” on other departments
and agencies. Essentially, the OMB coordinates everything that is going on).

V. Relationships
- So what would we imagine the relationship between members of
departments/agencies and the OMB to be like??
- Because the OMB is likely to say “no” to money requests, people in
depts/agencies must seek alliances at Office of Policy Development,
because these people are in the business of generating new ideas – not in
the business of saying “no” and will likely join forces with dept/agency
reps.

Things to think about:

- Is all this development in staff resources an asset or a deficit to the
president
- In what ways does it help to president meet objectives
- What are the downsides given the huge staff and its power. If the staff is
very large isn’t there the possibility that staff members “will go into
business for themselves,” will cease to be “team players.”
Lecture 8
Super Brief summary – Bold terms are possible ID’s

-In this lecture we discuss the Staff secretary – very important determines who gets to

see the president

- Goes into detail regarding the care and feeding offices related to the president.
- There is a third set of offices known as packaging and selling.
- The myth regarding WH staff is that it has grown too much – myth is far from
reality.
- He then ends the lecture discussing vertical coordination w/in the offices and
concludes that horizontal coordination is far more difficult.
Lecture #9 – The Executive Office of the President

This lecture has a really extensive outline that gives a pretty comprehensive idea of the
subject- I am only going to include the extra notes I took

- The executive office today is very different than the founding fathers envisioned it
- The government consumes about 1/5 of our GDP, which is a phenomenon that
took hold after the FDR era
- FDR created the Bronlow Committee
o They decided to adopt the British model
o Recommended that the president should be staffed

- FDR wanted his staff to be “behind the scences”- not outspoken and in the public
eye. He wanted them to have a “passion for anonymity”

- Until 1921 there was no unified Federal Budget

o This was changed by the Federal Budget and Accounting Act of 1921

- Roughly ¾ of the entities that have been part of the executive have left- very high
turn-over
- Parts of the executive
o Office of Management and Budget: help president put budget together and
push it through congress
o Council of Economic Advisors: Advise the president on economic data
o National Security Council Staff: Advise on national security issues:
comprised of the President, VP, Sec of State and the Sec of Defense
o Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board: counter to the CIA
o Office of the U.S. Trade Representative: Important because of the WHO
and GATT which were ratified in the 1970’s
o Office of Science and Technology
o Council on environmental quality
o Office of Policy Development
o Office of Administration
o Office of National Drug Control Policy
o Office of faith-based and community initiatives
o USA Freedom Corps

- All these offices have their own “ethos” or culture

o i.e.- OMB tries to do things efficiently and with the least amount of
expenditure
o CEA- very academic and professional; most economically efficient way
o Office of Policy Development: aggressively pushing the President’s
agenda
- The executive if full of people who have extensive expertise and institutions that
are delineated specific tasks; this helps the President fulfill his various roles
Lecture 10 (10/25) – The President and Economic and Domestic Policy

1 The President and the Economy: Expectations and the Ability to Deliver – A
Mismatch?

A The growth of expectations

• Promise of economics as a discipline and tool – Keynes: Govt should

and could intervene to produce better economic outcomes

• Growth of government's role in economy – G to 33% of GDP

• Enshrinement of pres responsibility in statute – Federal Employment

Act: 1946, Pres has responsibility to provide for full employment in
context of low inflation. Rossiter: president "manager of prosperity"

• Role of presidential rhetoric – campaign promises increasingly

specific so see pres as having responsibility – presidents contribute to
increased expectations

B Limitations on president to deliver

• Difficult to forecast future with precision

• High degree of independence of Federal Reserve – impervious to

change (only 5 chairmen since 1951) – fixed 14 year term for Board
members; chair has 4 year term – FRB independent, not part of
executive

• Long path to legislation – need support in both houses

• Lagged effects of fiscal levers – lag times

• National economic policies in integrated global economy – more

factors which are out of US govt's control now

• Role of confidence and markets

2 Presidential Involvement in Shaping Economic Policy

Presidential Interest in economics - No economist elected as President yet

• Truman and Eisenhower not too interested

 • JFK and LBJ very interested, actively engaged with advisers

• Nixon wanted to focus on bigger picture not details and got bored of
listening to arguments

• Ford very interested – ec major at college

• Carter, Reagan, Bush – all fairly interested

3 Sources of Advice

• Large community of US economic advisers (unlike foreign policy),

many interested parties – multiple advocacy tends to work better

• Kitchen cabinets - outsider advisers e.g. bipartisan group under Ford

• Pres reaches out to those inside and outside and engages individual
discussions with advisers

• Formal rules v informal norms

4 Ford Battles Inflation and Recession

• Summit with Congressional leadership

• 31 point plan – a little of this and a little of that – result of having so

many people involved

• State of Union tax proposals succeeded – brought down inflation

5 Carter Battles Recession and Inflation

• Fought unemployment with stimulus package

• But prematurely declared victory over inflation

6 Reagan – Growth, taxes and Deficits

• 4 points relating to growth of:

o Decrease spending

o Lower taxes

o Reduce regulation
 o Slow money supply growth

• Optimistic assumptions for soft landing

• Brought inflation down too quickly and sent unemployment rocketing

• Tax reform – fewer brackets and brackets, standard deduction and

personal exemption inflation indexed

• Result of plans – quicker money supply reduction, less government

spending reductions and more tax cuts than wanted

7 GHWB – Read my Lips

• Flexible freeze to help deficit – if hold G constant and economy

grows then additional growth will cure deficit

• Democrat dominated Congress

• Statutory caps on spending, pay-go neutral budgetary provisions

8 Clinton

• Surplus b/c Clinton wouldn't increase taxes and Republican Congress

wouldn't increase government spending

9 GWB – coping with the unexpected

• Notion of returning surpluses to tax payers with rebates and lowering

marginal rates but

• 9/11 messed things up – sent government defense spending rocketing

Lecture 10/27/05
Styles and Advisors
~ Presidents are resistant to others mandating their decisions
- every President is different in their personal interests/desires regarding their
advisors

I. Differences in Presidential Styles

A. Reliance on formal and informal processes
i. Ensure that the President makes an informed decision
ii. Decision-making: a picture that consists of 2 different types of
realities
1. substantive reality: effects on inflation, employment, etc.
all which have costs and benefits – these must be clearly
articulated for the President
2. political reality: in this world, the President can command
little but must persuade a lot –must know who is
supporting, how they feel, etc.
example: Clinton enjoyed both parts of the picture – he drew
on a wide variety of sources
B. Willingness to delegate
i. Some want to be heavily involved in policy, others delegate
C. Reliance on meetings vs. paper
i. Varies between Presidents
1. either way, Presidents only want important information
because they read every document they are sent
D. Use of staff and line officials
E. Level of detail – decisions large and small
II. Four tests: Focused, informed, coherent, united
~ criteria in assessing how well the advising system works
A. Is the pattern of decisions consistent with the strategy?
i. To what extent will this decision help or hinder our future goals?
ii. Must take the circumstances into account as they are coming in the
context of the bigger picture
B. Does the process provide an informed decision?
i. Draw an accurate and detailed map
ii. President must understand his real choices
C. Is the pattern of decisions coherent?
i. All pieces must fit together, cannot produce inconsistent policies
D. Does the process produce a united administration?
i. A challenging task
Missing Zachary Carpenter lecture 12