American Presidents Review Sheet

                        American Presidents Review Sheet

• Andrew Jackson

• Election of 1824: This elections main two candidates were Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams. Both of these candidates were from the Democratic-Republicans party. The candidates were chosen from congressional caucuses which were where congress members from each party would meet and decide which candidate they would nominate for the Presidency. Because the Federalist party fell out of favor, the Democratic-Republicans were the only nominating party during this election. They elected many candidates but the main two were Jackson and Quincy. Jackson was able to win the popular vote and won more electoral votes but could not get the electoral votes necessary to win the Presidency, so the election went to the House of Representatives. In the House of Representatives, John Quincy Adams was elected which Jackson saw as corrupt because Quincy Adams was part of the Jefferson caucus, which was the caucus that elected a President and that president would appoint a secretary of state that would go on to become the next president.
• Election of 1828: In 1828, Jackson was able to gain enough support to beat Quincy Adams for the presidency. His supporters were known as Democrats, and Jackson had broken away from the Democratic-Republicans to create the democrat party and Quincy’s party became known as the national republicans and later the Whigs. In 1832, Jackson was able to create a nominating convention in which they nominated his running mate for the 1832 election. Nominating conventions were based on state parties and bringing each of them together, and delegates from each of those parties would be given to candidates based on intense negotiations.
• Impact of Presidency: Because of the creation of the nominating convention, Andrew Jackson revolutionized the way people would be nominated to be a candidate for presidency. Nominating conventions made getting your name into a state ballot easier because you had to negotiate with state parties to get delegates, while before congress would control who would be on the ballot and the nominee of the Presidency. At first, state conventions did not play the intended role of being more democratic because to get the nomination you had to negotiate with state party bosses to get delegates. So regardless of how you did in primaries in the state, or how popular you were with the public, in the end the delegates you got were based on how well you negotiated with party bosses. This was evident with the 1912 election when Teddy Roosevelt won more primaries than Taft, but at the convention Taft got the republican nomination for presidency. It was also evident when in 1968, Humphreys won the nomination for the Democratic party without even participating in any primaries. After 1968, Mcgovern reconstructed the way delegates would be elected and when they would be selected, by saying that delegates would be selected in the year of the election and the delegates would be selected by primaries, caucuses and state conventions. By doing so, the power of state party bosses to give delegates to the candidate who gave them the most during negotiations were tanked. While Jacksons nominating conventions made it easier to get onto the ballot in certain states, it also showed how hard it was for a third party candidate to win the nomination. With only getting on the ballot of some states, you do not have a real  chance of winning the Presidency to begin with, because you need a certain amount of electoral votes to win the presidency. By a third party candidate being on the ballot in some states, they usually take away votes that would have gone to another candidate during the presidency.  Also, by being part of a third party you are usually a break away from a traditional party and you take away votes that would originally go to a traditional party. An example is how Teddy Roosevelt was a republican, tried to run against his hand picked successor Taft in 1912, lost the nomination for Republican candidate and ultimately went on to run as a progressive and by doing so, Teddy Roosevelt took with him the supporters of the Republican party who probably would have voted for Taft if not for Roosevelts break from the party.

• Polk:

• Mexican American War: Polk  was best known as the manifest destiny President. This was because during his Presidency, the idea of manifest destiny was important. Manifest Destiny was the idea that it is our god given right to expand our territory westwards. Polk began his expansion dreams by sending troops to the independent Texas. He did this because he knew that the Mexican army would attack the troops which would give Congress a legitimate reason to declare war on Mexico and gain public support for the war against Mexico. Mexico had a lot of territory in the west, which would have gone with the idea of manifest Destiny. Polks victory in the Mexican American war made him the President whose gained the most territory for the United States in history. Polk expanded America from sea to shining sea, and he also made a treaty with Britain to take the North Western states.
• Slave states of free states: With the addition of new territories, the biggest question in America was if the states would be added as slave states or free states. This question was important because the slave states felt that if these states were added in as free states, the slave states would have less representation in Government than the free states would which would allow the free states to make laws that would be against slavery. As tensions grew between free and slave states, the Missouri Compromise was passed and the Missouri Compromise banned slavery above the 36’31 parallel except for the Missouri territory. This compromise did not last long as an important court case would take place just a few years later. Dredd Scott was a former slave who tried to sue for his freedom because he lived in free states for such a long time that he felt he was entitled to his freedom.  The supreme court disagreed, and in the Scott v Samford case the supreme court declared that African Americans weren’t American citizens so they were not entitled to the same freedoms American citizens were entitled to. As a result, the Supreme court found the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional.
• Impact on Presidency: Polk demonstrated the power of the president to start wars. If a president feels that starting a war pre-maturally would hurt their popularity, they can try to cause a reason to create a war. Polk created the outcry for war by sending troops to Texas so they could be attacked by the Mexican army. This power was demonstrated after his presidency as well, as F.D.R during WWII claimed neutrality during the war but was secretly plotting alongside England, and also he would place sanctions against japan which inevitably led to the Pearl Harbor attack which allowed F.D.R to get the support he needed from the public for congress to declare war on Japan and enter the United states into WWII. Polk also added the majority of the territories we have today in the United States,  by 1850 the United states had 30 states vs 13 when the United States won independence in 1781.

• Abraham Lincoln:

• Republican party: The Republican party formed in 1856. The Republican party was made up of Whigs, abolitionists, northern Democrats, reformers, women. Abraham Lincoln won the election in 1860 as a Republican nominee and created a winning coalition that would go on to win every election until 1912 except for one exception which was when Grover Cleveland won the presidency.
• Presidency: Lincoln focused on using the Declaration of Independence rather than the constitution. This was strange because the Declaration of independence was made up of ideals and values while the Constitution was the law of the land. The declaration helped Lincoln deal with issues such as slavery and woman’s rights. After Lincolns election victory, eleven states seceded from the union. Lincoln wanted to industrialize the United states because he believed that this would help the USA become a powerful and wealthy nation. Lincoln would also use the oath of office to justify many of his actions, by saying that he must protect the United States because he swore in his oath of office to protect the United States. The oath though, isn’t part of the constitution so Lincoln had a tendency to follow other means rather than the constitution when it suited his ideas. Lincoln took the commander in chief clause when he did the emancipation proclamation which was the calling for the freeing of slaves in the Confederate states. The emancipation proclamation was an example of a moral leadership where the Union now stood for a higher moral purpose of freeing slaves. During the Gettysburg Address Lincoln also took a moral leadership approach by not condemning the south, rather he praised both the confederate and union soldiers.
• Conduct Of War: Lincoln believed there was a window which is that there is a certain amount of time that you can do something. An example of this window is that the Iraq War was popular for a period of time before it became unpopular. Lincoln had a general named Mcclunnan who was a little more gentile and was on an opposite side of Lincoln. He believed that the Union had more wealth and was more industrialized so the Union should place sanctions along the Mississippi River so the southern soldiers would starve and die out and the Union wouldn’t have any casualites. Lincoln wanted quick action to end the war as quickly as possible, regardless of how many deaths would occur, and when mcclunnan refused to use his army Lincoln replaced him with Grant. Grant followed lincolns instructions and it leads to the south facing huge losses in terms of resources and solders to the point that even when the south won a battle it was still considered a loss. Grant eventually gets Lee to surrender. After this, Lincoln wanted to bring the southern states back into the Union but only if they swore to never go against the Union again. Only ten percent of the Southern state votes were neccisarry for those states to come back into the union, and Lincoln did this to bring the union back together as soon as possible.
• Andrew Johnson: After Lincolns assassination, Andrew Johnson becomes President. Andrew Johnson was picked to be Lincolns vice president because he was from the south, and Lincoln thought he could win over some southerners with a southern running mate. Andrew Jackson was sympathetic to the southerners and his sympathies grew opposition from the radical republicans. As a result, Andrew Jackson began removing cabinet members who were against him, which led to the passing of the tenure of president act which stated that the president cannot remove a cabinet member without the Senate approval. Johnson again removed a cabinet member which led to his impeachment trial in the house where he was impeached, but he was saved in the senate from removal by one vote.
• Impact of Presidency: Lincoln took the role of a president who wanted to justify his actions by showing a higher moral purpose. This kind of strategy has been used by many Presidents. Lincoln also was a president who did not follow the constitution as much as he followed other means such as the oath to protect the United States, which is seen today as when Obama allows drone strikes without congress approval because he swore to protect the United States. This is also an example of how Lincoln used his commander in chief clause which allows him to have the final say in military actions, as Obama has approved drone strikes without congress approval. The third impact of the Lincoln presidency was the results of picking a Vice president for votes purposes rather than if they would be suited to be president one day. We see this when F.D.R picked Harry Truman to be his vice president, an individual who did not want the Presidency and viewed being Vice president as the equal of being a pianist in his home town.

• F.D.R:

• Coalition: F.D.R created a winning party for a long period of time, in the Democratic Party.
• 1932: there was 25% unemployment in the united states, FDR got elected because the citizens blamed Hoover and the Republican Party for the Depression. There was a maturation in immigration from 1880-1924. The immigrants didn’t vote in elections at first, but eventually they either became citizens or had children in the united states, and they became a major factor in elections. There was also unionization with 1/3 of workers being represented by unions during this period. The Wagner Act was linked to Unionization. Catholics, Jewish, Union, African Americans, Southerners, Farmers, made up FDR’s coalition. He won 4 terms through the success of this coalition. It was significant because previously these groups didn’t vote together for a candidate but now they were.
• Technology and the media: With the creation of the radio and the Television, you have to embody the style as well as the values and attitudes of a president. During FDR’s time, the radio made Roosevelt seem like a powerful figure, before the radio and techonology advances Presidents didn’t have to look or sound like a President
• New Deal: 

1. National Industrial Recovery Act: No competition, the government controlled capitalism. This form of economics was called syndicalism (fascism), and F.D.R adopted the economic policy of Italy who was doing very well in 1932. In Italy, they would take each industy and would have a board that had government officials, and the board would decide the production and prices. They would also determine geographic markets by dividing the markets. No competition in price because by controlling production you didn’t have over production (over production  would cause price drops). This caused their economy to grow. F.D.R sent a team to Rome to study their economy and then after he adopts the economic policy of Italy, there was a court case, shakner bros believed that there was no given power to the president in the constitution to control the economy. They sue because they want to sell cheaper chickens and they win the law suit. The NIRA was then declared unconstitutional. But F.D.R believed that he should have the NIRA, so he proposes to help the people over the age of 70 in the supreme court by nominating 6 more judges in the supreme court but congress rejected his proposal. This idea of F.D.R’s was called court packing, and even though it was legal for F.D.R to propose it was insulting to people. As a result by 1937, F.D.R’s popularity was lowering rapidly.
2. Bank Holiday: Banks close down, so people couldn’t withdraw money from the bank. This made sure that people wouldn’t panic and take all their money out of banks which would hurt the banks.
3. FDIC: insures money up to certain amount so you can get money back when you lose it. This provided people with a safety, so they could still keep money in banks and trust theyd get money back.
4. SEC: Regulates information in stock market because if someone gets inside knowledge that others don’t, that person can dump the stock early while others didn’t know about the inside info so this person is getting an unfair advantage in the market.
5. Kensiant economics: This is the belief that when the economy is tanking, the only instrument in economy that can counter act the economic downturn is the government.
6. Social Safety Net: National government getting involved with institution of welfare which is the social transfer pay which takes money from one group and gives it to another. The social security act was an example, which provided pension for old age, disability benefits, aid for dependent woman and children and the wagner act which said workers had the right of collective bargaining.

• Foreign Policy: F.D.R agrees to Stalins demands that Americans who have private properties in Russia lose their claim to the private property by passing an executive order. In U.S. vs Belmont: the supreme court ruled that executive agreements are equivalent to treaties. F.D.R was also going against the neutrality acts, and was aiding the allies by alighting the inherent powers as justification to help allies. As a result, in U.S. vs Curtis Right, the supreme court ruled that President has inherent powers from Kings and has sovereign powers.
• Impact of Presidency: FDR’s presidency showed how much power a President can have when the economy is tanking. FDR at first was allowed to change the whole economic structure our country had for over a century, because the economy was tanking quickly and so many people were unemployed. Only when there was a lawsuit was there repercussions for his actions. FDR also illustrated the notion that while something is legal, it doesn’t mean it is the right thing to do by trying to nominate six extra supreme court justices. The President is allowed to nominate judges, but by trying to nominate six more judges so his NIRA act could be passed, it showed his intentions of grabbing power. F.D.R also increased the power of the commander in chief role, as he passed an executive order which said that Americans who owned private property in Soviet union lost their claim and the supreme court sided with him, and also when F.D.R aided allies even though there was neutrality acts and the Supreme court sided with him again. The final impact of F.D.R’s presidency was the introduction of a welfare system which is important to many citizens today. Social Security is something that has become a very popular thing in America, as many americans are dependent on social security after they retire. It has become so big that many politicians do not even suggest reforming social security or privatizing it because of the political backlash they would face. By introducing welfare, increased government involvement in economy was also introduced.

• President as chief legislature:

• Tenure is determined by Congress: Congress has the ability to impeach and remove the President. Impeachment is the equivalent of grand jury, the House of Representatives votes to see if there is enough evidence for removal. If there is a majority vote to impeach the Senate then votes on the removal of a President. To remove, you need a 2/3rds majority in the Senate.
• Executive order: Presidents can pass orders through executive orders, so those orders don’t have to be passed by Congress.
• The president has a lot of latitude because of the question of what congress will do. The reasons for this is:
• Political parties: all politics are local, individuals who are democrats in pro gun states will be more likely to be pro gun and be against the Presidents gun control policy because they have to be loyal to their states and the people who elected them in their states. This is evident in the Senate, because almost all the senate seats are competitive which is because of the fact that so many people come out to vote in the state since senate elections are decided by everyone within the state. As a result, if a state party believes in no gun control, the senator also will be against gun control to make sure he has a good chance of retaining his seat. In the House of Representatives, the elections aren’t competitive because their elections are based on districts so there isn’t much voter diversity. Eventhough this is true, House members who are part of the majority party are more likely to vote according to the Speaker of the House because he appoints individuals into committees which can be important to the house members district. If you are part of the Speaker of the Houses party and you go against him, you may lose the opportunity to be part of an important committee.
• Members of the Presidents party, while they do have other agendas, know that their success is based on the leader of their party. If a President gets into deep trouble, their party may be seen negatively. If an individual in the House is from a safe district where their party usually gets elected they will be more likely to vote in favor of the President if they are from the same party. There are about 335 safe seats un the House of Representatives which means 95% of individuals get reelected which means that the individuals in the House of Representatives are more likely to be partisan.
• Senate: 1/3 of Senate is up for election every 2 years.  Almost every senate seat is competitive because there is diversity in the votes people who live in urban areas, rural areas, suburban areas may have different ideas on who should be Senator. Senators need to make sure that they stick to the ideas that are popular in their state even if it is against the Presidents recommended legislation because in the long run their job safety means that they have a higher chance of success against the low possibility the president will reward them for their loyalty to him.
• Difference between House and Senate: In the House of Reps, since elections are based on districts, individuals are more likely to be safe because there isn’t a lot of diversity in the votes so political views are vastly in one side. What is important in the district is that the House member is being part of a major committee that the district benefits from so for example a House member in Virginia would want to be part of the agriculture committee because agriculture is important in Virginia. But in the Senate, committees don’t really help them because each senator is usually in multiple committees which is because of the fact that Senators need to make sure the whole state is benefiting not just a district. So Senators depend on the citizens of a state and their political views.

• How a Bill becomes Law:

• House of Representatives:

1. The proposed bill is put into a hopper. The bill is chosen by the Speaker of the House who is the leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives.
2. The speaker sends the bill to a committee. Committees are important in the House because they give expertise on an issue. Each member of the House is assigned to one committee so the committee is an expert on an issue because that is their only focus.
3. The chair of the committee sends the bill to a subcommittee. In the subcommittee the hearings take place, and the hearings are where all experts come to testify about a bill. Mark up also occurs which is where the bill is read sentence by sentence.
4. The bill goes back to the committee, and the committee sends the bill to the rules committee.
5. Rules committee is the most important committee in this process and has a lot of power. They decide on whether the bill will be voted on, how long the bill will be debated on, and what day the bill will be voted on. The rules committee members are usually nominated by the Speaker of the House, so there is a 2:1 ratio of majority party to minority party members in the rules committee. The bill then goes to the committee of the whole.
6. Committee of the whole is a way to debate with a few members present from the House of Representatives. They debate on the bill and usually debates don’t change anyones minds or opinions.
7. From the committee of the whole the bill is sent to the floor of the House where you need a majority of the members of the House present to vote. For the bill to pass a majority of that majority present must vote to pass.

• Senate:

1. The bill goes to the secretary of the majority leader.
2. The bill is then sent to the majority leader who sends the bill to a committee.
3. The committee in the Senate is a lot less expert on issues because members of the Senate are usually in multiple committees. The chair of the committee sends the bill to a subcommittee.
4. The subcommittee is where the hearings and markups take place.
5. Goes to committee again and then goes to the majority leader.
6. The majority leader chooses which bill to call forward to the floor.
7. In the floor of the Senate, debates occur. The debates are not time limited, so a filibuster can occur which is where the bill is talked to death. To counteract filibusters, a cloture can be imposed which is where debate can be ended if 60 senators vote to end it. There can also be no gag order which bans amendments which means that amendments and riders can be added to the bill. After debate, the bill goes to the floor again.
8. The bill is on the floor again for vote. If the bill is passed and it is different then the one passed in the House of Representatives then the bill is sent to conference committees.
9. Conference committees are committees that are made up of subcommittee and committee leaders from each house. They negotiate and if they come to a compromise
10. the bill is sent to the House where it is voted on and then the Senate. No amendments can be added to the compromised bill.
11. The President can sign or veto the bill. If vetoed, congress has to have a 2/3rds majority from each house vote in favor of the bill for an override of veto. If singed
12. It goes to the Secretary of state who is the keeper of all documents.