Chief Executives and Bureaucracies Chapter 13 Essential Question

Chief Executives and Bureaucracies Chapter 13 Essential Question: What qualities do modern presidents need to fulfill their many roles?

Chief executive • Def. = top elected official in charge of carrying out (or executing) gov’t policy. City mayor; state governor nation president • Formal qualifications for president… 1. 35 yrs old 2. Natural-born citizen 3. Lived in U. S. 14+ years • Can only serve two 4 -year terms (or 10 years) • Informal qualifications? • Age? Race? Sex? Experience? Military? Religion? Charm? Appearance? Others?

Election • Some states or local elections go with plurality vote…person with the most votes. • Some require a majority vote… 1 over ½. • Realize, you can have a plurality, but not a majority. • If a majority is required, they then have a runoff election. • Presidential elections… • Getting a plurality of a state’s popular vote (people) earns the candidate all of that state’s electoral votes. • Winning presidency requires a majority of electoral vote…what’s the magic number to win? • 435 + 100 + 3 = 538 / 2 = 269 + 1 = 270 to win.

Staying in office • Term limits – varies by location (often 2 terms) • Impeachment = process to remove an executive. 2 steps for pres. : 1. House impeaches = this is an accusation only. Needs majority vote. 2. Senate holds trial = if guilty of “high crimes and misdemeanors”, is kicked out. Needs 2/3 vote. • Two presidents have been impeached… • Andrew Johnson after Civil War (1860 s) • Bill Clinton after intern scandal (1990 s). • Impeached, yes. But, neither was removed by Senate. • Recall = voters can vote to remove an executive. • This is rare (only removed a governor twice). Arnold Schwarzenegger