Presidential Pamphlet
By Morgan Wendt
Constitutional Requirements to be President
- Must be 35 years old
- Must be a 14 year resident of the U.S.
- Must be a native-born citizen
Presidential Perks
Benefits:
- $50,000 per year non-taxable expense account
- Retirement pension
- Secret service protection
- Free transportation from Air Force One, the presidential limo, and Marine One
- Free housing in White House
- You're the president
- Camp David is pretty bomb
- View of the Washington Monument
- Personal Chef
- Publicity from books and speeches
- Presidential Library
Expressed Powers Given to the Prez:
- Commander in Chief (Executive)
- Chief Executive (Executive)
- Make treaties with foreign nations (Diplomatic)
- Give State of the Union Address (Diplomatic)
- Receive foreign ambassadors (Diplomatic)
- Fill Vacancies (Judicial/Diplomatic)
- Grant pardons (Judicial)
- Propose legislation (Legislative)
- Convene a special session of Congress (Legistlative)
- Veto bills passed by Congress (Legislative)
I think all the President's powers are important, but I think his power to make treaties with foreign nations is the most important. If the citizens fear for their safety in a time of war, we look to the President for guidance. If he cannot grant us safety, who can?
Informal Qualifications for POTUS
Effective decision making:
We need a decision-maker in the oval office. If every decision is left up in the air and put into the hands of a person who cannot be decisive, we will get nowhere.
Encourage conflict resolution:
It's not secret that Democrats and Republicans do not have the same views and may disagree from time to time. The President must be able to settle conflicts between the two parties rather than dividing them even more. We need what is best for the country, not what is best for your party.
The ability to communicate:
Communication in the White House is essential. Even if the president is full of great ideas that could change the world, nothing will be achieved if those ideas can not be communicated effectively to congress and to the country.
Implement smart, attainable, timely goals that the country can support:
The best way to make progress on any problem is to set achievable goals. Alleviating the national debt sounds great, but if a practical plan to do so does not exist, then it is just an ambition. We need someone who can set goals that we can achieve.
Make the people trust the government:
Progress slows to a grinding halt if citizens do not trust their government and if the government does not trust it's people. In the novel Little Brother by Cory Doctorow, practically every citizen is suspected to be a terrorist until they prove themselves innocent, and the government spends millions of dollars putting more security on the ground because it does not trust it's citizens. The nation is stagnant because nothing can be achieved if trust is not present.
Roles of the President
- Chief Executive- see that programs are carried out and laws are implemented
- Chief Administrator- manages 15 executive departments in the government
- Commander in Chief- controls the movement of US troops
- Foreign Policy Leader- formulating the nation's plans and procedures for interacting with other countries
- Chief Agenda Setter- outlines things to be done during the State of the Union address
- Chief of State/ Chief Citizen- symbolic figure head of the US and example citizen
Major Issues in 2016
I believe that in a country as developed and advanced as ours, health care should be a right, not a privilege. Health care has become increasingly expensive over the past several years and many people who should have it, do not.
The Affordable Care Act is a decent plan, for the most part. However, I do not believe healthcare should be forced on an individual if they do not want it. After all, voting is a right, but people are not forced to go vote during elections. Why shouldn't healthcare be the same?