Deck 9: The Presidency

Question 1

The president's function for the masses is to

A) provide a vicarious means of taking political action.
B) balance the power of sub-national elites.
C) provide a national perspective.
D) All of the above are true.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The president presents programs to Congress through various presidential messages, including

A) the annual State of the Union.
B) news conferences.
C) town-hall meetings.
D) All of the above are true.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The president of the United States has two primary jobs: head of government and

A) chief of the army.
B) chief of state.
C) chief of federal bureaucracy.
D) chief of all states.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

The impact on the approval rating of President Clinton during a sex scandal and impeachment by the House of Representative was

A) minimal.
B) significant; his approval rating dropped dramatically.
C) significant; his approval rating went up dramatically.
D) unknown as he issued an executive order to end approval surveys.

Question 5

Which of the following conflicts was not formally a declared war?

A) Vietnam (Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon)
B) Korea (Truman)
C) France (Adams)
D) All of the above are true.

Question 6

The number of presidents of the last 50 years who have not ordered American troops to deploy abroad is

A) 0.
B) 1.
C) 2.
D) 4.

Question 7

When President Obama committed U. S. forces to assisting the overthrow of dictator Muammar Qaddafi, it demonstrated again

A) how weak the War Powers Act has become as a constraint on Presidential powers.
B) how weak the President's war making power is compared to Congress.
C) how the Supreme Court is the final arbiter of foreign policy.
D) All of the above are true.

Question 8

What was the response of President Nixon to the War Powers Act?

A) He vetoed the Act.
B) He assured his full compliance with the Act.
C) He subsequently launched an invasion of Cambodia.
D) He sought a court challenge to the Act.

Question 9

A classic illustration of the _______________role of the president came on September 11, 2001, when President George W. Bush spoke to the nation.

A) physiological
B) psychological
C) pathological
D) homeopathic

Question 10

Since 1789, U.S. forces have participated in military actions overseas on more than 200 occasions, but Congress declared war only _____ times.

A) five
B) eleven
C) seventy-eight
D) ninety-four

Question 11

Which is a psychological function of the presidency?

A) As a symbol of social stability, provides a feeling of security
B) As a symbol of unity and nationhood.
C) As a mother-substitute in a Freudian sense
D) All of the above are true

Question 12

The approval ratings of President ___________ fell faster in his first year than any president since Truman.

A) George W. Bush
B) Barack Obama
C) Bill Clinton
D) George H.W. Bush

Question 13

In 1973, congress passed the War Powers Act to

A) restrict the ability of federal government to mandate a military draft.
B) restrict the abilities of state governments from declaring war.
C) to restrict the war making powers of the President.
D) All of the above are true.

Question 14

The presidency's real power is

A) dependent on formal authority granted by the Constitution.
B) closely tied to its authority as commander-in-chief.
C) the power to persuade others in the political system.
D) dependent on personal moral character.

Question 15

For the elites, the president's function is to

A) propose policy initiatives.
B) mobilize influence within the system.
C) supervise the management of the government and the economy.
D) All of the above are true.

Question 16

When a president signs a bill into law he often includes a signing statement, which

A) explains his reasons for vetoing the bill.
B) explains his denial of congressional authority.
C) explains his understanding of the law.
D) explains his plans to pay for the law.

Question 17

Which of the following is an example of Congress' power to constrain the president as leader of the executive branch?

A) The power of the purse
B) The power to abolish executive department
C) The power to deny appointments
D) All of the above are true.

Question 18

Presidents can help a bill through Congress by

A) issuing members of Congress invitations to White House events.
B) donating money to their campaigns.
C) praising them in the media.
D) All of the above are true.

Question 19

Presidents can do little about economic cycles,

A) therefore, the people look to their leadership more on foreign policy.
B) however, the people hold them responsible anyway.
C) therefore, the people hold Congress responsible.
D) for that reason the people hold the Federal Reserve Chairperson responsible.

Question 20

Which president was featured in an issue of the comic book, The Amazing Spider-Man ?

A) Bill Clinton
B) George W. Bush
C) Barack Obama
D) all of the above

Question 21

Al Qaeda leader Anwar Alwaki, who was born in the United States

A) was killed by a US Navy SEAL Team in Pakistan.
B) was poisoned by the CIA in Somalia.
C) committed suicide in prison at Guantanamo Bay.
D) was killed in a drone attack in Yemen.

Question 22

Presidential approval rating in the United States hit an all-time high after ___________.

Question 23

The Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act

A) sets up a single payer national health care system.
B) is socialism.
C) requires all states to provide health insurance
D) requires all individuals to purchase health insurance.

Question 24

George W. Bush's 2007 strategy for winning in Iraq was

A) called "shock and awe."
B) to deploy a "surge."
C) called "hearts and minds."
D) called "cut and run."

Question 25

The removal of U.S. forces from Iraq by the end of 2011 was negotiated by the Bush administration but

A) has never been implemented by the Obama administration.
B) is being slowly implemented by the Obama administration.
C) occurred a year before the deadline under the Obama administration.
D) was completed by the Obama administration.

Question 26

Formal powers of the president include all of the following, except

A) supervision of the executive branch.
B) initiation of policy.
C) leading the political party.
D) granting pardons and reprieves.

Question 27

The biggest disappointment for the Obama administration has been

A) the war on terrorism.
B) the illegal alien problem.
C) the weather.
D) the economy.

Question 28

The experience of the last three presidents shows it is easier for the president to "get things done" when

A) the Senate is controlled by democrats.
B) the House is controlled by republicans.
C) the congress is controlled by the president's party.
D) the congress is equally divided between parties.

Question 29

The president's real power depends not on formal authority but on the ability to ____________________.

Question 30

Richard Nixon was forced from office because he

A) committed a crime.
B) was a Republican.
C) was too popular with the masses.
D) was too accommodating in negotiations with the Vietcong.

Question 31

According to the authors of our text no vice president ever achieved the degree of power and influence enjoyed by

A) Gerald Ford.
B) Joe Biden.
C) Dick Cheney
D) Al Gore.

Question 32

The only U.S. president ever to resign from office was

A) Bill Clinton
B) Lyndon B. Johnson
C) James Polk
D) Richard Nixon

Question 33

The president, as ____________________, functions as the symbolic representative of the nation.

Question 34

Historically, _____________ of all presidential vetoes have been sustained.

A) 25 percent
B) 50 percent
C) 75 percent
D) 96 percent

Question 35

In American history, ______ presidents have been impeached and removed from office.

A) two
B) three
C) five
D) no

Question 36

During the first two years of the Obama administration

A) the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act was passed
B) the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was passed.
C) federal surveillance powers were expanded through several extensions of the PATRIOT Act.
D) All of the above are true.

Question 37

The Supreme Court has held that the president has "absolute immunity" from

A) sexual harassment suits.
B) civil suits arising out of official duties.
C) class action law suits.
D) All of the above.

Question 38

Barack Obama's first year saw ______________increase to over 10 percent, which weighed heavily on the decline in his approval ratings.

Question 39

President __________ issued the greatest number of vetoes.

A) George W. Bush
B) Harry Truman
C) Franklin D. Roosevelt
D) Dwight Eisenhower

Question 40

When people feel politically powerless, they may look to the president as a ____________________.

Question 41

Among President George W. Bush's policy achievements was the passage of the ____________________, which redefined and strengthened the federal government's role in education.

Question 42

The idea that internal executive branch communications are not for public or congressional scrutiny is called ____________________

Question 43

To override a veto, Congress must have a ____________________ vote in both chambers.

Question 44

The people are prepared to support a president who is willing to do something, whether or not it's a good idea.

Question 45

The president is ____________________ of the world's largest bureaucracy, with 2.8 million people working under him/her.

Question 46

The president's role as chief legislator is derived from ____________________.

Question 47

The expectations of a president far exceed the president's power to meet them.

Question 48

In 2000, George W. Bush won the presidency in a close race against Democratic _________________.

Question 49

The role of ____________________ gives the president principle responsibility for foreign policy.

Question 50

George W. Bush's first elected position was as____________________.

Question 51

Presidents from Madison to Obama have used ____________________, which allows them to add an interpretation, objection, or details to a law.

Question 52

Abraham Lincoln ended slavery with the ____________________, without congressional approval or constitutional authority.

Question 53

Congress' attempt to limit the military authority of the president in 1973 was the ____________________.

Question 54

The power of ____________________ allows the president to grant legitimacy or withhold it from regimes around the world, such as the case of the dictatorship in Cuba.

Question 55

Through several extensions of the PATRIOT Act that were due to expire, federal surveillance powers have been ____________________.

Question 56

Nothing inspires elite support among the masses more than being attacked.

Question 57

The most powerful tool the president has in the legislative process is the ____________________.

Question 58

The Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act requires all individuals to ________________.

Question 59

The masses view the private morality of a president as a sign of his trustworthiness as public official.

Question 60

Barack Obama asserted the right to kill American citizens anywhere overseas without due process if they are deemed part of a __________________group fighting the United States.

Question 61

Responsibility for initiating public policy falls principally on the president.

Question 62

President Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize for his potential, rather than for any achievements.

Question 63

Discuss the president's legislative powers, giving special attention to the separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches.

Question 64

Congressional restraint on the executive branch includes the ability to establish or abolish executive departments and regulate their operations.

Question 65

In 1965, Harry Truman issued Executive Order 9981, instituting affirmative action programs in the federal government.

Question 66

How does control of Congress by the opposite party to the president impact presidential "box scores?"

Question 67

The Supreme Court ruled the president has broad authority to keep the country from "going to hell."

Question 68

Presidents are expected to be lobbyists to help their bills through the legislative process.

Question 69

President Bush includes the right to launch preemptive attacks on terrorists as part of his role in the "war on terrorism".

Question 70

Executive orders have legal force and cannot be overturned except by a decision of the Supreme Court.

Question 71

Using examples, discuss the general pattern of approval ratings over a president's time in office.

Question 72

Roughly one-half of the bills considered by Congress originate in the executive branch.

Question 73

The United States has only declared war five times in its history.

Question 74

Through several extensions of the PATRIOT Act that were due to expire, federal surveillance powers have been reduced.

Question 75

The President has the sole power to declare war.

Question 76

President George H.W. Bush ordered troops to liberate Kuwait from Saddam Hussein without the approval of Congress.

Question 77

President Bush's Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) essentially resulted in the "nationalization" of a number of banks.

Question 78

Presidents have absolute immunity from lawsuit for any official action they may take.

Question 79

President Bill Clinton was impeached by the Senate.

Question 80

All presidents since the 1980s have been frequent users of signing statements.