Deck 13: The Presidency

Question 1

Because a president in his second term cannot seek reelection, he is commonly referred to as a ___________

A) bird without wings.
B) cooked duck.
C) cooked goose.
D) lame duck.
E) sterile bird.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Article II, Section 1, of the Constitution states that the president must be at least 35 years old, a resident of the United States for at least fourteen years, and _________.

A) a natural born citizen
B) a naturalized citizen
C) an officer in the military
D) a former member of the Senate
E) a former governor

Answer 2

A

Question 3

When President George W. Bush recognized the independence of Kosovo, he was exercising the power of the president to recognize the ______________.

A) league of nations
B) nature of international law
C) product of diplomacy
D) laws of admiralty and land
E) legitimacy of foreign regimes

Answer 3

E

Question 4

In 1792, Congress passed the _________ Act, which designated the president pro tempore of the Senate as next in line to become president after the vice president and the Speaker of the House.

A) Executive Office of the President
B) Next-in-Line
C) Presidential Power
D) Presidential Succession
E) War Powers

Question 5

Until John Kennedy was elected in 1960, all presidents were from a _________ background.

A) Baptist
B) Catholic
C) Lutheran
D) Muslim
E) Protestant

Question 6

The _________ Amendment, ratified in 1967, required the president to nominate a replacement vice president, who must be approved by a majority vote of the House and the Senate.

A) Sixteenth
B) Seventeenth
C) Nineteenth
D) Twenty-First
E) Twenty-Fifth

Question 7

By not following the precedent set by George Washington of only running for two terms, ___________'s fourth term in office prompted the Senate to propose the Twenty-Second Amendment that limits the president to two terms.

A) Woodrow Wilson
B) Franklin D. Roosevelt
C) Theodore Roosevelt
D) Dwight D. Eisenhower
E) Grover Cleveland

Question 8

The _________ Amendment, ratified in 1804, changed the process so that candidates are elected for president and vice president separately, instead of the vice presidency as the person who came in second in the vote for president.

A) Ninth
B) Eleventh
C) Twelfth
D) Sixteenth
E) Nineteenth

Question 9

Lame duck status provides the president with a certain amount of ________ to advance unpopular policies.

A) political freedom
B) political restraint
C) political scapegoating
D) political referendum
E) political advancement

Question 10

The presidential appointment process has two steps: nomination and ________.

A) approval by popular vote by the people
B) approval by a majority of the Senate
C) approval by a majority of the House
D) approval by two-thirds of both houses of Congress
E) approval by majority vote of the cabinet

Question 11

Which of the following is NOT true about presidential treaties?

A) They serve as a gateway for public input into presidential actions.
B) They were specifically mentioned among the presidential powers in the Constitution.
C) The House of Representatives must approve them.
D) They cover a wide range of areas, including environmental regulations and trade policies.
E) They can be signed by a vice president if the president is not available.

Question 12

Under the power of _________, the president directs all war efforts and military conflict.

A) commander of the armed forces
B) supreme leader and chief
C) commander in chief
D) man at arms
E) commodore of the admiralty

Question 13

_________, the hero of the Revolutionary War, whom the Framers had in mind for the office, helped shape the idea of what a president should be.

A) Benjamin Franklin
B) George Washington
C) James Madison
D) John Adams
E) Thomas Jefferson

Question 14

The job of the chief executive grew accordingly but, though increasingly demanding and complex, it remained essentially focused on _________and __________.

A) expansion; domestic policy
B) national defense; economic growth
C) economic; technological growth
D) economic growth; the development of secondary education
E) national defense; illegal immigration

Question 15

According to the constitution, who becomes president when the president is removed from office by death, resignation, or inability to perform the duties of the office?

A) Attorney General
B) president pro tempore
C) Secretary of State
D) Speaker of the House
E) vice president

Question 16

When a president issues full forgiveness for a crime committed, it is called a(n) ________.

A) commutation
B) absolution
C) habeas corpus
D) pardon
E) writ of certiorari

Question 17

The historian and presidential adviser Arthur Schlesinger Jr. used the term "_________" to describe the power of the president to speak for the nation on the world stage and to set the policy agenda at home.

A) bully pulpit
B) imperial presidency
C) regal beagle
D) royal highness
E) special prosecutor

Question 18

Two-thirds of the Senators (present) must approve the passage of a _________ for it to be ratified.

A) treaty
B) federal judge
C) cabinet member
D) law
E) filibuster

Question 19

Instead of providing the president with enumerated powers, the Framers _______ the president with a general grant of "executive power."

A) bestowed
B) invoked
C) commissioned
D) vested
E) protracted

Question 20

What is it called if the president shortens a federal prison sentence?

A) clemency
B) commutation
C) pardon
D) pocket veto
E) presidential directive

Question 21

From 1948 to 1994, world trade was governed by the _________, which was the gateway through which nations set up trade agreements, sometimes bilaterally but frequently on a multi-country basis.

A) General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
B) General Agreement on Taxes and Tariffs
C) General Agreement on Business and Tariffs
D) General Agreement on Taxes and Business
E) General Agreement on World Trade and Business

Question 22

When a president signs a bill into law, he can issue _________, written remarks that reflect his interpretation of the law, although they are not required or authorized by the Constitution.

A) executive orders
B) military orders
C) presidential directives
D) proclamations
E) signing statements

Question 23

If impeachment proceedings are initiated, who holds the trial?

A) House of Representatives
B) Senate
C) Senate Judiciary Committee
D) Supreme Court
E) Special Prosecutor

Question 24

Congress has learned to get around the threat of a presidential veto by passing ________ that include provisions affecting a number of issues.

A) budgets
B) omnibus bills
C) entitlement bills
D) letters of marque
E) appropriations bills

Question 25

When President Harry S. Truman integrated the U.S. military, he did so through the use of the ________.

A) signing statement
B) executive order
C) general order
D) power of commander in chief
E) pardon

Question 26

An automatic veto that occurs when Congress goes out of session within ten days of submitting a bill to the president and then the president has not signed it, is known as

A) veto.
B) omnibus bill.
C) pocket veto.
D) override.
E) entitlement.

Question 27

The president has the power to _________ bills passed by Congress before they become law by refusing to sign them and sending them back to the chamber in which they originated with his objections.

A) approve
B) commute
C) override
D) proclaim
E) veto

Question 28

In _________, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that executive privilege is not absolute and must give way when the government needs the information for a trial.

A) Brown v. Board of Education
B) Hamdi v. Rumsfeld
C) Jones v. Clinton
D) United States v. Nixon
E) Youngstown Sheet and Tube v. Sawyer

Question 29

A powerful tool that president can use to influence legislation is the _________.

A) bully pulpit
B) annual budget negotiations
C) fireside chat
D) State of the Union address
E) whistle-stop tour

Question 30

Where does the process of removal begin for the president, vice president, and all civil officers (including cabinet secretaries and federal judges)?

A) House of Representatives
B) Senate
C) executive branch
D) Supreme Court
E) all of these

Question 31

Typically, _________ instruct federal employees to take a specific action or implement a policy in a particular way.

A) executive orders
B) military orders
C) presidential directives
D) proclamations
E) signing statements

Question 32

Federal programs, such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, which pay out benefits to individuals based on specified set of eligibility criteria, are known as

A) entitlement programs.
B) treason.
C) executive orders.
D) signing statements.
E) high crimes.

Question 33

To counter the power of the veto, the Framers gave Congress the veto _________, the power to overturn a presidential veto with a two-thirds vote in each chamber.

A) approval
B) commutation
C) override
D) proclamation
E) veto

Question 34

The president's right to engage in communications with his advisers that he does not have to reveal is referred to as

A) commutation.
B) executive privilege.
C) executive privacy.
D) privacy clause.
E) proclamation.

Question 35

How many presidents have been impeached?

A) 0
B) 1
C) 2
D) 3
E) 5

Question 36

At the highest level of federal office, two presidents-_________ and _________-have been impeached, but neither was convicted by the Senate, and both remained in office.

A) Bill Clinton; John Wilkes Booth
B) Andrew Johnson; Bill Clinton
C) Thomas Jefferson; Andrew Johnson
D) Richard Nixon; Bill Clinton
E) Abraham Lincoln; John F. Kennedy

Question 37

President Richard M. Nixon was embroiled in a serious scandal known as _________, after the name of a complex in Washington where the Democratic National Committee had its headquarters.

A) Watergate
B) Stonegate
C) Smithsonian
D) Pittsburgh
E) Williamsburg

Question 38

Presidents have been able to expand the power of the executive branch through the __________ provision in the Constitution.

A) "necessary and proper clause"
B) "general vestment of executive authority"
C) "take Care that Laws be faithfully executed"
D) "appointment of federal officials and judges"
E) "presidential powers"

Question 39

The leading case on presidential authority in wartime is _________, which ruled that the Constitution grants "all legislative powers" to Congress.

A) Brown v. Board of Education
B) Hamdi v. Rumsfeld
C) Jones v. Clinton
D) United States v. Nixon
E) Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. v. Sawyer

Question 40

The _________ had a very negative impact on the American presidency, raising public mistrust of the office and of the federal government in general.

A) Cold War
B) New Deal
C) Reconstruction
D) War Powers Act
E) Watergate scandal

Question 41

What are the formal responsibilities of the first lady?

A) child welfare
B) education
C) health care
D) nature conservation
E) none of these

Question 42

Since President Eisenhower, the role of the vice president has greatly _______.

A) changed
B) decreased
C) expanded
D) become complicated
E) remained the same

Question 43

One of the measurements of presidential leadership is whether or not they can have their ________ passed by Congress and enacted into law.

A) economic plans
B) preferred policies
C) cabinet appointees
D) negotiated treaties
E) executive orders

Question 44

Which president mounted an aggressive campaign to scale back federal programs that provided benefits to individuals?

A) Franklin Delano Roosevelt
B) George W. Bush
C) Lyndon Johnson
D) Richard Nixon
E) Ronald Reagan

Question 45

Dwight D. Eisenhower instituted a more formal staff structure in the White House, starting with the appointment of the first _________, Sherman Adams.

A) cabinet secretary
B) chief of staff
C) civil servant
D) head of state
E) special prosecutor

Question 46

In October 1973, Congress passed the _________ that states that the president cannot send troops into military conflict for more than sixty days without seeking a formal declaration of war from Congress.

A) National Security Act
B) Omnibus Act
C) Paris Peace Accords
D) Tonkin Gulf Resolution
E) War Powers Act

Question 47

The main checks on the president's foreign policy agenda are the Senate's power to _________ and the power of Congress to ________.

A) ratify treaties; appropriate money
B) ratify treaties; declare war
C) appropriate money; ratify treaties
D) confirm ambassadors; appropriate money
E) advise; declare war

Question 48

One important way for a president to sustain a relationship with the news media is to hold __________.

A) bully pulpits
B) fireside chats
C) press conferences
D) whistle stop tours
E) national addresses

Question 49

Since Eleanor Roosevelt, first ladies have taken on all the following issues EXCEPT _______.

A) racism
B) alcoholism
C) mental health
D) drug addiction
E) literacy

Question 50

In the past decade, the United States has been in major military conflicts in ____________.

A) Russia and China
B) Turkey and Syria
C) Iraq and Afghanistan
D) Libya and Egypt
E) Crimea and Madagascar

Question 51

To combat the effects of the Great Depression, Franklin Delano Roosevelt had a clear policy vision, which he called the _________, and in the first three years of his presidency he succeeded in getting Congress to pass legislation that radically altered the size and shape of the federal government.

A) Cold War
B) Great Society
C) New Deal
D) New Frontier
E) Reconstruction

Question 52

The loosely knit unit of key organizations that report directly to the president is known as the _________.

A) Executive Policy Organization
B) Congressional Budget Office
C) Executive Organizations of the President
D) Executive Office of the President
E) Congressional Reporting Office

Question 53

Who does the Constitution give the power to declare war?

A) Congress
B) president
C) states
D) Supreme Court
E) Secretary of Defense

Question 54

President Obama has used his power under ________ to drastically increase the use of drone strikes against known terrorist groups.

A) commander in chief
B) War Powers Act
C) supremacy clause
D) necessary proper clause
E) vested executive authority

Question 55

President Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909) described the office of the president as a(n) _________, where presidents could use the attention associated with the office to make a public argument in favor of or against a policy.

A) bully pulpit
B) dictatorship
C) fireside chat
D) imperial presidency
E) lame duck

Question 56

In 2004, the Supreme Court's _________ decision rejected attempts to deny habeas corpus protections to an enemy combatant who was a U.S. citizen because federal law prohibits such denial to U.S. citizens.

A) Boumediene v. Bush
B) Hamdan v. Rumsfeld
C) Hamdi v. Rumsfeld
D) United States v. Nixon
E) Youngstown Sheet and Tube Co. v. Sawyer

Question 57

A presidential _________ is usually expressed as the percentage of the American public who say the president is doing a good job.

A) poll
B) directive
C) election
D) approval rating
E) policy proposal

Question 58

Who invented the fireside chat, a radio address to voters explaining the reasoning behind his governing decisions?

A) Ronald Reagan
B) Harry S. Truman
C) Lyndon Johnson
D) John F. Kennedy
E) Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Question 59

Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, President Bush claimed exemption from the _________ rules on the treatment and detainment of prisoners.

A) Geneva Convention
B) Paris Peace Accords
C) Tonkin Gulf Resolution
D) Vienna Convention
E) War Powers Act

Question 60

President Lyndon Johnson's programs, which he called the _________, focused on improving race relations and ending poverty because he believed they stood in the way of social, political, and economic progress.

A) Cold War
B) Great Society
C) New Deal
D) New Frontier
E) Reconstruction

Question 61

Explain how the State of the Union address has evolved as a tool for the president.

Question 62

What's the purpose of having a State of the Union address? Explain.

Question 63

Explain the current order of succession when the president is removed from office by death, resignation, or inability to perform the duties of the office.

Question 64

Describe the "two presidencies" that are suggested by the scholar Aaron Wildavsky.

Question 65

What constitutional responsibilities does the vice president have? What authority should he have?

Question 66

Explain the pardoning power of the president.

Question 67

What do Americans expect from the first lady? Does her office serve as a gateway for the expression of views on women's issues?

Question 68

Consider the Senate's power to check the president in making treaties and appointments. What are the costs and benefits of this power sharing in terms of government efficiency and responsiveness?

Question 69

Discuss the role of the Senate in the treaty process.

Question 70

Detail the differences between executive orders and signing statements.

Question 71

What defines an imperial presidency?

Question 72

Discuss the constant struggle between the president and Congress over the military conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Question 73

Provide a detailed explanation of the case for presidential term limits. Make sure that you include a discussion of the history that led up to the passage of the Twenty-Second Amendment.

Question 74

State the constitutional qualifications and succession requirements for the presidency.

Question 75

Characterize the presidential power of commander in chief.

Question 76

How does the veto power give the president influence in the legislative process?

Question 77

Discuss the types of veto power the president has and what check the Congress has if the president exercises the veto.

Question 78

Explain the War Powers Act and the events that led up to it being enacted.

Question 79

Explain how the president can use what Theodore Roosevelt called "the bully pulpit. "

Question 80

Recall the different types of presidential directives.