Deck 12: The President

Question 1

The Constitution states that the required minimum age for the presidency is

A) twenty-five years.
B) thirty years.
C) thirty-five years.
D) forty years.
E) forty-five years.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

With regard to presidential pardons, all of the following statements are true except

A) the Supreme Court has ruled that presidents can grant pardons or reprieves for all offenses.
B) presidents may grant a pardon only if the person to be pardoned has been convicted of a crime.
C) President Ford pardoned President Richard Nixon for his role in the Watergate affair.
D) President Carter issued a blanket pardon for Vietnam War-era military draft resisters.
E) the Constitution gives the president the power to grant reprieves and pardons.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

The ____________ Amendment to the Constitution requires the president and vice president to be chosen separately by the electoral college.

A) Ninth
B) Tenth
C) Twelfth
D) Twenty-Fourth
E) Twenty-Fifth

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The granting of release from punishment for a crime is called a(n)

A) reprieve.
B) congressional sanction.
C) pardon.
D) executive privilege.
E) impeachment.

Question 5

Which of the following best describes the people who have been elected president?

A) older and from western states
B) primarily Catholics and Jews
C) military commanders from the South
D) white, male Protestants
E) California natives

Question 6

When no presidential candidate receives a majority of the electoral vote, the

A) current president serves two more years and another general election is held.
B) candidate who receives a plurality of the popular vote is elected.
C) electors cast a second ballot to determine who will be elected.
D) election is decided in the House of Representatives.
E) Options B and D are true.

Question 7

A constitutional amendment to clarify the way votes are cast in the electoral college was necessary because

A) there was no way to tell which votes were for president and which were for vice president.
B) there was a tie in the electoral votes in the election of 1800.
C) large states did not have fair representation in the electoral college.
D) in three elections no candidate received a majority of votes for the president.
E) Options A and B are true.

Question 8

A key difference between the Cold War and current animosity between the United States and Russia is

A) the lack of a major ideological divide.
B) that Russia's actions seem to be nationalist in nature.
C) that Russia is more economically entangled with the West than during the Cold War.
D) Both A and B.
E) All of the above.

Question 9

In most democratic governments, the head of state is

A) the chief executive officer of the nation.
B) an office without any significant duties.
C) the prime minister.
D) someone other than the chief executive.
E) the chief justice or other top judicial official.

Question 10

Which of the following is true?

A) The religious faith of most all presidents have been of the Protestant tradition.
B) Five presidents have been Roman Catholics.
C) No presidents have been Roman Catholics.
D) One president has been an avowed atheist.
E) Options A and C are true.

Question 11

Which of the following is true?

A) A person born in another country but becomes a U.S. citizen may run for president.
B) A person born in U.S. territories is not considered a natural-born citizen.
C) A person born in the United States but has lived abroad for fourteen years may not become president.
D) A person born in U.S. soil or is born to American parents may become president.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 12

The principle concern about a new cold war is that

A) Europe might abandon its alliance with the United States.
B) Russia might ally itself with China.
C) Russian aggression might lead to a third world war.
D) communism could reassert itself as a major ideology.
E) None of the above.

Question 13

As commander in chief, the president is

A) only a symbolic leader of the military.
B) the ultimate decision maker in military matters.
C) allowed to make military decisions, but only with the approval of the joint chiefs of staff.
D) not responsible for military decisions.
E) obligated to sit on the Board of Regents for the military, naval, and air force academies.

Question 14

Treaties are subject to _________ before becoming legally binding.

A) judicial review in the Supreme Court
B) ratification by a majority of the states
C) ratification by a majority of both houses of Congress
D) ratification by a two-thirds majority of the Senate
E) Both B and C.

Question 15

Which of the following statements about presidential elections is true?

A) One can become president without winning the popular vote.
B) The Twelfth Amendment requires that the president and the vice president be chosen separately.
C) Twenty-one presidents have served only one term in office.
D) The electoral college has twice failed to give any candidate a majority and the election was decided in the House of Representatives.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 16

As chief executive, the president is constitutionally bound to

A) enforce laws, treaties, and court orders.
B) submit a balanced budget to Congress.
C) inform Congress prior to any military action.
D) oversee actions of state governments.
E) honor pronouncements of previous presidents.

Question 17

In the election of 1800, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr tied in the electoral college because

A) the Constitution failed to specify that some electoral votes were for the presidency and others for the vice presidency.
B) the country was very evenly split between the two.
C) the electors had contrived to create a unity government.
D) the electors were uncertain about whom to choose as president.
E) None of the above.

Question 18

The president, in the capacity as head of state, is responsible for

A) determining the countries for which the United States will have diplomatic relations.
B) engaging in activities that are largely symbolic or ceremonial in nature.
C) conducting the foreign policy of the country.
D) leading the legislative process by submitting legislation.
E) administering the laws.

Question 19

As chief diplomat, the president

A) is responsible for selecting judges to federal courts.
B) is responsible for all actions within the executive branch.
C) selects leaders of his or her party in Congress.
D) negotiates treaties, recognizes foreign governments, and makes executive agreements.
E) ratifies treaties.

Question 20

The number of political appointments available to the president

A) is constrained by the civil service system.
B) puts the president in charge of deciding which individuals will occupy more than 50,000 jobs in government.
C) allows the president to appoint a majority of the civilian appointments in the bureaucracy.
D) is confined mainly to the military.
E) has been dramatically limited by the use of the constitutional amendment process.

Question 21

The impeachment process begins with charges in ________ and concludes with a trial in ________.

A) the House of Representatives; the Senate
B) the Senate; the House of Representatives
C) both houses of Congress; the Supreme Court
D) the Supreme Court; the Senate
E) the Supreme Court; the House of Representatives

Question 22

Presidential popularity

A) is irrelevant to bureaucrats.
B) has stayed within a small range since Gallup began measuring it.
C) is of little concern to second-term presidents.
D) is required before a president may claim executive privilege.
E) is an important resource for presidents to use to persuade Congress to pass legislation.

Question 23

The line-item veto

A) allows the veto of specific spending provisions in legislation.
B) was found to be an unconstitutional delegation of legislative powers to the executive branch by the U.S. Supreme Court.
C) was used by President Bill Clinton from 1996 to 1998.
D) Options A and B are true.
E) Options A, B, and C are true.

Question 24

Inherent presidential powers

A) depend on the statement in the Constitution that "the executive Power shall be vested in a President" and that the president should "take care that laws be faithfully executed."
B) are sometimes called expressed powers.
C) are powers that come from statues or laws passed by Congress.
D) include the power to veto legislation.
E) Options A and C are true.

Question 25

Executive orders

A) issued by the president have the force of law.
B) are used to enforce legislative statutes.
C) represent the president's legislative power.
D) have been used to establish rules for the executive administrative agencies.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 26

"Going public"

A) means that presidents take their case to the public to persuade members of Congress to support their agenda.
B) was rarely used by presidents in the 1800s.
C) allows a president to explain complicated or controversial topics to voters directly.
D) forces Congress to support presidential priorities.
E) Options A, B, and C are true.

Question 27

Executive privilege

A) involves the ability of the president and executive branch officials to withhold certain information from Congress and the courts.
B) means that members of the executive branch cannot be prosecuted for official acts.
C) is the concept that has been applied to the president's use of the pocket veto.
D) allows the president discretion in making political appointments.
E) was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1974.

Question 28

Which of the following statements about the president's veto power is most accurate?

A) The president's veto is final and gives him or her complete control over legislation.
B) Because vetoes are usually overridden, the power has become unimportant.
C) The threat of a veto gives the president significant influence over Congress and legislation.
D) The veto has been used by Congress to stop the president from signing legislation.
E) Because vetoes are rarely overridden, the power has become unimportant.

Question 29

A signing statement

A) is a written declaration that a president may make when signing a bill into law.
B) usually points to sections of a law that the president thinks may be unconstitutional.
C) must accompany treaties submitted to the Senate by the president when seeking advice and consent.
D) Options A and B are true.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 30

Informal advisors to the president are called

A) FOP, or Friends of the President.
B) the kitchen cabinet.
C) the Executive Counsel.
D) the cabinet.
E) the brain trust.

Question 31

Presidents have frequently invoked _____________ to avoid disclosing to Congress about the activities of the executive branch.

A) executive secrecy
B) the Nixon rule
C) executive privilege
D) strict scrutiny
E) None of the above.

Question 32

All of the following are true of emergency powers except

A) they have allowed presidents to exercise their powers during times of crisis, particularly in foreign affairs.
B) they were used by President Truman when he authorized the seizure of steel plants during the Korean War.
C) the Supreme Court ruled against President Truman's use of the emergency powers when he seized the steel plants during the Korean War.
D) the Supreme Court upheld Truman's seizing of the steel plants in the Korean War.
E) emergency powers were used by Lincoln during the Civil War.

Question 33

The following two presidents are the only ones in American history to have actually been impeached:

A) Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton
B) Richard Nixon and Franklin Roosevelt
C) Andrew Johnson and William McKinley
D) Thomas Jefferson and Martin Van Buren
E) Andrew Johnson and Jimmy Carter

Question 34

The advisory group selected by a president to give counsel and aid in decision making is

A) the locker.
B) the executive advisory board.
C) the executive council.
D) the cabinet.
E) None of the above.

Question 35

When the president receives a bill

A) he or she can do nothing and in ten days the bill becomes a law without his or her signature.
B) it automatically becomes a law.
C) the bill goes back to Congress to make sure it is good enough to become a law.
D) he or she can sign it and it will become law.
E) Options A and D are true.

Question 36

Executive orders have been used to

A) implement affirmative action regulations.
B) restructure the White House bureaucracy.
C) fight the war on terrorism.
D) raise fuel efficiency standards of cars and trucks.
E) All of the above are true.

Question 37

A pocket veto

A) can be used by a president only once during a term in office, although the veto can be used twice if the president serves two terms.
B) can only be used when Congress adjourns for the session within ten days of the bill being submitted to the president.
C) means that the legislation cannot be reintroduced in the next Congress.
D) was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1936.
E) is a veto in which the president does not send a veto message back to Congress.

Question 38

In the history of the United States, no president has ever

A) been impeached and acquitted.
B) died while in office.
C) been impeached and convicted.
D) resigned.
E) been impeached.

Question 39

Rewarding faithful party workers with government employment is called

A) nepotism.
B) pork barrel employment.
C) executive perks.
D) patronage.
E) civil service.

Question 40

Executive agreements are

A) not valid in foreign policy matters unless approved by the Senate.
B) agreements between the president and a head of foreign government that do not have to be approved by the Senate.
C) an unconstitutional expansion of the power of the president.
D) binding upon future presidents.
E) used to achieve trivial matters, since the most significant issues must be addressed by the Senate.

Question 41

When a vice president exercises a large degree of power, it is because

A) he or she is taking advantage of the power given to him or her by the Constitution.
B) he or she has been temporarily granted additional powers by the Congress.
C) the Supreme Court has expanded vice presidential power in recent decades.
D) he or she has the support of the president in doing so.
E) None of the above.

Question 42

The Constitution gives the vice president

A) the job of presiding over the Senate and voting in case of a tie.
B) many responsibilities independent of presidential authority.
C) the job of chief of staff to the president.
D) the right to use the veto if he or she has the approval of the president.
E) Options A and D are true.

Question 43

The White House Office, the National Security Council, and the Office of Management and Budget are all part of

A) the kitchen cabinet.
B) the cabinet.
C) the Executive Office of the President.
D) the Council of Presidential Advisors.
E) the system of checks on executive power.

Question 44

If the office of vice president becomes vacant

A) it remains unfilled until the next election, and the Speaker of the House becomes president if the president dies.
B) the president nominates a replacement who must be approved by both chambers of Congress.
C) the president names a replacement that is not subject to congressional approval.
D) the president nominates a replacement who must be approved by the Senate.
E) the secretary of state becomes vice president.

Question 45

According to the ___________, the Speaker of the House of Representatives assumes the presidency when both the presidency and vice presidency are vacant.

A) Second Article of the Constitution
B) Presidential Succession Act of 1947
C) Congressional Joint Resolution on Presidential Succession
D) Twelfth Amendment
E) Twenty-Fifth Amendment

Question 46

Presidential candidates have asked individuals to join the ticket as vice presidential candidates for all of the following reasons except

A) to balance the ticket by region or political philosophy.
B) to attract groups of voters or appease party factions.
C) to reinforce one of the presidential candidate's strong points.
D) to shore up the presidential candidate's perceived weaknesses.
E) to serve as a co-president.

Question 47

The members of the cabinet

A) are friends of the president that he or she invites to conferences on specific issues.
B) are expressly identified in the Constitution.
C) are all department secretaries who oversee administrative functions for the president.
D) may include the vice president and other advisors if the president chooses to include them.
E) are limited to one presidential term and then leave government service.

Question 48

Staff members in the Executive Office of the President who oversee a particular policy area are commonly referred to as

A) emperors.
B) czars.
C) dictators.
D) autocrats.
E) aristocrats.

Question 49

A president's consultations with the cabinet are

A) required by federal law.
B) required by the Constitution.
C) funneled through the vice president, as demanded by the Constitution.
D) entirely at the discretion of the president.
E) Both B and C.

Question 50

The Office of Management and Budget

A) is a non-partisan department.
B) clearly affects the greater scope of the federal budget.
C) publishes the budgets prepared by Congress.
D) helps the president prepare the annual budget.
E) is currently in the Department of the Treasury.

Question 51

In general, ______________ have relied heavily on the advice of the cabinet.

A) both the House and Senate
B) few presidents
C) many presidents
D) nearly all presidents
E) Both A and D.

Question 52

The National Security Council is a link between

A) Congress and the president.
B) leaders of foreign governments and the president.
C) the Security and Exchange Commission and the president.
D) key foreign and military advisors and the president.
E) state governments and the president.

Question 53

According to the Twenty-Fifth Amendment, if a president's ability to discharge his or her normal functions is in question and he or she is unable to communicate

A) the Supreme Court is empowered to select a physician to certify whether or not the president is able to perform the functions of his or her office.
B) the Speaker of the House becomes acting president until the matter is resolved.
C) a majority of the cabinet, including the vice president, can declare the president incapable.
D) the president must be permanently removed from office.
E) the vice president has the exclusive power to determine the president's capability.

Question 54

After the vice president, next in the line of succession is _____________, followed by _____________.

A) the Speaker of the House; the secretary of state
B) the secretary of state; the Speaker of the House
C) the Speaker of the House; the president pro tempore of the Senate
D) the president pro tempore of the Senate; the Speaker of the House
E) the secretary of state; the president pro tempore of the Senate

Question 55

The office that includes most of the key personal and political advisers to the president is the

A) Council of Economic Advisers.
B) cabinet.
C) Executive Presidential Office.
D) White House Office.
E) Domestic Policy Council.

Question 56

A vice president may become president

A) when a president resigns.
B) when a president is impeached and convicted.
C) when a president dies.
D) after winning a presidential election.
E) All of the above.

Question 57

The person who directs the White House Office and advises the president is

A) the vice president.
B) the head of office.
C) the chief of staff.
D) the senior member of Congress form the president's party.
E) the Secretary of the Interior.

Question 58

All of the following are true of the president's cabinet except

A) they are usually members of the president's political party.
B) they usually have some experience in the area of the cabinet position.
C) they are heads of executive departments.
D) it is thoroughly detailed in the Constitution as to what the cabinet should do.
E) the cabinet is an advisory group selected by the president to aid in making decisions.

Question 59

The Twenty-Fifth Amendment

A) was first used when President Ford appointed Nelson Rockefeller as vice president.
B) has never been used.
C) was a result of the long illness of President Carter.
D) is only used when the Constitution explicitly says that it is applicable.
E) was used by President Nixon when he appointed Ford as vice president.

Question 60

The organization created by President Franklin Roosevelt to assist in carrying out major presidential duties is

A) the Executive Office of the President.
B) the Presidential Bureaucratic Office.
C) the Administrative Office of the Executive.
D) the Office of Executive Action.
E) None of the above.

Question 61

Discuss the issue of what it means to be a "natural-born citizen" and how this affects the politics of the presidency.

Question 62

Detail the reasons and ways in which a vice president may assume the presidency, without actually winning election to that office.

Question 63

Contrast the importance of the cabinet and the Executive Office of the President.

Question 64

Compare the president's veto power to the pocket veto and line-item veto. What are the strengths and weaknesses of each?

Question 65

Describe the requirements and the process for becoming president. Include an explanation of the changes to that process after the passage of the Twelfth Amendment in 1824.

Question 66

Describe the evolution of the president's wartime powers, providing examples from various military activities through American history.

Question 67

Analyze the president's functions as party chief and superpolitician.

Question 68

Describe the difference between the president's role as chief diplomat and head of state. Provide examples to support your argument.

Question 69

Explain the concept of executive privilege and how it has been used by the presidents.

Question 70

Analyze the circumstances in which impeachment has been used throughout U.S. history.