Deck 12: The President

Question 1

Which of the following is true of a pocket veto?

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

Answer 1

B

Question 2

As commander-in-chief, the president has which of the following roles?

A) Is the symbolic leader of the military
B) Acts as the ultimate decision maker in military matters
C) Makes military decisions, but only with the approval of the joint chiefs of staff
D) Has limited authority and needs the secretary of defense's approval
E) Is obligated to meet with the joint chiefs of staff, and usually takes their advice

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Treaties  are subject to which of the following before becoming legally binding?

A) Judicial review by 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 in the Senate
E) Ratification by a majority of the states and by a majority of both houses of Congress

Answer 3

D

Question 4

According to the Constitution, how long does someone have to reside in the United States before they can become president?

A) 10 years
B) 12 years
C) 14 years
D) 15 years
E) 7 years

Question 5

Presidential powers expressly given to the president by the Constitution are called which of the following?

A) Constitutional powers
B) Statutory powers
C) Established powers
D) Inherent powers
E) Emergency powers

Question 6

The Constitution states that the required minimum age for the presidency is which of the following?

A) 30
B) 35
C) 40
D) 45
E) 50

Question 7

Who was the youngest elected president?

A) Ronald Reagan
B) John F. Kennedy
C) Jimmy Carter
D) Martin Van Buren
E) Barack Obama

Question 8

A constitutional amendment to clarify the way votes are cast in the Electoral College was necessary because of which of the following?

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 candidates received a majority of the votes in the Electoral College.
E) There was a tie in the electoral votes in the election of 1800 and no way to tell which votes were for president and which were for vice president.

Question 9

Which of the following individuals is constitutionally qualified to be president?

A) George, 40 years old, born in Florida but has spent his entire life in Cuba
B) John, 32 years old, who was born on an American military base in Germany where his parents were stationed
C) Abigail, 61 years old, born in Great Britain, but who is a naturalized U.S. citizen
D) James, 37 years old, born in Texas of Mexican parents
E) Alexander, 57 years old, who isn't a U.S. citizen, but who has been a legal alien in the United States for 25 years

Question 10

The most common previous occupations for presidents has been which of the following?

A) Lawyers
B) Actors
C) Scientists
D) Doctors
E) College professors

Question 11

Which amendment to the Constitution requires the president and the vice president to be chosen separately by the Electoral College?

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

Question 12

A president can issue a pardon in which of the following circumstances?

A) For all offenses against the United States, including impeachment
B) For all offenses against the United States, except impeachment
C) For all offenses against the United States, or any state
D) For all offenses against the United States, any state, or any locality
E) For all offenses against a state, but only after a state's governor has refused to grant a pardon

Question 13

As chief executive, the president is constitutionally bound to do which of the following?

A) Enforce laws, treaties, and court orders
B) Submit a balanced budget to Congress
C) Inform Congress prior to military action
D) Oversee actions of state governments
E) Honor pronouncements of previous presidents

Question 14

When no presidential candidate receives a majority of the electoral vote, which of the following occurs?

A) The current president serves two additional years, and then another general election is held.
B) The candidate who receives a plurality of the vote is elected.
C) Electors cast a second ballot to determine who is elected.
D) The election is decided by the House of Representatives.
E) The election goes to the Senate, and a majority is needed there.

Question 15

When a president receives a bill, which of the following is true?

A) The president can do nothing, and in ten days, if Congress is still in session the bill becomes law without his or her signature.
B) The president can do nothing, and if Congress goes out of session, the bill does not become law.
C) The president can sign it, and it becomes law.
D) The president can veto it.
E) All of these are correct.

Question 16

The president, in his capacity as head of state, is responsible for which of the following?

A) Determining the countries with which the United States will have diplomatic relations
B) Engaging in activities that are largely symbolic or ceremonial in nature
C) Sending troops into combat
D) Leading the legislative process by submitting legislation
E) Administering the laws

Question 17

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) California natives
E) White, male Protestants

Question 18

Executive agreements are which of the following?

A) Not valid in foreign policy matters unless approved by the Senate
B) Agreements made between the president and the head of a 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 19

The granting of release from punishment for a crime is called which of the following?

A) A reprieve
B) A congressional sanction
C) A pardon
D) Executive privilege
E) Impeachment

Question 20

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

A) Because vetoes are usually overridden, the power has become unimportant.
B) The president's veto is final, and this gives him or her complete control over legislation.
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 21

In order to get his or her legislative program passed, presidents can use which of the following "perks" to convince members of Congress to support the president?

A) Some say in presidential appointments
B) Rides on Air Force One
C) Tax breaks for large employers in the district of that member of Congress
D) Support for projects in the district of that member of Congress
E) All of these are correct.

Question 22

Going on official state visits to other countries, decorating war heroes, and dedicating parks are all examples of the president's role as which of the following?

A) Chief legislator
B) Chief diplomat
C) Commander-in-chief
D) Head of state
E) Chief executive

Question 23

Who brings charges in the impeachment process, and where is the impeachment trial held?

A) The attorney general; the Senate
B) The House of Representatives; the Senate
C) The House of Representatives; the U.S. Supreme Court
D) The Senate; the House of Representatives
E) Both houses of Congress; the Supreme Court

Question 24

An increase in a president's popularity when he sends troops overseas is known as which of the following effects?

A) "Bring the Boys Home"
B) "Rally 'Round the Flag"
C) "This We'll Defend"
D) "Semper Fidelis"
E) "Whatever It Takes"

Question 25

Which of the following is an example of the president's use of constitutional power?

A) Issuing an executive order
B) Declaring national emergencies
C) Giving a State of the Union message
D) Invoking executive privilege
E) Declaring war

Question 26

Before a treaty can go into effect, which of the following must occur?

A) It must be submitted to the United Nations for approval.
B) It must be ratified by the Supreme Court.
C) It must be approved by three-fourths of the state governments.
D) It must be approved by a two-thirds vote in the Senate.
E) It must be approved by a majority vote in both houses of Congress.

Question 27

Which of the following is true of executive orders?

A) They are merely opinions and have no force of law.
B) They are part of a president's executive power.
C) They have only been in effect since 1992.
D) They are part of a president's legislative power.
E) They are part of a president's judicial power.

Question 28

The president's power to recognize or not recognize a foreign government is what type of recognition?

A) Ratification
B) Ambassadorial
C) International
D) Diplomatic
E) Nonpartisan

Question 29

When a president first comes into office, he or she usually has high approval ratings.  This period is known as which of the following?

A) The Grand Opening
B) Better beginnings
C) The happy time
D) The honeymoon period
E) The strong start

Question 30

Which of the following best describes signing statements?

A) They are provided to the Supreme Court for all cases that involve the federal government.
B) They are used in place of the pocket veto and may be presented to either the Senate or the House of Representatives.
C) They accompany legislation and allow the president to point out sections of the law the president sees as unconstitutional.
D) They are the official forms designating approval of the submitted budget.
E) They are copies of the final legislation provided to the individual states.

Question 31

Which of the following is true of executive privilege?

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

Question 32

Rewarding faithful party workers with government employment and contracts is called which of the following?

A) Patronage
B) Nepotism
C) Pork barrel employment
D) Executive perks
E) Civil service

Question 33

The most important partisan role that the president has played in recent years has been which of the following?

A) Chief communicator
B) Chief diplomat
C) Party fundraiser
D) Legislative leader
E) Chief executive

Question 34

Presidential powers derived from the Constitution stating that "the executive power shall be vested in a president" are which of the following?

A) Constitutional powers
B) Statutory powers
C) Emergency powers
D) Inherent powers
E) Expressed powers

Question 35

Once the civil service began in 1883, presidents lost some of their power in which of the following areas?

A) Congressional control
B) Judicial control
C) The bully pulpit
D) Patronage
E) Rallying around the flag

Question 36

In the history of the United States, which of the following has never occurred?

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

Question 37

A written declaration that a president may make when signing a bill into law is known as which of the following?

A) Executive order
B) Executive agreement
C) Executive privilege
D) Signing declaration
E) Signing statement

Question 38

Executive privilege was limited by the Supreme Court as a consequence of which of the following?

A) The Clinton sex scandal
B) The Sedition Act
C) The Watergate scandal
D) World War II
E) The failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq

Question 39

Which president had both the highest and lowest approval ratings ever during his administration?

A) Bill Clinton
B) Franklin Roosevelt
C) Jimmy Carter
D) George W. Bush
E) Barack Obama

Question 40

What part of the U.S. Constitution deals with political parties?

A) The Third Amendment
B) Article III
C) The Seventh Amendment
D) Article V
E) Parties are not mentioned in the Constitution.

Question 41

Which of the following is true of the Executive Office of the President?

A) It assists the president in carrying out major duties.
B) It is an advisory group made up of the heads of the fifteen major government departments.
C) It includes the National Security Agency.
D) It helps control the nation's money supply.
E) It is led by the Speaker of the House.

Question 42

The main function of the president's cabinet is to do which of the following?

A) Draft the federal budget and submit it to Congress for approval
B) Write federal regulations
C) Provide information regarding proposed legislation by testifying before Congress
D) Provide leadership in the event the president is unable to perform his duties
E) Provide advice to the president to aid in decision making

Question 43

The Constitution gives the vice president which of the following?

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 power, with presidential approval
E) The job of presiding over the Senate and voting in case of a tie, and the right to use the veto power, with presidential approval

Question 44

The Constitution does not give the president the power to do which of the following?

A) Veto legislation
B) Convene sessions of Congress
C) Declare war
D) Serve as commander-in-chief of the military
E) Serve as administrative head of the nation

Question 45

In which of the following court cases did the Supreme Court decide 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) Bush v. Gore
E) U.S. v. Nixon

Question 46

The strategy carried out by the White House to increase the president's popularity and support is known as which of the following?

A) Goodwill effort
B) Head of state plan
C) Permanent campaign
D) Reelection campaign
E) Spoils allocation plan

Question 47

Which of the following is true of members of the cabinet?

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

Question 48

Which of the following was the only U.S. president to resign from office?

A) Gerald Ford
B) Richard Nixon
C) Andrew Jackson
D) Bill Clinton
E) Jimmy Carter

Question 49

Executive privilege was not limited until which of the following occurrences?

A) The Watergate affair during the Nixon administration
B) The Iran Contra affair during the Reagan administration
C) The Monica Lewinsky affair during the Clinton administration
D) The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001
E) The investigation of the Bush administration following Hurricane Katrina

Question 50

How many cabinet departments are there at present?

A) 12
B) 15
C) 10
D) 18
E) 13

Question 51

When selecting a vice presidential candidate, a nominee for president is usually concerned with choosing a running mate who does which of the following?

A) Has significant personal wealth
B) Can serve as a domestic policy advisor
C) Has served in state government for at least 25 years
D) Balances the national ticket
E) Has served in the federal government for at least 25 years

Question 52

In early 2014, President Obama raised the minimum wage for all temporary workers provided to the federal government through private contracts because Congress would not enact legislation to increase worker compensation.  His actions were an example of which of the following?

A) An executive agreement
B) An executive order
C) Administrative law
D) A signing statement
E) A pocket veto

Question 53

The only president to have not been elected to either the presidency or the vice presidency was which of the following?

A) Chester Arthur
B) Lyndon Johnson
C) Richard Nixon
D) Jimmy Carter
E) Gerald Ford

Question 54

Which of the following men served as vice president before serving as president?

A) George H. W. Bush
B) Ronald Reagan
C) Al Gore
D) Barack Obama
E) Jimmy Carter

Question 55

Which of the following is true of the Office of Management and Budget?

A) It is now called the Bureau of the Budget.
B) It directly controls the nation's money supply.
C) It publishes the budgets prepared by Congress.
D) It helps the president prepare the annual budget.
E) It is currently in the Department of the Treasury.

Question 56

When Al Gore served as vice president during the Clinton administration, he used his term of office to aggressively support policies in which of the following areas?

A) The agriculture industry
B) The military
C) International trade
D) Education
E) The environment

Question 57

Which of the following amendments to the U.S. Constitution establishes procedures for filling presidential and vice presidential vacancies and makes provisions for presidential incapacity?

A) Eleventh
B) Fourteenth
C) Nineteenth
D) Twenty-First
E) Twenty-Fifth

Question 58

The president has the power to appoint all of the following positions with the exception of which of the following?

A) Federal District Court and Court of Appeals judges
B) Ambassadors
C) Cabinet members
D) Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives
E) U.S. Supreme Court justices

Question 59

Whose responsibility is it to direct the White House Office and advise the president?

A) The press secretary
B) The vice president
C) The chief of staff
D) The attorney general
E) The Senate majority leader

Question 60

At the beginning of Franklin Roosevelt's tenure, the White House staff consisted of 37 people.  The president's staff first began to grow significantly after which of the following?

A) The Vietnam War
B) The New Deal
C) The Great Society
D) The Civil Rights Act of 1964
E) The terrorist attacks on 9/11

Question 61

Which of the following was the first vice president to become president at the death of a president and was called "His Accidency"?

A) Millard Fillmore
B) John Tyler
C) Franklin Pierce
D) James Buchannan
E) Chester Arthur

Question 62

Discuss each of the constituencies with which a president needs to interact. Describe some of the needs of each of these constituencies.

Question 63

Discuss some of the problems with the wording in the Constitution that the president must be a "natural born citizen."  Should naturalized citizens be eligible to be president?  Why or why not?

Question 64

Describe the executive offices that support the president.

Question 65

Analyze the circumstances by which a president could be impeached and forced to leave office.  Include a brief discussion of the impeachment process.

Question 66

Political scientists have said that "presidential power is the power to persuade." Explain how the president can convince Congress, the bureaucracy, and the general public to support the president's agenda.

Question 67

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

Question 68

Discuss the characteristics commonly shared by U.S. presidents, and discuss the prospects for deviation from the norm.

Question 69

How do political polarization in Congress and divided government affect the success with which the president pursues his agenda?

Question 70

When the president transfers presidential power to the vice president because of illness or incapacity, he is invoking which of the following amendments?

A) 20th
B) 22nd
C) 25th
D) 26th
E) 23rd

Question 71

When Dick Cheney served as President George W. Bush's vice president, he was known for his outspoken support for which of the following?

A) A strong environmental policy
B) A strong manufacturing policy
C) His war on drugs
D) His strong military support, including the invasion of Iraq
E) His support for education

Question 72

Explain the pattern of presidential succession and the policies established by the Twenty-Fifth Amendment.

Question 73

Explain executive orders, detailing their powers and usage, and contrast this idea with that of signing statements.

Question 74

Compare the Executive Office of the President with the White House Office.  What are some of the offices included in each, and how do they assist the president in carrying out his job?

Question 75

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

Question 76

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

Question 77

What are inherent powers?  Give some examples of how they have been implemented by presidents in the years since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.