Chapter 4: Presidential Power

Exercises

Investigating Executive Orders

1. Go the American Presidency Project's executive orders Web page at www.presidency.ucsb.edu/executive_orders.php.

2. Look at the trends and statistics for issuing executive orders for each presidential administration.

3. Which president issued the most executive orders during his total time in office? Which president issued the fewest? Did presidents during the Cold War era issue more executive orders than other presidents?

4. Pick one presidential administration and use some of the archive links to research the content of that president's executive orders. Did the president's executive orders concentrate on certain issues or regions?

5. Of the orders that you looked at, which were likely to be heavily debated by Congress and why?

Understanding White House Foreign-Policy Councils

1. Go to the White House link for the Executive Office of the President at www.whitehouse.gov/government/ .

2. Chose one of the councils related to foreign policy and click on the appropriate link.

3. Who are the members of this council? What are the council's responsibilities? How is the council involved in policy? With which cabinet and other agencies does the council work?

4. Using LexisNexis or another news search engine, look up recent articles involving the council you researched. What policies has the council been working on? Are there any conflicts between the council and Congress, the president, other cabinet agencies, or any other institutions?

Learning about Presidential Management Style

1. Go to the companion Web site for the PBS American President series at www.millercenter.virginia.edu/academic/americanpresident/ .

2. Chose two presidents. (Hint: You might find it helpful to select two presidents who served in similar eras because of the growth of the executive branch.)

3. Read about their management styles, political backgrounds before taking office, and elections. What was each president's foreign-policy management style? How are their styles similar or different? Compare and contrast their management styles, political backgrounds, and election histories.

4. What might account for some of the differences and similarities you found? What constraints were faced by each of the presidents you researched?