POLI 308 US Presidency
Fall 2023
Review Two
The
exam has two parts:
This review looks big, but
don't worry. If you have come to class
and done all the reading, nothing here should be new to you. Also, though there are a lot of terms,
obviously, not each one of them is the subject of an essay. These terms, in
order, form an outline of everything we've done so far. A group of them might
be the subject of an essay. Usually, you can't explain a single term without referring
to the terms next to it. So, really, if you can say one or two things about
each term and how it relates to the terms around it and fits into the larger
scheme of nuclear weapons you're doing fine. Some terms, however, are filled
with enough significance to be short answers/identifications on the test, but
you'll be able to figure out which ones.
Terms with (*) in front of
them may not have been included in the lectures, but were discussed, at length,
in the readings.
Nixon:
*Electoral Realignment
Democrat’s loss of the South
Impact of 1950s and 1960s changes on
New Deal Coalition
Civil
Rights -- successes and failures
Expansion
of federal power -- Civil Rights and Great Society
Failure
in Vietnam
Division in Democratic Party over
Civil Rights
Losing
the South
Labor and urban North
LBJ's challengers in the 1968
election
Nixon's coalition
The
Silent Majority/Quiet Americans
Southern
Strategy
George Wallace
The Southern Presidential vote in
1968 and 1972 vs. previous years
*Nixon’s loss for Governor of
California and his angry criticism of the press
*Nixon/Agnew attacks on the media
*Checkers Speech
The Administrative Presidency under
Nixon
White House control/management of the
government
Domestic Council
John
Ehrlichman
National Security Council staff
Henry
Kissinger
*Chief of Staff H. R. Haldeman
*“Berlin Wall”
*Haldeman as gatekeeper: the bad cop
*Nixon difficulty in dealing with
conflict; did not want to meet face-to-face with cabinet
*On not doing what the president
tells you to do, sometimes…
Problems with the Administrative
Presidency
*Cabinet
Government?
*Isolation
Line
vs. Staff
Their
definition of their responsibilities
*Staff
Protecting the President
*Feeding
Nixon's Flaws
*Nixon
and constant crisis atmosphere
*Enemies
List
*Paranoia
Watergate:
Cambodia Bombing and leaks
Secret investigative unit -- Plumbers
*Their
links to the White House and CREP
Watergate Burglary of DNC
Headquarters 6/17/72
Investigations
*The Tapes
*Nixon's position on the tapes
*Saturday Night Massacre
Elliott Richardson
Revelations in the Tapes:
Nixon
part of cover-up
Abuse
of Power
Nixon's
claims of innocence
House Judiciary Committee and
articles of impeachment
Spiro Agnew
*Gerald Ford becomes VP
*The Pardon
Ford
and Carter Review
Two incumbents beaten in a row
No-Win Presidency
Crisis of the Presidency
Imperial Presidency
Lying
Presidency and People
*Presidency and Media -- Woodward and Bernstein
*Antagonism
*Assumption
that the president is lying
*Rise of interest group power
Congressional Power:
War Powers
Resolution
Clark
Amendment
Congressional
Budget and Impoundment Act 1974
Impoundment
Information and expertise
Goals of New
Congress
*Ford and spokes-of-the-wheel
*Rumsfeld as chief of staff
*Halloween Massacre
*1976 election
*Impact of Ford pardon
*Carter campaign themes
*Honesty
Outsider
*Carter as a regular guy
*Carter dislike of the press
Carter's theory of Governing
*No chief of
staff
*Hamilton
Jordan
*Alienating the Democrats in Congress
*Economic Problems
*Crisis of Confidence speech (“national malaise”)
*Iran Hostage Crisis
Carter's misunderstanding of leadership
A Crisis of Leadership?
*Carter and the “Killer Rabbit”
*Briefing Book scandal
REAGAN:
Reagan's past:
Happy
Midwestern upbringing?
*Acting
Anti-Communist
Democrat
Goldwater
supporter
Governor of
California
Reagan (conservative wing) vs. Bush (moderate wing) in New
Hampshire
Landslide over Carter
*Reagan as Republican FDR -- confidence, hope, leadership
*Reagan Beliefs (four priorities) Very important
*Reagan economic philosophy
*Criticism of the New Deal and Great Society
*Principles of Reaganomics
*Government
vs. the Market
*Return to
laissez-faire; rejection of Keynes
Reagan and US political spectrum
*Reagan realignment
*Reagan Coalition
*Undoing the Great Society
The Teflon President
Reagan’s
slight reality problem
*The Troika
*Baker’s role
*Reagan’s disinterest in management
*Baker (pragmatist) vs. True Believers
*Baker and Donald Regan switch jobs
*Regan a disaster as Chief of Staff: poor management,
thinking he was more important than the President
*Nancy Reagan power
Reagan political strategy
LBJ-style Bargaining compared to Reagan style
Elements of Reagan Media Strategy:
*Bully
Pulpit
*Stage
Events in controlled settings
*Feed the
Media
*Consistency
of message -- Line of the Day/Sound Bites
*Selling the
President
*Popularity
= Power
*Iran-Contra
*Weapons to Contras
*Arms to Iran
*lying to Congress
*Congressional reaction: enraged
BUSH 41:
1980s Changes
*Reagan realignment
*Reagan success
1984 Election
Government is the problem
Bush as Insider (his experience in government)
*Small “c” vs. capital “C” conservatives (This is important)
The success and power of conservative media
Rush
Limbaugh
Fox News
Bush as Moderate Republican (small “c”)
Appointed
jobs for Republican Party -- loyalty
Bush and failure to remake the party
Movement
Conservatives win the day
CLINTON:
Democratic Party after 1984 election
Context
Why the growth of a moderate center?
*Democrats lost
South
*Impact of Reagan revolution (shifting US politics to
the right)
*Deficit
tax revolts
of 1970s and 1980s
economic
slowdown since 1970s
perceived
failure of:
1.
Democratic New Deal/Great Society
2.
Reaganomics
Fight in each Party
*Democrats:
centrist vs. liberal – centrists win
*New Democrats – Democratic Leadership Council
Socially
liberal
Fiscally
Conservative
Pro-Business
Government
has limited, but important role
*Clinton as New Democrat
Education reform in Arkansas
1992 election: Three way race
Ross Perot
President elected with only 43% of the vote
Is Clinton really a New Democrat?
1. Gays in the military
2. *Health care
3. *Budget
4. Triangulation and Welfare reform
5. Trade
Fighting
protectionist Democrats
Economic world order building and globalization
Pro-business
Democrat
Aggressive
promotion of free trade
Modernizing the workforce
Republicans take the House and Senate 1994
The trust issue
Scandals and accusations
The Gingrich Style: GoPac Memo
Clinton haters
Whitewater investigations (not the details)
*Vince Foster’s death
*Lewinsky
*Ken Starr
*House impeaches
*Senate acquits
*Undisciplined Clinton
*as his own Chief of Staff
*Thomas McLarty as Chief
*Leon
Panetta to save the day
George W. Bush (Bush 43)
Bush background
Prescott
and Bush 41
Governor
of Texas (moderate Republican)
*2000 Election
Gore
(pretends Clinton doesn’t exist)
No winner on election day
Florida
recount
537 votes
Impact of
third party candidate (Nader)
The red and Blue map and polarization
Pre-modern presidency vs. modern presidency
Modern presidency as crisis presidency
Post-Modern Presidency?
Cold War
ends
Fate of Bush 41, Clinton, and Bush 43 before 9/11
Impeachment of Clinton
Modern presidency really a crisis presidency and crisis has
ended
Characteristics of Post-Modern Presidency
Weak executive
Powerful Congress
Madisonian style checks and balances
Governor of the USA?
Then 9/11
Crisis presidency reborn/New imperial presidency
Example of Bush increasing power
Example of Restraint on Bush
Congress and Courts restrain Bush quickly
Example of AUMF – unlimited power?
Military
Order and Detainees
Used by
Obama and Trump
Unitary Executive Theory
Executive power
and Congressional oversight?
National
security
Signing Statements and Unitary Executive Theory
Bush approval ratings decline
Iraq, Katrina, Great Recession
Obama
Obama background
Born in Honolulu, HI (which is a state of the US)
From Illinois State Senate to White
House in four years
Balancing inexperience with
experience in picking VP Biden (like Bush and Cheney)
*McCain-Palin (conservative and Movement Conservative)
*Palin as a
precursor to Trump style
*The Birthers
2008 victory
Great Recession
Obama response: FDR style government spending
Massive deficits
*Affordable care Act (Obamacare)
*Reaction to Obama Care
*Legitimate
criticism vs. demagoguery
*Birth of TEA Party
*TEA Party fringe elements
Obama ultimately loses House and Senate to Republicans
Obama wins reelection
*Republican Strategy: refuse to pass Obama legislation
Merrick Garland example
Obama strategy: executive orders
DREAM Act example
Legislation
stalls
Obama
implements law as if legislation passed
Obama approval record
No Drama
Obama
*Obama use of social media
*Obama and Jeremiah Wright
*Obama Derangement Syndrome
*Limbaugh vs. Obama
*Obama vs. Fox News
*Obama and leaks
Trump
The crisis in US democracy
Lies and The Big Lie
January 6, 2021
What comparative politics tells us about the future of
elections if people believe The Big Lie
*Demagoguery
Covid19, vaccinations, disinformation, and the loyalty to the
leader
*Trump and populism nationalism/neo-authoritarianism
1.
Election of 2016
*Republican Primaries: Trump
defeats establishment Republicans
*His
style
Clinton vs. Trump
Ugliness of the election
Two unpopular candidates
Trump wins Electoral College; loses popular vote
Third party
candidates
States that voted for Obama and Trump
And
manufacturing decline
*Russia, Disinformation, and Trump Campaign
*Mueller Report
2. Trump Policies
Movement Conservative Policies
A satisfied
constituency
Pro-life Justices
Gorsuch and Kavanaugh
and Barrett
Evangelical Support
Trump Policy on Immigration
Trump Policy on Trade
3.
Trump Style
*Twitter
*Attacking
Lying
Roy Cohn Style
Trump is Cohn protégé
4. Impeachments
Allegations against Biden
Ukraine investigations
US aid to Ukraine withheld by Trump to get Ukraine to
announce investigation of Biden
Extortion
First Impeachment
Acquitted
Second Impeachment and January 6
Acquitted
Job approval plummets
Biden elected
*Trump and Media
*Trump lawsuits against any critics
*Trump counterattack style
*Trump birther support
*Paying people to keep secrets for him
*Fake News
*Attacking the media as a governing strategy
*media as “enemy of the people”
*Inauguration size lies
*“alternative facts”
*Trump Fox News alliance
*Denial of objective truth
Hennessey and Wittes
*Trump
disorganization and the “Muslim Ban”
*Rejection
of interagency process in favor of personal rule
*Trump
disconnect from executive branch and staff systems (EOP)
*Toddler-in-chief
thread
*Managing
an unpredictable president
*Trump
views of restraints on the president – there are none
*Hennessey
and Wittes definition of “unitary executive”:
different from GW Bush idea
*How do
agencies/departments respond when the president lies?
*Lying on
Russian interference
*Pompeo
says that Trump’s statements aren’t government policy
*Trump
rhetorical style: insult, attack, lie
*Repetition
*President
running a non-stop disinformation campaign
*The
extent of the lying
*importance of an independent judiciary
*Trump‘s view of the justice department: to use for political
gain; to attack political opponents