President’s Day
Things American’s Ought to Know
The Powers of the President of the United States are vast
and quite comprehensive. Today we
observe the men who have transformed this nation from its inception and even
the world with exercising unparalleled extra-national authority in times of war
and peace.
Let us take a look at the Powers of the President and
consider what this means to us as American’s, the Citizen, the Veteran and the
Immigrant who is achieving American Citizenship.
Where does the President get his power? Let us take a look:
The
Constitution of the United States, Article II - Section 1.
1)
The
executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America.
He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, together with the
Vice President, chosen for the same term, be elected, as follows:
“Each state shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature
thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of Senators
and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no
Senator or Representative, or person holding an office of trust or profit under
the United States, shall be appointed an elector.”
“The President shall, at stated times,
receive for his services, a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor
diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall
not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States, or
any of them.”
Before
he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or
affirmation:--"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully
execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of
my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United
States."
2) Section
2. The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United
States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual
service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the
principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject
relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to
grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in
cases of impeachment.
3)
He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the
Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur;
and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate,
shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the
Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments
are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law:
but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as
they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the
heads of departments.
4)
The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may
happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall
expire at the end of their next session.
After
World War II, it was realized that the responsibilities that fell on the
President were so immense the President needed more powers to delegate certain
responsibilities ranging from Command to the branches of the Armed Service so
to assure the protection of the United States and our Allies.
The National Security Act of 1947
The
National Security Act of 1947 mandated a major reorganization of the foreign
policy and military establishments of the U.S. Government. The act created many
of the institutions that Presidents found useful when formulating and
implementing foreign policy, including the National Security Council (NSC).
The
Council itself included the President, Vice President, Secretary of State,
Secretary of Defense, and other members (such as the Director of the Central
Intelligence Agency), who met at the White House to discuss both long-term
problems and more immediate national security crises. A small NSC staff was
hired to coordinate foreign policy materials from other agencies for the
President.
Beginning in 1953 the President’s Assistant for National Security
Affairs directed this staff. Each President has accorded the NSC with different
degrees of importance and has given the NSC staff varying levels of autonomy and
influence over other agencies such as the Departments of State and Defense.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower, for example, used the NSC meetings to make key
foreign policy decisions, while John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson preferred
to work more informally through trusted associates.
Under President Richard M.
Nixon, the NSC staff, then headed by Henry A. Kissinger, was transformed from a
coordinating body into an organization that actively engaged in negotiations
with foreign leaders and implementing the President’s decisions.
The NSC
meetings themselves, however, were infrequent and merely confirmed decisions
already agreed upon by Nixon and Kissinger.
The act
also established the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which grew out of World
War II era Office of Strategic Services and small post-war intelligence
organizations. The CIA served as the primary civilian intelligence-gathering
organization in the government. Later, the Defense Intelligence Agency became
the main military intelligence body. The 1947 law also caused far-reaching
changes in the military establishment. The War Department and Navy Department
merged into a single Department of Defense under the Secretary of Defense, who
also directed the newly created Department of the Air Force. However, each of
the three branches maintained their own service secretaries. In 1949 the act
was amended to give the Secretary of Defense more power over the individual
services and their secretaries.
UNITING
AND STRENGTHENING AMERICA BY
PROVIDING
APPROPRIATE TOOLS REQUIRED
TO
INTERCEPT AND OBSTRUCT TERRORISM
(USA
PATRIOT ACT) ACT OF 2001
After
the attack of September 11, 2001, many in Congress argued that the President
needed even broader powers to defend the United States from its enemies,
particularly terrorists.
After
the 2001 anthrax attacks, Congress rushed to pass legislation to strengthen American
security. On October 23, 2001, Republican Rep. Jim
Sensenbrenner introduced H.R. 3162 incorporating several provisions from a
previously sponsored House bill and a Senate bill also introduced earlier in
the month. The next day on October 24,
2001, the Act passed the House 357 to 66, with Democrats comprising the
overwhelming portion of dissent. The following day, on October 25, 2001, the
Act passed the Senate by 98 to 1
Some
who opposed the law have criticized its authorization of indefinite detentions
of immigrants; the permission given law enforcement officers to search a home
or business without the owner's or the occupant's consent or knowledge; the
expanded use of National Security Letters, which allows the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) to search telephone, e-mail, and financial records without
a court order; and the expanded access of law enforcement agencies to business
records, including library and financial records. Since its passage, several
legal challenges have been brought against the act, and Federal courts have
ruled that a number of provisions are unconstitutional.
Many
provisions of the act were to end beginning December 31, 2005, approximately 4
years after its passage. Several fights in Congress were fought over this bill
In July
2005, the U.S. Senate passed a re-authorization bill with substantial changes to
several sections of the act, while the House re-authorization bill kept most of
the act's original language. The two bills were then reconciled in a conference
committee that was criticized by Senators from both the Republican and
Democratic parties for ignoring civil liberty concerns.
The
bill, which passed Congress on March 2, 2006, and was signed into law by
President George W. Bush on March 9 and 10, 2006.
On May
26, 2011, President Barack Obama signed the PATRIOT Sunsets Extension Act of
2011, a four-year extension of three key provisions in the USA PATRIOT Act:
roving wiretaps, searches of business records (the "library records
provision"), and conducting surveillance of "lone
wolves"—individuals suspected of terrorist-related activities not linked
to terrorist groups.
Some Fun Facts About the President's
John
Tyler fathered the Most Children - 15 kids
Richard
Nixon played the most musical instruments 6. Piano, Clarinet,
Accordion,
Violin, Cello and Saxophone
Calvin
Coolidge kept the most pets, including a pygmy hippo
(6
dogs, a bobcat, a goose, a donkey, a cat, 2 lion cubs,
an
antelope and a wallaby)
William
Taft gained the most weight in office: 50 lbs in one term
he
lost 75 lbs in one year after leaving office.
James
Madison was the first President to wear long pants.
John
Quincy Adams was the first President to be Photographed.
Rutheford
B. Hayes was the first President to use a phone.
Barack
Obama the first President to write his own e-mail.
James
Buchanan is the only President to be a bachelor.
Ronald
Reagan is the only President that was divorced.
Martin
Van Buren did not speak english at home, he spoke Dutch.
Andrew
Jackson survived a duel and lived with a bullet in his chest
for
40 years.
Chester
A. Arthur wore sideburns down to his lapels.
Happy President's Day
DNC by direction
