Dwight D. Eisenhower 1952 1953-1957 Republican Pennsylvania
Dwight D. Eisenhower 1956 1957-1961 Republican Pennsylvania
John F. Kennedy 1960 1961-1963 Democrat Massachusetts
Lyndon B. Johnson 1963-1965 Democrat Texas
Lyndon B. Johnson 1964 1965-1969 Democrat Texas
Richard M. Nixon 1968 1969-1973 Republican California
Richard M. Nixon 1972 1973-1974 Republican California
Gerald R. Ford 1974-1977 Republican Michigan
Jimmy Carter 1976 1977-1981 Democrat Georgia
Ronald Reagan 1980 1981-1985 Republican California
Ronald Reagan 1984 1985-1989 Republican California
George Bush 1988 1989-1993 Republican Texas
Bill Clinton 1992 1993- Democrat Arkansas
The Executive Branch
The executive branch of the government is led by the president, currently Bill Clinton. His main duties are to:
A) Enforce laws. It is the in the oath of office of the president to ?uphold the laws and constitution of the United States.?
B) Act as Commander in chief of the armed forces. The president has this title because he is the ?head honcho? in the military. The buck stops there. The president can ask congress for the right to go to war as did Franklin Delano Roosevelt after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Congress voted yes and the United States entered WWII.
C) Appoint key officials in the government. Among the many that the president appoints are Supreme Court Justices, the surgeon general, and the attorney general.
D) Recommend laws to congress. The president can introduce a bill to congress. The Senate and the House will vote on the bill. If both approve it, it goes back to the president for him to sign. Once he has signed it, it is a law. Either part of Congress may introduce a bill as well. If it passes through both the House and the Senate, it goes to the president for him to sign. If he disagrees with the bill, he may choose to veto it. Veto is a combination of the words vote no. When the president vetoes a bill, it goes back to Congress for them to review it. In order to check the president?s power and pass the bill into law, there must be a two-thirds majority when the ballots are cast.
The president also has the power to grant a reprieve or pardon to any convicted criminal or even someone who has not been charged yet. This is illustrated by Gerald Ford?s pardon of Richard Nixon before he was to be charged for any involvement of his in the Watergate scandal. The pardon was granted to keep the United States from being embarrassed at having one of their presidents on trial. On the upside, Nixon was respected globally for his efforts to open and establish relations with China.
The president of the United states has a four year term. He may serve up to two terms in his lifetime. The salary for the president is $200,000 per year. The president must also be a natural born citizen and must have lived in the United States for 14 years before running.
Jack Metcalf
Jack Metcalf, a Washington State senator, attended the University of Washington between 1944 and 1948. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Pacific Lutheran University in 1951 and then later in 1965-66 went back to the University of Washington. He also patriotically served his country in the armed forces between 1946 and 1947. Metcalf, a teacher and bed & breakfast owner, has a wife, Norma, and four children.
Metcalf has a colorful background as a good Republican public servant. His political career began in 1958 when he received the Republican nomination for one of the Washington House of Representatives positions. Between the years of 1961 and 1965, Jack Metcalf served his state in the Washington House of Representatives. In 1964, however, he was defeated for re-election. Never a quitter, though, Metcalf ran for a Washington State senator position, and won. He served as a senator between 1967 and 1975. In 1968 and 74, Metcalf, now a seasoned politician, received the Republican nomination for the Senate. He served in the Washington Senate from 1981 to 1993. He was the Republican nominee for the United States House of Representatives in 1992.
At the age of 67, he took his House of Representatives oath, and was the oldest member of the ?Class of ?94.? In his 1992 campaign for the Congressional seat against Democratic challenger Al Swift, he promised to limit his terms to six years in Congress. He has described himself as a ?guy willing to take some kamikaze runs.? Metcalf has stated a call for the restoration of the gold standard, and criticizes the Federal Reserve System.
In 1994, it did not look like Metcalf was indeed going to again win the Republican nomination. He had to survive direct attacks from Republican rival Senator Tom Erwin in the primaries. He won the nomination, however, but it looked bleak for Metcalf against State Senator Harriet Spanel. However, most of her financial backing came from unions, environmentalists, and women?s groups. 1994 was the wrong year to be a liberal. Although Spanel had the better funding, she was hurt by her support of the assault weapons ban and the Brady Bill. Metcalf opposed both. Another thing that helped Metcalf was his total opposition to abortion, which made him popular among conservatives. Spanel won support from San Juan County, but Metcalf won the rest of the counties in the district.
Review
There are three branches of the United States Government. The legislative, judicial, and the executive. Ideally, no one is more powerful than the other two. They are all equal. They all have certain powers as well as certain checks on powers. Congress is the main body of the legislative branch, and is composed of two parts: the Senate and the House of Representatives. The judicial branch consists of all of the courts in the United States, but is headed by the Supreme Court. The president is the leader of the Executive branch. In order to become a president, one must be at least 35 years of age and a natural born citizen living in the United States for 14 years. The term of office for a president is 4 years.
The term of office for the Unites States House of Representative members is 2 years, while Senators enjoy 6 years in a term. In order to be in the House, you must be at least 25 years of age, for Senators the minimum age is 30. There are 100 members of the Senate, two for every state. The House of Representatives, however, has 435 members, plus one from Washington D.C., but he/she is not allowed to vote.
In order for a bill to become law, it must pass the Senate, House of Representatives, and the President must sign it. If the president vetoes a bill, it is kicked back into Congress, where it may undergo revision, or simply be voted upon again. If Congress votes and both halves get a 2/3 majority, the bill is passed into law without the president being able to do anything about it.
Some of the president?s jobs are to be the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, to enforces laws, and to grant pardons to criminals. Congress sets and collects taxes, has the power to borrow money, declares war, provides for an army and a navy, creates lesser courts, and coins money.
Bibliography
Blough, Glen O. The Young People?s Book of Science. United States of America, McGraw-Hill, ?1968, pp. 1-436.
Claiborne, Robert. Word Mysteries & Histories. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Company, ?1986. pp. 2-308.
?Congress.? The New American Desk Encyclopedia. Volume 1, page 302. United States of America, Penguin Books Incorporated, 1989.
Markoff, John. Cyberpunk. New York, Simon & Schuster, ? 1991, pp. 1-366
?Webster?s New World Dictionary Second College Edition,? United States of America, The World Publishing Company, ?1970. pp. 156, 224, 332, 627, 633.
Wood, Leonard C. America, its People and its Values. United States of America, Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, ?1979