https://padlet.com/kenneth_saunders/luppmuuic5ly6cyi By Kenneth Saunders en-us 2021-04-15 02:47:01 UTC 2021-04-15 03:48:01 UTC hello@padlet.com kenneth_saunders https://padlet.com/kenneth_saunders/luppmuuic5ly6cyi/wish/1419309859      Nominating and electing the right President is a big ordeal that comes down to heated debates from members of both political parties about who’s more qualified. Overall, there are certain requirements that candidates must have in order to run for office such as being a certain age or being a resident of the U.S for a certain amount of time. This makes it so people who are qualified and have the right traits to run for the office of the president. One of these important traits that a president should have is informal qualifications. “One important qualification is experience in government. Every president in American history has served in one of these roles before becoming president: vice president, U.S. senator or representative, cabinet secretary, governor of a state, or general in the U.S. Army.” (Unit 3. Chapter 10, Lesson 1.2).  This makes it so that the president can show off their political stances and beliefs to the public, as well as how effective they can manage their positions roles. This helps also to give the public a base opinion on the potential candidate and may relieve some voters that they could have someone with past experience in office. Though, that’s not all a potential president must have to run effectively for office. A president needs to be able to connect to and understand his/her countries citizenry and listen to ideas the public has about what the president could do better. “Public support, in turn, can give a president real leverage in influencing lawmakers. Since Congress is a representative body, it is very sensitive to the amount of public support a president can generate. When a president is popular, presidential proposals and policies are better received by Congress than when the public holds a president in low regard.” (Unit 3, Chapter 10, Lesson 1.5). Understanding the average, everyday citizen plays a huge role in what makes a Democracy a Democracy. A president should take pride in being a representative of pretty much the entire U.S and her citizens. They should also try and implement policies that help the people out but also keep the country safe. Public opinion is considerably one of the most major parts of whether a president becomes a president though.]]> 2021-04-15 02:55:24 UTC https://padlet.com/kenneth_saunders/luppmuuic5ly6cyi/wish/1419309859 kenneth_saunders https://padlet.com/kenneth_saunders/luppmuuic5ly6cyi/wish/1419331151      The structure and functions of the executive branch have it so that the president has multiple roles to fulfill such as being commander in chief or chief diplomat. Presidents have the ability to wage war to protect the people of their nation, to preserve the union, or conduct negotiations and meet with foreign heads of state. “President Abraham Lincoln made this kind of decision during the Civil War. The early years of the war went very badly for the North—despite some Union victories, casualties were very high, and the war’s end seemed nowhere in sight. As time passed, the war became increasingly unpopular, and the president came under intense public and political pressure to negotiate peace.” (Unit 3, Chapter 10, Lesson 1.7). Lincoln was in a tough choice about what to do with the integrity of the country during the Civil War and he used his presidential powers to wage war in order to preserve the Union. There is more to the executive branch than just the president however. There’s the Vice President too consider as well and the salaries of the president and the rest of the executive branch. The President earns a pretty decent salary so that he/she can keep working efficiently without having to worry about getting a job that would pay them money. “The president currently earns $400,000 per year. The Executive Office of the President also provides a nontaxable travel allowance of up to $100,000 per year and a $50,000 expense account. Congress cannot increase or decrease the salary during a president’s term.” (Unit 3, Chapter 10, Lesson 2.2). This more or less assures the president and their family that they’ll be living comfortably without having to worry much about financial issues. The same salary can pretty much be seen across the board for the rest of the executive branch staff, and cabinet though with a slight decrease in their pay. Another important figure to talk about is the Vice President, who also has very important duties to do. These duties consist of presiding over the senate in case of a tie, determining if the president is unfit for duty, succeeding the president in case the president it’s unable to hold office, and carrying out various tasks the president might assign to them. “Modern vice presidents have had greater access to the president, participated frequently in policy meetings, and undertaken urgent special assignments.” (Unit 3, Chapter 10, Lesson 2.3). Now, it might not sound like much but having the ability to continue to hold a peaceful transition of power in the middle of an administration is vital to stability. Just as the Vice President being able to listen in on policy meetings and carry out special assignments the president asks them to do helps lighten the load of the executive office for the president. 

]]> 2021-04-15 03:05:34 UTC https://padlet.com/kenneth_saunders/luppmuuic5ly6cyi/wish/1419331151 kenneth_saunders https://padlet.com/kenneth_saunders/luppmuuic5ly6cyi/wish/1419331935      The process for nominating the electing the president is probably what gets everyone watching the election come every 4 years during November. Over the course of the United State’s history how a president has been elected and nominated has significantly changed and sometimes brings up controversy about it. The Presidential candidate has to appeal to the voters so that they vote for them and their party platform. A presidential candidate also has to have a wide variety of supporters in order to successfully get a vote that allows for them to get electoral votes. “While the presidential candidates’ names appear on the ballot, voters are actually voting for electors, people who promise they will officially elect the president several weeks later. Thus, a vote for the Democratic candidate is a vote for the Democratic electors, and a vote for the Republican candidate is a vote for the Republican electors.” (Unit 3, Chapter 10, Lesson 3.1). The Electoral College makes up 538 electors that represent their states representatives and senators. The Electoral College basically gives the people a deciding factor on whom the electors will vote for in that state.   It also gives smaller states an almost equal footing with bigger states when electing whom should be president. The Electoral College isn’t perfect however and has been amended over the course of the years to suit the growing process of the political system of the U.S. “Under the original system, a candidate for vice president could actually receive more votes than a candidate for president. The Twelfth Amendment (1804) required presidential electors to vote separately for president and vice president to solve this problem.” (Unit 3, Chapter 10, Lesson 3.2). To this day the electoral college is heavily debated about whether it should be reformed or not and brings another thing for the people to debate about. A presidential candidate requires 270 or more electoral votes in order to win the White House. “To be elected president or vice president, a candidate must win at least 270 of the 538 votes. The Electoral College is a winner-take-all system in almost every state. That means the candidate who receives the most popular votes in a given state wins all the electoral votes for that state—even if the margin of victory is only a single popular vote!” (Unit 3, Chapter 10, Lesson 3.2). This winner takes all system helps to decide which states were won by what candidate on the ballot. This process can be very tedious as states will collect and tally up the ballots across every county and district. Only two states don’t follow the winner takes all system which are Nebraska and Maine. To get these electoral votes though, a presidential candidate needs to get out and voice their opinions to the public and debate in the primaries, caucuses, and national party conventions. Even then they’re fighting to obtain the right to be representative of that political and have to debate against candidates from the same party.  “In the first phase of presidential campaigns, candidates must convince members of their own political party to choose them instead of another candidate from the same party. So, Democrats run against Democrats and Republicans run against Republicans in a series of primaries or caucuses.” (Unit 3, Chapter 10, Lesson 3.3). Then after the nominee wins their party’s nomination to represent them they have to then debate against the other party/parties candidates for the chance to become president of the United States. As one can see it truly is a big and long ordeal to become president of the U.S.

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