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Bobâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s road to the White House

By Alex Taylor Government 3rd Block

Table of Contents Chapter 1 - President and Vice President Basics Chapter 2 - Electing the President Chapter 3 - The Cabinet Chapter 4 - The Executive Office Chapter 5 - Presidential Powers

This is Bob. His dream is to be president of the United States of America. What Bob doesn’t know is that it’s a long hard road to becoming president. There’s alot that you have to learn before you become a president. Bob starts his path with telling his teacher.

Barack Obama


Chapter 1 President and Vice President Basics

Joe Biden

Vice President

“Mrs.Anderson, when I become President, I’m going to stay in office for 100 years!” Said Bob. “You know you aren’t able to do that right? A president’s term, or his time in office is only four years long. Also, he can only be a President two times which means he can be a President for 8 years. When those years are up he can never be president again.” Explained Mrs.Anderson. “That’s still a long time but can you tell me how much the president gets paid and what comes with being the President? Asked Bob.

“The President makes $400,000 a year and he gets paid and he gets protection from the secret service for the rest of his life. Those are some pretty cool benefits to have.” Said Mrs.Anderson. “I’m 6 but can I be president?” Asked Bob. “You can’t because for you to be president you have to be at least 35 years old. Also, you have to be born here in the U.S and have to have been living here for at least 14 years. You’re aren’t even 14 yet so there’s no way you could have lived here for 14 years. It also would help if you went to college and know something about government.” Answered Mrs.Anderson. “Oh cool, but I have one more question, if the President got sick and died, what would happen? Would there be no President anymore?” Bob Asked. “That’s a good question Bob. If that was to happen, the Vice President would take over. The VP’s main role is President of something called the Senate. The last bit of info I want to share is that if the President commits a crime, he can be charged or ‘impeached’”. Said Mrs.Anderson.


Chapter 2

Electing the President


15 Years Later………….

21 year old Bob spent all night in his college dorm researching about electing president so he could one day reach his dream.Below is info from his PC: How it used to be The original process was very simple, 3 steps really Nomination 1. A certain number of men from each state were to were chosen to be candidates Candidate Selection 2.Man with most votes would be President Final Vote 3.If no one has the most votes, the President would be chosen from up to 5 favorites of the people voting with each state having 1 vote

Functions Of Political Parties -To organize and resolve problems between parties Presidential Primaries -Both parties nominate their candidate for president Nominating The President -Held every 4 years in November (first Tuesday after the first Monday) Straight Ticket vs. Split Ticket - Straight means one party throughout and Split is varied

Role Of Media Plays a big part. If the candidate does something bad and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s put on tv, people wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t vote for him Red State Vs. Blue State Republican V. Democrat Why People Choose one over the other? Because one party has more of their views What determines electoral vote? The way that particular state votes

Electoral College Issues The main issue is that states feel misrepresented(D.C) Possible Fixes Whoever has majority vote wins that state If no majority recount Voting Right Amendments 15th-Men of all races can vote 19th-Women got the right to vote 23rd-People who live in D.C can vote 24th-Poll taxes were banned 26th-Citizens 18 years and older can vote

Inauguration This is when the President announces the beginning of his term

20 Years Laterâ&#x20AC;Ś. Bob was officially elected President of the United States of America and went through the inauguration soon after.

Chapter 3 The Cabinet

Bob giving his first speech as President. “As President I have the ability to chose my Cabinet. The Cabinet is a group of people that help me carry out laws and they help me make decisions.”The Cabinet Departments are as follows: _______Department Of…. ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

State - Foreign Policy The Treasury - Gov’t funds and regulations of alcohol, firearms, tobacco Defense - National Defense Justice - Represents U.S Gov’t in Federal Courts Interior - Manages the nation’s natural resources Agriculture - Oversees food-quality programs Commerce - Aids businesses and conducts the U.S Census Labor - Runs labor programs Health & Human Services - Runs Health, Welfare, and Social Security Programs

● ● ● ● ● ●

Housing and Urban Development - Responsible for urban and housing programs Transportation - Responsible for mass transportation and highway programs Energy - Responsible for energy policy and research Education - Responsible for the Federal Gov’t education programs Veterans Affairs - Responsible for programs aiding veterans Homeland Security - Responsible for all issues pertaining to homeland security

Chapter 4 The Executive Office

Executive Office Agencies Table



The Office Of Management and Budget

Prepares the Presidentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s yearly money

National Security Council

Discusses security of the country

National Homeland Security Council

Discusses homeland security

The Council of Economic Advisors

Discusses the money of the country

The people that live and work in the White House with Bob the President are called the White House Staff. Those people have different duties. There is the Chief who keeps everything together, Planners, and Counselor.

Chapter 5

Now that Bob is President is has special powers. Those powers are… ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Executive Powers - Enforce Laws Appointment Power - President chooses Judges and leaders Power to convene Congress - President can call Congress to meet Power to make treaties - President can make peace with other countries Veto Power - President can stop a bill from becoming a law Commander in Chief over military - Wage war Pardoning Power - President can get anybody out of jail

A lot of things have changed a lot since George Washington was the President


Presidents have been give more authority. An example would be President Richard Nixon spying on terrorist phone calls or President Bush controlling the military from the White House. Some of this power is limited by congress by laws and other things. For example congress can override a veto.

Bob has other responsibilities as president such as Head of State, Chief Executive, Chief Legislator, Economic Planner, Party Leader, Chief Diplomat and Commander in Chief. A table on the next page will explain these.


Role Description

Head of State

Ceremony duties

Chief Executive

Executive power of the government

Chief Legislator

Public Policies

Economic Planner

Plans economy(money)

Party Leader

Get people in his party to do what he wants

Chief Diplomat

Foreign Policy

Commander In Chief

Military Leaders

Over the years the president is expected to do more and more. With so much more to do, the job can get really stressful.


Executive branch