Jennifer White
Government 2305
5 March 2015
Duties of the President The express power and responsibilities of the President as provided in Article II of the Constitution are very detailed as only four specific powers exist. They included the commander in chief of the military, power to grant reprieves or pardons, power to make treaties(subject to Senate approval), and power to make certain appointments those of ambassadors and justices of the Supreme Court. The president has the power to pardon any person who has committed a federal crime. With permission from two-thirds of the senators present, the president can make treaties with other countries. With the approval of a majority of senators, the president makes a number of key appointments. These include U.S. ambassadors and foreign consuls, Supreme Court justices and federal judges, U.S. attorneys, U.S. marshals, Cabinet officers, independent agency heads, and members of regulatory commissions. To ensure that the president can fill vacancies when the Senate is not in session, the president can make any of these appointments without Senate approval, but these “recess appointments” end at the end of the next Senate session. The roles and functions of the President, including head of state, head of government, chief diplomat, commander in chief, and chief legislator. As the head of state the President is responsible for the execution and enforcement of the laws created by Congress. The President has the power either to sign legislation into law or to veto bills enacted by Congress, although Congress may override a veto with a two-thirds vote of both houses. The President as Chief diplomat is the main face and voice of American foreign policy, negotiating treaties and other sorts of agreements with foreign leaders (although the Senate must approve all treaties). The president uses two key tools to conduct foreign policy: An Executive agreement made with foreign leaders that does not require Senate approval (although Congress may refuse to fund the agreement); executive agreements are not necessarily binding on future presidents. Diplomatic recognition: Formal acknowledgment of a government as legitimate; this recognition allows the exchange of ambassadors. The President as Chief legislator the president does not have any formal legislative power but has acquired a great deal of informal power as relations between the president and Congress have evolved. People expect the president to have a legislative agenda, a series of laws he or she wishes to