CHAPTER XXX.

THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE PRESIDENT.

1. AS COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF.

THE president is commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States, and of the militia of the States when in the actual service of the United States. In the exercise of this power, he appoints and removes officers, assigns their stations and duties, and directs the movements of the forces.

2. RESPECTING PARDONS.

He has power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the United States, except in cases of impeachment. A reprieve is the withdrawing of a sentence for an interval of time, thereby delaying execution.

Treaty.

3. RESPECTING TREATIES.

He has power, by and with the advice and consent Definition of of the senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the senators present concur. A treaty is a compact between two or more independent nations, with a view to the public welfare. The principal subjects of treaties are peace, alliance, territory, boundaries, the settle

Subjects.

ment of claims, redress of grievances, commerce, navigation, naturalization, and the giving-up of fugitives from justice. Treaties on the last subject are called “extradition treaties.”

Formation.

Treaties are usually made by agents representing the two governments, the agent of the United States being under the direction of the president. The papers are then laid before the senate, and discussed, where the treaty may be amended, accepted, or rejected. Any amendment must be accepted by the president and by the other government. As the Constitution declares that treaties, as well as the Constitution itself, are the supreme law of the land, the making of treaties is both legislative and executive business: hence the propriety of investing the senate with a share of the power.

4. RESPECTING APPOINTMENTS.

Extent of

The president is required to nominate, and, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, to appoint, ambassadors, other public min- Power. isters and consuls, judges of the supreme court, and all other officers of the United States whose appointment is not otherwise provided for in the Constitution, and which are established by law. But Congress has the power to vest the appointment of such inferior officers as it thinks proper in the president alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.

The filling of an office by the president includes four steps: a nomination in writing by the

president, a vote to confirm by the senate,

Process.

the appointment by the president, and the issuing of a

commission signed by the president, and sealed with the seal of the United States.

The power of removal from office has until recently been supposed to be wholly in the hands.

Removals.

Public Ministers.

of the president; but now a law requires the consent of the senate to removals, as well as appointments. During a recess of the senate, the president may suspend an officer, except a judge of a United States Court, until the end of the next session of the senate, and may appoint a person to fill the temporary vacancy. But, within thirty days after the commencement of the next session of Congress, he must nominate a person for permanent appointment. The president has the power to appoint ambassadors and other public ministers. A Minister is a person sent by a government to represent it in the transaction of business with another government. The term includes officers of various grades. They are called diplomatic agents. It is customary for civilized nations to send representatives to all those foreign nations with whom they desire to maintain friendly intercourse. These officers usually live at the capital of the country to which they are sent. They are supported by their own government, and report to it all matters that concern its interests. Through them business is transacted and courtesies are exchanged. The United States sends ministers with the following titles: minister-plenipotentiary and envoy-extraordinary, minister-resident, and chargé-d'affaires. The Constitution requires the president to receive ambassadors and foreign ministers.

The president also appoints consuls. A consul is a commercial agent appointed by a government to reside

in a foreign country, and attend to the commercial interests of his nation. He is not a diplomatic

agent, but must receive a permit, called

Consuls.

Duties of.

an exequatur, from the government to which he is sent, before he can exercise the functions of his office. This permit may be revoked at any time. The business of the consul is very miscellaneous, including receiving declarations made by seamen or others respecting American commerce, administering on the estates of American citizens dying within their consulate without legal representatives, taking charge of stranded American vessels in the absence of interested parties, settling disputes between masters of vessels and the crews, providing for destitute seamen, and sending them to the United States at the public expense. Consuls are paid by salary or by fees. Both are fixed by Congress.

Among the officers whose appointment is by law vested in the president, are the chief offi- Appointments cers of the various executive departments, by Law. the judges of the various United States courts, districtattorneys and marshals, executive and judicial territorial officers, some postmasters, the more important customs and excise officers, and officers of the army and navy.

The senate may not be in session when a vacancy occurs in an office subject to the appoint- Vacancies ment of the president; and delay might during Recess. damage public interests. The president has the power to fill all such vacancies by issuing commissions to expire at the end of the next session of the senate. During the session, it is expected that he will nominate a person for permanent appointment.

5. RESPECTING MESSAGES.

The president is required to give to Congress, from time to time, information of the state of the Union, and to recommend such measures as he may judge necessary and expedient. Accordingly, at the opening of each annual session of Congress, he sends a message embodying his opinions and suggestions, accompanied by detailed reports of all branches of the executive service. These department reports contain a vast amount of information respecting the state of the country, its resources, and the progress of their development. The president also sends messages during the sessions, either in answer to calls for information, or at his own pleasure.

EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS.

Besides these special duties that have been considered, the president, as the chief executive officer, is required to see that all laws are faithfully executed. This work necessitates the employment of a large number of subordinate officers, and a careful distribution of functions. All the executive business is distributed among seven departments constituted by acts of Congress. The chief officers of these are as follows: Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of War, Secretary of the Navy, Secretary of the Interior, Postmaster-General, Attorney-General. These officers constitute the president's cabinet. The Constitution gives him the right to require their opinion in writing upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices; but he is not bound to follow their advice, nor is their consent

Cabinet.