Name:_________________________________________________Date:__________Hour:____
Read the questions below and provide an answer to each. Full credit can only be received for responses that are
written out in complete sentence form where indicated.
The President’s Job Description
Chapter 9 lesson 1 Pages 260-265
A. Read the section “The President’s Roles” and then complete the following matching activity.
Presidential Role
Answer Column
Presidential Role Description
1. chief of state
A. proposes laws to Congress
2. chief executive
B. ceremonial head of government
3. chief administrator
C. represents the American people
4. chief diplomat
D. heads the federal bureaucracy
5. commander in chief
E. determines foreign policy
6. chief legislator
F. leads his or her political party
7. chief of party
G. commands the armed forces
8. chief citizen
H. sees that the nationʼs laws are carried out
B. Read the following examples of historic moments in the Presidency. After reading each example identify
which presidential role was being exercised in each instance.
1. President George W. Bush was invited to stay at the residence of the Queen of England. The purpose of the
visit was to give recognition to the historic ties between the British and American peoples.
Presidential Role:______________________
2. In the early part of the 20th century President Theodore Roosevelt read the book The Jungle by Upton
Sinclair. The book exposed the abuses that were taking place in America’s meat packing plants and slaughter
houses. Consequently, Roosevelt had the US Department of Agriculture begin to enforce much more
stringent regulations on the meat industry to protect average American citizens from eating improperly
processed meat products.
Presidential Role:______________________
3. In 2002 President George W. Bush campaigned for several Republican candidates seeking office in
Congress. His enormous popularity at the time help his party gain more seats in the legislature than it had in
the previous term. The Republican party benefited from the President’s post-9/11 support.
Presidential Role:______________________
4. In December of 2009 President Obama went to the US Military Academy at West Point to announce his
intention to increase the number of US soldiers fighting in Afghanistan by 30,000 in the month to follow. His
decision was based on his beliefs about how the US could best conduct its fight against terrorism.
Presidential Role:______________________
5. After 9/11 President Bush decided that the Federal Bureaucracy was too large and disconnected.
Consequently, he chose to realign several major components of the executive branch in order that security
agencies might be more capable of sharing information. This realignment created the Department of
Homeland Security.
Presidential Role:______________________
6. After the conclusion of World War I President Wilson travelled to Europe to share what he called his
Fourteen Point Plan with the other Allied Victors at the Treaty of Versailles. Wilson hoped, although he later
failed, to make the world “safe for democracy” and have the US join a League of Nations that would attempt
to secure world peace.
Presidential Role:______________________
7. In 1933 Congress passed several bills which President Roosevelt signed into law. This series of legislative
maneuvers created what historically is called the New Deal. With each law the President was allowed to
execute or carry out the laws in an effort to bring the US out of the Great Depression.
Presidential Role:______________________
8. Each year the president goes before a joint session of Congress to encourage the nation’s top law makers to
pass his/her ideas into law.
Presidential Role:______________________
C. Qualification, Compensation, and Term
1. How old does a person need to be in order to be President?
2. What does citizenship and US Residence influence a person’s ability to be President?
3. What is the maximum number of years a person can be president?
4. What is the salary of the US president?
5. How are annual expenses paid or covered for the President?