Diplomat- Ronald Reagan - Tear Down This Wall

In this video President Reagan is acting as a diplomat. In his speech Reagan tells Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall" in reference to the Berlin Wall. Here President Reagan is effective as a diplomat and this speech is regarded as one of the best of his presidency.

National Mourner- Willam J. Clinton: Oklahoma Bombing Memorial Speech

In this video, President Clinton is acting as a national mourner for the country. This is a speech he gave in response to the Oklahoma City bombings. He is effective as a national mourner in this speech because he connects with the American people by shedding tears and showing he is emotionally touched by this event.

Crisis Manager- George W. Bush - 9/11 Bullhorn Speech

This is a speech given at ground zero by President Bush just days after the 9/11 attacks. In his speech President Bush told America that the terrorists will hear from America. President Bush recieved high marks for this speech and was effective as a crisis manager in this instance.

Johnson Impeachment

Andrew Johnson is known for being one of the worst Presidents in the history of United States. On February 21, 1868 Johnson removed Edwin Stanton as Secretary of War and replaced him with Adjutant-General Lorenzo Thomas, only three days later the House of Representatives impeached him for "high crimes and misdemeanors." Thaddeus Stevens and John Bingham were in charge of informing the Senate that Johnson had been impeached. In the following days the House adopted 11 articles of impeachment against Johnson. They were as follows; Dismissing Stanton from office after the Senate had voted not to concur with his dismissal and had ordered him reinstated, Appointing Thomas Secretary of War ad interim despite the lack of vacancy in the office, since the dismissal of Stanton had been invalid, Appointing Thomas without the required advice and consent of the Senate, Conspiring, with Thomas and "other persons to the House of Representatives unknown," to unlawfully prevent Stanton from continuing in office, Conspiring to unlawfully curtail faithful execution of the Tenure of Office Act, Conspiring to "seize, take, and possess the property of the United States in the Department of War.", Conspiring to "seize, take, and possess the property of the United States in the Department of War" with specific intent to violate the Tenure of Office Act, Issuing to Thomas the authority of the office of Secretary of War with unlawful intent to "control the disbursements of the moneys appropriated for the military service and for the Department of War.", Issuing to Major General William H. Emory orders with unlawful intent to violate the Tenure of Office Act, Making three speeches with intent to sow disrespect for the Congress among the citizens of the United States. On three different votes 35 senators voted Johnson guilty and 19 voted him innocent. Because the Constitution says to be convicted you must receive a 2/3 vote, Johnson was thus acquitted. One more “guilty” vote would have changed the verdict.  

Source: http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/impeach/impeachmt.htm

Nuclear Nonproliferation: Comprehensive U.S. Planning and Better Foreign Cooperation Needed to Secure Vulnerable Nuclear Materials Worldwide

            In April of 2009, President Obama and his administration announced an international initiative to secure all vulnerable nuclear materials worldwide within 4 years. In its report the Government Accountability Office assessed the United States efforts to implement the President’s 4 year global nuclear material security initiative; the status and challenges, if any, of NNSA's nuclear security programs in Russia; and, the NNSA efforts to secure nuclear materials in countries other than Russia. The report found that NSC officials have approved a government wide strategy for the President's 4-year global nuclear material security initiative that describes the scope and objectives of the interagency effort and identifies the main efforts by U.S. agencies and programs to support the initiative. However, this interagency strategy lacks specific details concerning how the initiative will be implemented, including the identity of vulnerable foreign nuclear material sites and facilities to be addressed, agencies and programs responsible for addressing each site, planned activities at each location, potential challenges and strategies for overcoming those obstacles, anticipated timelines, and cost estimates. Overall, the GAO recommended to Congress to amend a law which would give more time for this process to occur. Also, the GAO recommended to President Obama and the National Security Council to provide a clear sense of the overall scope of work anticipated under the President's initiative to secure all vulnerable nuclear materials worldwide within 4 years, the NSC should lead and coordinate through NNSA, DOD, State, and other relevant agencies, including members of the intelligence community, the development of a comprehensive plan for implementing the initiative.

Source: http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-11-227

The Final Days of the 111th Congress

                As the New Year approaches and the 112^th Congress is waiting to be sworn in, Democratic lawmakers are rushing to push legislation through Congress before the lame duck session expires. According to Politico.com it looks as though lawmakers on Capitol Hill will be forced to stay in session until Christmas Eve and there is even talk that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid will call back the Senate for a post-Christmas session. This would be the first time a post-Christmas session took place since 1995. The Senate has yet to vote on various pieces of legislation such as the START treaty, the government funding bill, and a food safety measure bill. As the 111^th Congress draws to a close the schedule in the House looks a little less hectic but House members have yet to vote on a 9/11 first responders bill which was amended by the Senate last week. Since the Congress has yet to pass an appropriations bill all year there is the prospect that the government could shut down. Because of this Reid says that this bill is of top priority and that a vote is expected to take place Tuesday evening. The senate would also like to vote on a lands bill and a defense policy bill but it looks as though there will not be enough time for a vote to take place. As the year draws to a close, Capitol Hill has been a very chaotic place especially because the incoming congress who are moving into their new office spaces. Many defeated lawmakers are being forced to work out of small cubicles in the basement.

Source: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1210/46634.html

A Pledge to America

            Although the new Republican proposal “A Pledge to America” is built around the same idea as the 1994 outline “A Contract with America” it is also very different. The 2010 model is different from the 1994 model because it focuses more on economic issues than value-based issues. The first few pages of “A Pledge to America” discuss the Declaration of Independence in modern terms and also warn about the power of an unchecked executive branch. The document than lists four specific goals that they plan to achieve. The first goal is to extend the Bush tax cuts to both the middle class and the upper class. After that, they plan to lower spending to pre-stimulus levels. Thirdly, they plan to repeal the recent healthcare reform and replace it with common sense solutions. Some examples of a common sense solution are outlined as keeping the ban on pre-existing condition exclusions and also getting rid of the individual mandate. Lastly, they plan to reform Congress and restore trust by citing the constitutional authority of any proposed bill and by also reading aloud any proposed bill and to allow at least three days to pass before the bill can be voted on. Whether or not the Republicans will accomplish these goals is a big question and in my opinion they will not accomplish all of them. However, the Republicans and Democrats have compromised and plan to extend both Bush tax cuts and a vote on the extension is scheduled to take place in congress sometime next week, so it appears that the GOP will be able to cross that goal off their checklist. In regards to the lowering of spending levels, I don’t think that the Republicans will be able to accomplish this, because they do not outline any major cuts anywhere in the document. They only list small cuts that will have very little effect on the budget. Also, I believe that the Republicans will not be able to kill the healthcare bill because they do not have a majority in both houses. Lastly, in regards to reforming and restoring congress I think that this is just something the Republicans put in the pledge to make look good and is something they won’t actually do.