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Banking Act
Gave the president the authority to appoint the seven members that direct the nation’s central banking system known as the Federal Reserve System or simply “the Fed.”
Can also appoint the group’s chairman when there is a vacancy in that position -
Executive Agreement
During World War II, Franklin D. Roosevelt lent American ships to the British in exchange for leases on British military bases -
Employment Act
Directed the president to submit an annual economic report to Congress
Also created a Council of Economic Advisers to study the economy and to advise the president on domestic and international economic policies
Declared for the first time that the federal government was responsible for promoting high employment, production, and purchasing power -
Gulf of Tonkin Resolution
Authorized the president to use troops in Vietnam -
Case Act on Executive Agreement
Some presidents have kept executive agreements secret. To prevent this, Congress passed a law in 1972 requiring the president to make public all executive agreements signed each year -
War Power Act
Limited the president’s ability to wage war by preventing presidents from committing troops to combat for more than 60 days without congressional approval
Caused by the continued use of American troops in Vietnam, which the Congress deemed to be an abuse of presidential power -
Panama Canal Treaty and Neutrality Treaty
President Jimmy Carter signed the treaties, promising to give control of the canal to the Panamanians by the year 2000 -
Social Security Deal
In 1983 President Ronald Reagan worked with House Speaker Tip O’Neill to create a bipartisan plan to fund Social Security that required compromises from both parties. -
Line Item Veto Act
Unlike most state governors, the president does not have the power to veto selected items in a bill (aka. line-item veto)
Congress attempted to give the president some power over individual items by passing the Line Item Veto Act in 1996 -
Clinton v. City of New York
The Supreme Court struck down the Line Item Veto Act as unconstitutional, ruling that Congress could not give the president power to alter laws without changing the Constitution -
September 11 Attacks
A series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda on the United States -
War on Terror
President George W. Bush began the “war on terrorism” by sending troops to Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks on the United States -
USA Patriot Act
Gave the president and executive branch broad powers to gather information about possible suspects and to detain people suspected of terrorism
Since its initial passage, the law has been reauthorized in 2005 and 2010, with slight modifications to address critics’ concerns
Expanded presidential powers as a way to fight terrorism -
Authorization to Use Military Force in Afghanistan
Was passed by the Congress by overwhelming margins
Authorizes the use of United States Armed Forces against those responsible for the attacks on September 11, 2001 -
Authorization to use Military Force in Iraq
A resolution passed by the Congress that authorized the president to use the U.S. armed forces in Iraq “as he deems necessary and appropriate.” -
Department of Homeland Security
President Bush persuaded Congress to create a new federal department, the Department of Homeland Security, to better coordinate anti-terrorism activities across the government -
Hamdi v. Rumsfeld
The Supreme Court ruled that the president cannot indefinitely lock up foreigners or U.S. citizens without giving them a chance to challenge their detention in court -
Military Tribunals
The justices rejected the Bush administration’s use of specially created courts called military tribunals to try suspected terrorists -
Libyan Opposition
In 2011 the United States officially recognized the Libyan opposition group that controlled a region of that country as the legitimate government of the whole country -
War on Poverty
Unofficial name for legislation first introduced by United States President Lyndon B. Johnson during his State of the Union address
This legislation was proposed in response to a national poverty rate of around nineteen percent
