William_T._Bianco,_David_T._Canon]_American_Polit

Presidential power today 447

in Chapter 6, presidential approval is shaped by factors that they have only limited

control over, such as the state of the economy. And all presidents have taken actions

that were politically costly because they believed that the policies were worthwhile—

for example, many of President Trump’s decisions (such as the travel ban) and his

legislative initiatives (such as the tax cuts enacted in 2017) were opposed by a majority

of Americans. Even so, presidents and their advisers are keenly aware of the political

consequences of their actions, and there is no doubt that these consequences shape

both their decisions and how they explain these actions to American citizens.

The President as Party Leader The president is the unofficial head of his or

her political party and generally picks the party’s day-to-day leaders (or at least has

considerable influence over their selection). This process begins when a presidential

candidate captures the party’s nomination and continues through the president’s time

in office. For example, while many members of the Republican National Committee

(RNC) opposed Donald Trump’s nomination in 2016, the party organized to help

Trump get elected and ran countless campaign ads on his behalf. After the election,

Trump supporters, including the current chair of the RNC, Ronna McDaniel, moved

into senior positions within the party organization.

The connection between the president and the party reflects their intertwining

interests. The president needs support from members of his or her party in Congress

to enact legislation, and the party and its candidates need the president to compile a

record of policy achievements that reflect well on the organization and to help raise

the funds needed for the next election. Therefore, party leaders generally defer to

a presidential candidate’s (or a president’s) staffing requests, and most presidents

and presidential candidates take time to meet with national party leaders and the

congressional leadership from their party to plan legislative strategies, make joint

campaign appearances, and raise funds for the party’s candidates. This is not to say

that members of the president’s party always agree with his or her behavior and issue

positions: during the first two years of Trump’s term, many Republican legislators,

FIGURE

12.2

Source: Approval data from the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research, Cornell University, “Presidential Approval,”

https://presidential.roper.center (accessed 7/30/18).

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100%

Johnson

Defeated

Preelection approval ratings

1964

Nixon

1972

Ford

1976

Carter

1980

Reagan

1984

G. H. W.

Bush

1992

Clinton

1996

G. W.

Bush

2004

Obama

2012

Reelected

Presidential

Popularity and

Reelection

This figure shows the preelection-year

average approval ratings for recent

presidents who ran for reelection.

It shows that a president’s chances

of winning reelection are related to

his or her popularity. At what level

of approval would you say that an

incumbent president is likely to be

reelected?

Full_13_APT_64431_ch12_418-453.indd 447 16/11/18 10:34 AM