Deck 6: Organizing the Presidency Introductory Puzzle: Why Does a Kid Get to Tell Bill

Question 1

President Clinton relied significantly on his cabinet to guide his decision making and policy actions.

Answer 1

False
Explanation:In Clinton's first year, the president only assembled the entire cabinet seven times and, according to his Labor secretary, Robert Reich, meetings were meaningless and awkward affairs. Cabinet meetings were not the places where policy decisions were made or political influence was exerted.

Question 2

The size of the institution of the presidency has generally remained constant over the past 100 years.

Answer 2

False
Explanation:When Woodrow Wilson became president, the White House staff consisted of only a dozen or so people. Today, the ""presidential branch"" has some 2000 employees and a budget of $400 million.

Question 3

The creation of the Domestic Council during the Nixon administration helped to centralize policy making power in the White House.

Answer 3

True
Explanation:Similar to what the creation of the National Security Council did for foreign policy, Nixon's utilization of the Domestic Council, which was under the control of his powerful aide John Ehrlichman, enabled his administration to develop policy from within the EOP.

Question 4

The creation of the Office of Management and Budget improved neutral competence in the way presidents managed the budgetary process.

Question 5

Every president since Lincoln has utilized a chief of staff to manage the policy and political affairs of the president.

Question 6

The body largely credited with helping to advance the notion that the presidency needed to expand is known to historians as:

A) The Gang of Six.
B) The Cabinet.
C) The Brownlow Committee.
D) The War Hawks.

Question 7

Which nineteenth-century event lead to a more serious focus on how the institution of the presidency was organized?

A) The Louisiana Purchase
B) The Mexican-American War
C) The Civil War
D) The New Deal

Question 8

Which of the following individuals was not an important administrative assistant to President Lincoln?

A) John Hay
B) John Nicolay
C) William O. Stoddard
D) Horace Greeley

Question 9

Who was the first president to rely heavily on White House staff for policy and personnel advice?

A) George Washington
B) Andrew Jackson
C) John Polk
D) Ulysses Grant

Question 10

Which of the following is not a component of the Office of Policy Development today?

A) The National Economic Council
B) The Domestic Policy Council
C) The Policy Leadership Council
D) None of the above