|
|
 |
Essay on The US Government
| Date: |
03-20-98 8:57pm |
| Subject: |
Politics |
| Word Count: |
3854 |
| Page Count: |
15.42 |
The US Government
William Jefferson Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton was born on August 19, 1946, in
Hope, Arkansas. His father, William J. Blythe III was killed in
an automobile collision just two months before William's birth.
At age four, William Jefferson Blythe IV was legally adopted by
his mothers second husband, Roger Clinton, making him William
Jefferson Clinton.
At age 22 William received a Bachelor's degree from
Georgetown University. Just five years later, he received his
law degree from Yale.
Soon after graduating from Yale, he became a law
professor at the University of Arkansas. He did not stay in one
place for long though, and in 1978 he became the Attorney
General of Arkansas. From this political position, he moved
higher up in the ranks and in 1978 won the election for the
gubernatorial seat of Arkansas. In the 1980 elections, however,
William (Bill) was defeated by Republican Frank White. As the
youngest governor of Arkansas in 40 years, Bill then became the
youngest ex-governor in United States history. During the
interim, Clinton was hired by the law firm Wright, Lindsey and
Jennings. In the 1982 elections, Mr. Clinton went after the
position of governor with renewed vigor and defeated incumbent
Republican Frank White. During the campaigning for the election
a Time magazine article stated: "If Clinton does win, it could
seem like less a comeback than a canny mid-course
correction in the path of a young, bright political star."
Clinton went on to win the next two gubernatorial
elections in the state of Arkansas. In 1988 he had the
possibility of a Democratic Party presidential nomination,
but he refused to run. Finally, in 1991, Clinton announced that
he was going to run for President of the United States.
In the 1992 election, Bill Clinton ran against Republican
incumbent George Herbert Walker Bush and independent Ross H.
Perot. During the campaign, Bill met with some difficulty
when the media discovered that he had dodged the Vietnam draft,
been unfaithful to his spouse, and smoked marijuana while
attending Oxford. Bill placated the liberal-biased media by
saying that he didn't believe in the war, and he "didn't inhale."
Opposition mounted when reporters discovered that Clinton and his
wife, Hillary Rodham, whom he married in 1975, had made some
questionable dealings over a piece of real estate referred to
commonly as Whitewater.
Despite the seemingly insurmountable odds, Clinton won
the election, with 46% of voting Americans supporting him.
Antonin Scalia, Supreme Court Justice
Antonin Scalia was born March 11, 1936 in an Italian
majority section of Trenton, New Jersey. His father, Eugene
Scalia was a literary scholar and a professor of Romance
Languages at Brooklyn College. His mother was an elementary
school teacher.
Scalia attended Xavier High School, a Catholic Military
academy. He graduated, first in his class, in 1953. One of his
good friends once said: "He was brilliant, way above everybody
else." He later majored in History at Georgetown University in
Washington, D.C., where he again graduated first in his class.
Soon after leaving Georgetown, he enrolled in Harvard Law
School, where he was known around the campus as an effective
debater.
From Harvard he earned an LL. B. Degree and in 1960
joined the Cleveland based law firm Jones, Day, Cockly and
Reavis. He was one of the most straightforward conservatives on
the staff and there too earned a reputation as a debater.
Later, President Richard Nixon appointed Scalia to the
position of Part-time General Counsel in Executive Office of
Telecom Policy. He was confirmed by Congress under the
Gerald Ford administration for the position of Assistant Attorney
General in charge of the Justice Department's office of legal
counsel. At that time his job was mostly to give advice to the
President and the Attorney General.
In 1977 he became a Professor at the University of
Chicago Law School. Antonin Scalia is now an associate justice of
the United States Supreme Court. He took his oath in 1986 and is
the first Italian-American Supreme Court Justice. He was part of
President Ronald Reagan's effort to make the judiciary system
more conservative.
Mr. Scalia is very outspoken against racially based
affirmative action programs and the "Constitutional Right" to
abortion. His views are closely related to those of the Reagan
administration. Scalia is a very intelligent individual, has an
elegant writing style, and has personal charm that makes him an
influential member on the Supreme Court.
Legislative Department
The Legislative Department consists mostly of the House
and the Senate, the two parts of Congress. The Senate has 100
members or two per state. The House of Representatives has
one representative per 30,000 people in the state, currently 435,
not including the one from Washington, D.C., who is not allowed
to vote. This is called the "great compromise" because
when the laws were first being written the larger states wanted
to have a system like the House of Representatives, and the
smaller states wanted an equal voice and liked the Senate system
better. Finally, in a compromise they decided to have both.
Facts on the House of Representatives:
ú House of Representative members are elected to a 2 year term.
ú The minimum age to become a member is 25 years.
ú In order to become a member, you must have been a citizen of
the United States for 7 years.
ú Members must be a resident of the state they are elected by.
ú The House of Representatives has the `power of impeachment.'
This means that the House can vote to put the president of the
United States on trial before the Senate. The only president
to have ever been impeached was Andrew Johnson in 1867. When the
Senate finally voted, however, he missed being removed from
office by one vote.
Facts on the Senate:
ú Senators are elected to six year terms.
ú The minimum age for a senator is 30 years.
ú You must have been a citizen of the United States for 9 years.
ú The Senate tries cases of impeachment.
Powers Granted to Congress
The congress shall have the power
1. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay
the debts and provide for the common defense and general
welfare of the United States; but all duties, imposts, and
excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;
2. To borrow money on the credit of the United States;
3. To regulate commerce with foreign nations and among several
states;
4. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform
laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United
States;
5. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign
coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;
6. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities
and current coin of the United States;
7. To establish post offices and post roads;
8. To promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing
for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive
rights to their respective writings and discoveries;
9. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court;
10. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the
high seas and offenses against the law of nations;
11. To declare war and make rules concerning captures on land and
water.
12. To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money
for that use shall be for a longer term than two years;
13. To provide and maintain a navy;
14. To make rules for the government and regulation of the land
and naval forces;
15. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws
of the Union, suppress the insurrections, and repel invasions;
16. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the
militia, and for governing such part of them as may be
employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the
states, respectively, the appointment of the officers, and
the authority of training the militia according to
the discipline prescribed by Congress.
Ronald Wilson Reagan
Ronald W. Reagan was born February 6, 1911, in Tampico, Illinois.
He attended Eureka College and graduated in 1932 with a Bachelor
of Arts degree in economics. He was also popular on his
high school football team and played in college.
Soon after graduating from college, Reagan began working
as a radio sports announcer. His big break, however, was in 1937
when he became a contract actor for Warner Brothers starring in
such movies as Knute Rockne-All American, King's Row, and
probably his most famous, Bedtime for Bonzo.
During WWII Reagan patriotically served his country
(unlike some other presidents) as a captain in the army. It was
soon after this that he became active in Democratic politics,
supporting Harry S. Truman for president in 1948 and Douglas over
Nixon in the California senatorial race in 1950. In 1952, Ronald
Reagan married actress Nancy Davis, a contract actress for Metro-
Goldwyn-Mayer. They had two children.
Between the years of 1954 and 1962 Reagan was the host of
a television program called General Electric Theater. In the
early 1950's, Reagan wised up and became more conservative,
this time supporting Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952 and Richard
Nixon in 1960. In 1962, Mr. Reagan switched his voter
registration to Republican, and was elected governor of
California in 1966 and 1970.
He was not able to do everything that he had hoped as
governor, because for six of the eight years there was a
democratic majority in the state legislature. However, he did
find time to cut welfare and start the Medi-Cal program to pay
medical bills for the poor. Reagan increased income taxes to
avoid a projected deficit but later gave rebates when the
state government had a surplus. Reagan also lowered the high
property taxes of California.
In 1976, Ronald Reagan challenged Gerald R. Ford for the
Republican nomination but lost by a small margin. He was not a
quitter, however, and in 1980 he chased after the nomination
again and easily beat George Bush whom he later chose for his
vice president.
During the Reagan Administration, Reagan brought
conservatives to power both in the Republican Party and in the
nation. Reagan's economic program, sometimes called
Reaganomics, was a tax and spending cuts budget which stimulated
economic growth between 1982 and 1987.
The Constitution of the United States of America
The constitution of the United States is the framework of
the government. On it all laws are based, and if there is a
conflict, the law will be determined unconstitutional by the
Supreme Court. An amendment to the constitution is when a change
is made to the constitution. In this section of my Government
Booklet, some of the most important amendments will
be discussed.
Amendment 1
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of
religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging
the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the
people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the government for
a redress of grievances.
The first amendment is probably the most famous
amendment, because it gives citizens of the United States their
basic rights and privileges. However, these rights do have
limits, and once you go past the limit, you are breaking the law.
Amendment 2
A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a
free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall
not be infringed.
Ask any member of the NRA what the second amendment is,
and 9 times out of ten, he will be able to quote it for you.
With the laws going more and more to the left, it is my
guess that this right will be infringed within the next ten
years.
Amendment 4
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses,
papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures,
shall not be violated; and no warrants shall issue but upon
probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and
particularly describing the place to be searched, and the
persons or things to be seized.
This amendment is basically saying that the government,
police, etc., cannot come into your house without a warrant and
`just cause' for wanting to search the area.
Amendment 8
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines
imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.
This amendment is one of the ones for people accused of a
crime. In essence, they are not to have bail unreasonably high,
fines unreasonably high, or tortured. Many people say that
the death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment, but they are
wrong.
Amendment 13
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment
for a crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted,
shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to
their jurisdiction. Congress shall have the power to enforce
this article by appropriate legislation.
This amendment totally abolishes any slavery within the
legal jurisdiction of the United States.
Amendment 19
The right of the citizens of the United States to vote shall not
be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on
account of sex. The Congress shall have power to enforce this
article by appropriate legislation.
This amendment, made in 1920, gives women the right to
vote. Previously, women had almost no rights, and voting was a
privilege that they were not allowed to have.
Amendment 21
The Eighteenth Article of amendment to the Constitution of the
United States is hereby repealed. The transportation or
importation into any state, territory, or possession of
the United States for delivery or use therein of intoxicating
liquors, in violation of the laws thereof, is hereby
prohibited.
This amendment repealed, or took back the eighteenth
amendment which made alcohol illegal.
Amendment 22
No person shall be elected to the office of the President more
than twice, and no person who has held the office of President,
or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which
some other person was elected President shall be elected to the
office of President more than once.
This amendment makes it so that a president can only
serve for two terms in his lifetime. This keeps the United States
from ever having a dictatorship.
Amendment 26
The right of citizens of the United States, who are 18 years of
age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the
United States or any state on account of age. The Congress shall
have the power to enforce this article by appropriate
legislation.
This amendment, made in 1971, lowers the voting age from
21 to 18.
The Executive Branch
The executive branch of the government is led by the
president, currently Bill Clinton. His main duties are to:
A) Enforce laws. It is the in the oath of office of the
president to `uphold the laws and constitution of the United
States.'
B) Act as Commander in chief of the armed forces. The president
has this title because he is the `head honcho' in the military.
The buck stops there. The president can ask congress for
the right to go to war as did Franklin Delano Roosevelt after
the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Congress
voted yes and the United States entered WWII.
C) Appoint key officials in the government. Among the many that
the president appoints are Supreme Court Justices, the
surgeon general, and the attorney general.
D) Recommend laws to congress. The president can introduce a
bill to congress. The Senate and the House will vote on the
bill. If both approve it, it goes back to the president for
him to sign. Once he has signed it, it is a law. Either part
of Congress may introduce a bill as well. If it passes
through both the House and the Senate, it goes to the president
for him to sign. If he disagrees with the bill, he may choose
to veto it. Veto is a combination of the words vote no. When
the president vetoes a bill, it goes back to Congress for them
to review it. In order to check the president's power and pass
the bill into law, there must be a two-thirds majority when
the ballots are cast.
The president also has the power to grant a reprieve or
pardon to any convicted criminal or even someone who has not been
charged yet. This is illustrated by Gerald Ford's pardon of
Richard Nixon before he was to be charged for any involvement of
his in the Watergate scandal. The pardon was granted to keep the
United States from being embarrassed at having one of their
presidents on trial. On the upside, Nixon was respected globally
for his efforts to open and establish relations with China.
The president of the United states has a four year term.
He may serve up to two terms in his lifetime. The salary for the
president is $200,000 per year. The president must also be a
natural born citizen and must have lived in the United States for
14 years before running.
Jack Metcalf
Jack Metcalf, a Washington State senator, attended the
University of Washington between 1944 and 1948. He earned a
Bachelor of Arts degree from Pacific Lutheran University
in 1951 and then later in 1965-66 went back to the University of
Washington. He also patriotically served his country in the
armed forces between 1946 and 1947.
Metcalf, a teacher and bed & breakfast owner, has a wife,
Norma, and four children.
Metcalf has a colorful background as a good Republican
public servant. His political career began in 1958 when he
received the Republican nomination for one of the Washington
House of Representatives positions. Between the years of 1961
and 1965, Jack Metcalf served his state in the Washington House
of Representatives. In 1964, however, he was defeated for
re-election. Never a quitter, though, Metcalf ran for a
Washington State senator position, and won. He served as a
senator between 1967 and 1975. In 1968 and 74, Metcalf,
now a seasoned politician, received the Republican nomination for
the Senate. He served in the Washington Senate from 1981 to
1993. He was the Republican nominee for the United States House
of Representatives in 1992.
At the age of 67, he took his House of Representatives
oath, and was the oldest member of the "Class of `94." In his
1992 campaign for the Congressional seat against Democratic
challenger Al Swift, he promised to limit his terms to six years
in Congress. He has described himself as a "guy willing to take
some kamikaze runs." Metcalf has stated a call for the
restoration of the gold standard, and criticizes the Federal
Reserve System.
In 1994, it did not look like Metcalf was indeed going to
again win the Republican nomination. He had to survive direct
attacks from Republican rival Senator Tom Erwin in the primaries.
He won the nomination, however, but it looked bleak for Metcalf
against State Senator Harriet Spanel. However, most of her
financial backing came from unions, environmentalists, and
women's groups. 1994 was the wrong year to be a liberal.
Although Spanel had the better funding, she was hurt by her
support of the assault weapons ban and the Brady Bill. Metcalf
opposed both. Another thing that helped Metcalf was his total
opposition to abortion, which made him popular among
conservatives. Spanel won support from San Juan
County, but Metcalf won the rest of the counties in the district.
Review
There are three branches of the United States Government.
The legislative, judicial, and the executive. Ideally, no one is
more powerful than the other two. They are all equal. They all
have certain powers as well as certain checks on powers.
Congress is the main body of the legislative branch, and is
composed of two parts: the Senate and the House of
Representatives. The judicial branch consists of all of the
courts in the United States, but is headed by the
Supreme Court. The president is the leader of the Executive
branch. In order to become a president, one must be at least 35
years of age and a natural born citizen living in the United
States for 14 years. The term of office for a president is 4
years.
The term of office for the Unites States House of
Representative members is 2 years, while Senators enjoy 6 years
in a term. In order to be in the House, you must be at least 25
years of age, for Senators the minimum age is 30. There are 100
members of the Senate, two for every state. The House of
Representatives, however, has 435 members, plus one from
Washington D.C., but he/she is not allowed to vote.
In order for a bill to become law, it must pass the
Senate, House of Representatives, and the President must sign it.
If the president vetoes a bill, it is kicked back into Congress,
where it may undergo revision, or simply be voted upon again. If
Congress votes and both halves get a 2/3 majority, the bill is
passed into law without the president being able to do anything
about it.
Some of the president's jobs are to be the Commander in
Chief of the Armed Forces, to enforces laws, and to grant pardons
to criminals. Congress sets and collects taxes, has the
power to borrow money, declares war, provides for an army and a
navy, creates lesser courts, and coins money.
Bibliography
Blough, Glen O. The Young People's Book of Science. United
States of America, McGraw-Hill, c1968, pp. 1-436.
Claiborne, Robert. Word Mysteries & Histories. Boston, Houghton
Mifflin Company, c1986. pp. 2-308.
"Congress." The New American Desk Encyclopedia. Volume 1, page
302. United States of America, Penguin Books Incorporated, 1989.
Markoff, John. Cyberpunk. New York, Simon & Schuster, c 1991,
pp. 1-366
"Webster's New World Dictionary Second College Edition," United
States of America, The World Publishing Company, c1970. pp.
156, 224, 332, 627, 633.
Wood, Leonard C. America, its People and its Values. United
States of America, Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, c1979
Complete List:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
|