iCivics
I Civics: For the President, All in a Day's Work
Students learn the primary responsibilities of the president and how those duties connect to the powers the Constitution grants to the Executive Branch.
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Expansion of Presidential Power: Foundational
This resource from Khan Academy provides foundational-level practice questions over the expansion of presidential power. These questions are intended for students taking high school or college level American Government and Civics...
US National Archives
National Archives: Lesson Plans Congress, the President, and the War Powers
Examine the power of Congress to make war by studying primary source documents from various wars throughout U.S. history. Students will analyze how the balance of authority between the legislative branch and executive branch has changed...
iCivics
I Civics: Mini Lesson: Executive Orders
Students discover how presidents use executive orders to wield power and how the legislative and judicial branches support and challenge these measures.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neh: Edsit Ement: Before and Beyond the Constitution: What Should a President Do?
In this Curriculum Unit, students will consider "Before and Beyond the Constitution: What Should a President do?" in 3 Lessons. The unit also includes worksheets and other student materials that can be found under the resource tab.
Center For Civic Education
Center for Civic Education: What Is the Role of the President?
The president has great power granted to him under Article II of the Constitution, while at the same time extensive limits have been placed to keep that power in check. This source contains extensive background on these powers and...
iCivics
I Civics: Six Roles of the President (Infographic)
Infographic helps keep track of the many hats worn by the president.
The Dirksen Congressional Center
Congress for Kids: The President and Congress
A brief description of the interaction between the president and Congress. Also includes information about the process for signing a bill into a law and take a quiz to test your learning.
Thomson Reuters
Find Law: Article Ii: The President as a Law Enforcer
Read Section 3 of Article II which explains what the President's duties are as Law Enforcer. The Constitution does not state that the President shall execute the laws himself, but that he will ensure that laws are "faithfully executed."
Other
President Gerald Ford's Veto of Railroad Retirement
Text of the message that President Ford wrote to the House of Representatives in 1974 stating his reasons for his veto of the Railroad Retirement Benefits Legislation.
Thomson Reuters
Find Law: u.s. Constitution: Article Ii: Powers and Duties of the President
This resource provides the annotation on Section 2, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution., which outlines the President's responsibilities as Commander-in-Chief.
This Nation
This nation.com: Executive Order 13132 of August 4, 1999
This Executive Order signed by President Bill Clinton on 8/4/99 is an order that describes the balance between state and federal governments, as warranted by the Framers of the Constitution and federalism.
US Government Publishing Office
Ben's Guide to u.s. Government: The President of the United States (9 12)
Summarizes the role of the President as the Head of the Executive Branch and the powers and duties assigned to him by the Constitution. Provides links to further information.
Thomson Reuters
Find Law: Article Ii: Presidential Power to Use Troops
In-depth analysis of the use of presidential power to send troops abroad without consent of Congress.
Thomson Reuters
Find Law: United States Constitution: Article Ii
Full text of Article II from the U.S. Constitution, as well as detailed annotations that explain the reasoning and subsequent impact of each clause and section of the Article. Content explores everything from the nature and scope of...
Yale University
Avalon Project: Constitution of the United States: Article Ii
Read the text of Article II of the Constitution, the four sections of which lay out the powers and duties of the executive branch of the federal government.
Harry S. Truman Library and Museum
Harry S. Truman Library & Museum: Three Branches of Government
Interactive teaching unit for Grades 5-8 that helps to explain the three branches of government and the the balance of power. Topics covered include balance of government, how a bill becomes a law, the amendment process, the Legislative...
Siteseen
Siteseen: Government and Constitution: Article 2 of the Us Constitution
Article 2 of the US Constitution deals with the establishment of the Executive Branch, the election of the President and Vice-President, the powers and responsibilities of the President, and the process of impeachment.
PBS
Pbs Online News Hour: Rice on Iraq, War and Politics
Transcript of an interview of National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice in September of 2002, discussing President George W. Bush's ideas about moving the US into war against Iraq.
US National Archives
Nara: Teaching With Documents: The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo (Activity)
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) provides a lesson, focusing on the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, that relates to the power granted to the President and the Senate to make and approve treaties with foreign nations...
Digital History
Digital History: The Second Red Scare
Senator Joseph McCarthy did not create the national obsession with communist subversion. It had arisen in the late 1930s, years before McCarthy had come to public notice. Angry that they had been barred from the corridors of power for 20...
Khan Academy
Khan Academy: Japanese Internment
Discusses the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, an action that resulted from Franklin D. Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066. The constitutionality of the order was challenged all the way to the Supreme Court by Fred...
Harry S. Truman Library and Museum
Harry S. Truman Library & Museum: Checks and Balances
Descriptions of the separate powers and functions of the three branches of the federal government. Site explains how the powers of one branch check and balance those of another.
Harry S. Truman Library and Museum
Harry S. Truman Library & Museum: Three Branches of Our Government
This slide and the six that follow it (use the advance button near the bottom of the screen) offer an explanation of each of the three branches of government and the duties they perform, including discussion of the tensions arising from...