What qualities do modern presidents need to fulfill their many roles?
Without help, the president could never wear so many hats, much less faithfully execute the laws of Congress. As chief executive, the president both oversees and is assisted by the vast bureaucracy that makes up and manages the executive branch. This branch consists of four main groups: the White House staff, the Executive Office of the President, the executive departments, and independent agencies. The diagram “The Executive Branch” shows how the executive branch is organized.
The White House staff consists of about 400 people. It includes the president's personal lawyer, press secretary, various speech writers, and many assistants. Many of these staffers have offices in the West Wing of the White House. The most powerful staff member is the chief of staff, who is considered the president's most loyal aide.
Presidents depend on the White House staff to provide them with guidance and advice on a wide range of issues. The chief of staff also serves as a “gatekeeper,” controlling who gets to talk to the president and who does not.
The Executive Office of the President (EOP) was created in 1939 by Congress to provide support staff to the president. Today it has about 1,800 employees.
The agencies that make up the EOP perform a variety of specialized tasks for the president. The largest, the Office of Management and Budget, helps the president prepare an annual budget proposal to Congress.
Other key agencies within the EOP include the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA) and the National Security Council (NSC). The CEA provides advice on the economy. The NSC advises the president on foreign and defense policy.
Presidents can also add new agencies to the Executive Office of the President to carry out specific goals of their administration. For example, George W. Bush created the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, which coordinates public and private efforts to provide social services. Later, Barack Obama established the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to educate consumers about financial products and services.
The executive departments make up a third group of organizations in the executive branch. These departments carry out the work of government in broad areas of public policy, such as agriculture, commerce, and labor.
Each department also contains federal agencies that target more specific policy areas within the department's general focus. For example, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency that exists within the Justice Department, while the U.S. Mint is part of the Treasury Department.
During Washington's presidency, there were just three executive departments: War, State, and Treasury. Washington met with these departments regularly to debate issues. Today there are 15 executive departments. The newest is the Department of Homeland Security, created in 2003. All 15 department heads are members of the cabinet, which may also include the vice president and the national security adviser. As cabinets have grown in size, presidents have become less inclined to hold regular meetings. Instead, they are more likely to turn to White House staff and other personal advisers for help in crafting policy.
The executive branch also includes dozens of independent agencies that help implement federal policy. These groups are considered independent because they do not fall within executive departments, though they answer directly to the president. These groups go by various names, including agency, commission, administration, authority, and corporation.
One of the largest independent agencies is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). This agency was created in 1958 to help the United States compete with the Soviet Union in the space race. Other well-known independent agencies include the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Peace Corps, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Some independent agencies create and enforce regulations. The FCC, for example, has jurisdiction over channels of communication, including radio and television, and the FDA was established to promote public health through regulating consumable food and pharmaceutical products.
A few federal agencies are run like businesses. They depend on revenues that they generate themselves rather than on tax dollars. The U.S. Postal Service is one such agency.