Article II of the Constitution
Civics 101
This episode of Civics 101 explores Article II of the U.S. Constitution, focusing on the structure, powers, and limitations of the executive
Key takeaways
- Article II contains one of the most concise yet powerful job descriptions in the Constitution: the presidential oath to 'preserve, protect, and defend' the Constitution.
- The vesting clause—'the executive power shall be vested in a president'—is interpreted differently over time, leading to debates about the unitary executive theory.
Main topics
- Article II of the U.S. Constitution
- The presidential oath of office
Notable quotes
"Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation... I will faithfully execute the office of president of the United States."
Conclusion
Article II, though brief, forms the foundation of presidential authority in the U.S. Constitution. Its clarity
Transcript preview
Speaker 2 (0:02) You are listening to Civics 101. I'm Nick Capodice. I'm Speaker 7 (0:05) Hannah McCarthy. Speaker 2 (0:06) And in one of the most 101 things we've ever done on this show, Hannah and I are continuing our meticulous journey through the articles in the Constitution. We have battled the Balrog of Congress, which is the very extensive Article 1. And now we're moving on with a job that Congress and the Supreme Court are tasked with keeping in check. The gosh darn president of the United States of America. Now, Hannah, I wanted to keep this episode, as we say in the podcast biz, as evergreen as possible. And that has been very difficult to do. Speaker 7 (0:41) Evergreen, meaning that listeners can listen to this episode years from now, and it will still make sense because it's not, you know, super tied to current events. Speaker 2 (0:50) Yeah, and again, it's been hard. But while we will touch on the current administration a little bit, first and foremost, we are focusing on the words. Today is our top-to-bottom exploration of Article 2, what the Constitution says about the executive branch. Stick around. Speaker 1 (1:16) The Speaker 5 (1:17) city moves fast, but your vibe, that's different. Sharper, smoother, more alive. Speaker 1 (1:27) The new Speaker 5 (1:32) Honda City isn't just made to drive, it's made to feel. The new Honda City, all new vibe. Speaker 6 (1:40) I want to start off with something Speaker 2 (1:42) that is not, often, simple to understand in the Constitution. And that something is people's actual jobs. What they do. Speaker 2 (1:56) So, like, take a senator, for example. Where in the Constitution does it say what a senator does? Speaker 7 (2:02) Well, what we do know of their constitutional job description, that's in Article I. So, like, senators do a ton of things. Representatives do a ton of things. Speaker 2 (2:13) Yeah, and that job description of all those things, it is a full half of our Constitution. So, what about the Supreme Court? Speaker 7 (2:20) Supreme Court is Article 3, but the supreme power of the Supremes, that is not in the Constitution. That is a power they gave to themselves in 1803. Speaker 2 (2:30) And we are going to get into all that when we do an episode on Article 3, by the way. But I Speaker 6 (2:34) bring all this up because Article 2, which lays out the executive branch and specifically the powers of the president, it's got the most succinct, most... clear job description in Speaker 2 (2:47) the entire Constitution, and it's a neat 35 words. These words are the beating heart of Article 2, words that have been uttered so far 74 times. Speaker 8 (2:59) I, Franklin Delano, wrote the book. I, Dwight D. Eisenhower, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of president. of the United States. At will to the best of my ability. At will to the best of my ability. Preserve, protect, and defend. Preserve, protect, and defend. The Constitution of the United States. So help me God. So help me God. So help me God. Congratulations, Mr. President. Speaker 6 (3:33) I just want to start by saying I'm glad to be going on this journey with you, Hannah. Seven Speaker 2 (3:37) articles total in the Constitution. Now, we conquered the first article already. And now we're kind of even going further towards Mordor. I Speaker 4 (3:46) feel like, can I be Frodo in this one? I'm the Frodo. I like bearing burdens. I'm very pale. Speaker 6 (3:54) Is Frodo pale? Well, Speaker 4 (3:56) as things get harder. He definitely gets paler. You Speaker 6 (4:00) can definitely be Frodo in this metaphor. I think it's prudent to mention that I played Samwise in an eight-hour production of The Lord of the Rings at summer camp. A production which featured, by the way, a now very famous actor in the role of Bilbo Baggins. Speaker 4 (4:14) You're not going to say the famous actor's name? Speaker 6 (4:15) I'm not going to say his name. I'm just hoping he hears this and remembers our friendship and gives the show a shout-out. But Speaker 2 (4:23) I'm getting very distracted from our quest here, Hannah. Speaker 4 (4:26) I mean, Nick, the Constitution goes ever on and on down from the preamble where it began. Speaker 7 (4:33) You started by saying that the presidential oath of office was the heart of Article 2. I Speaker 2 (4:40) did, for a very good reason. Speaker 3 (4:41) My podcast, as you know, is called The Oath in the Office, and it's called that because of language in Article 2, which lays out word for word in a way that is distinct. from any other office, what the president has to say in the first few seconds in office to even become president. Speaker 2 (4:59) This is Corey Brett Schneider. He's a professor of political Speaker 6 (5:02) science at Brown University and the co-host of the podcast, The Oath and the Office. I Speaker 3 (5:08) also wrote a book called The Oath and the Office and another called The Presidents and the People, Five Leaders Who Threatened Democracy and the Citizens Who Fought to Defend It. Speaker 6 (5:18) So I started my interview with Corey by saying, it seems to me like a lot of stuff in Article 2 feels kind of vague. And it's been reinterpreted a lot over the years. So he brought up the oath, which is the last paragraph in Section 1 of Article 2. Quote, before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation, etc. Speaker 3 (5:42) So on the one hand, yes, you're absolutely right. Article two is very vague, but it's very specific when it comes to the oath. So much so that when President Obama recited the oath with Justice Roberts, he flubbed some of the words. Speaker 8 (5:57) I will execute the office of president to the United States faithfully. I'll execute. Speaker 8 (6:05) Faithfully, the President, Officer President of the United States. The Speaker 3 (6:08) Officer President Speaker 8 (6:08) of the United States, faithfully. Speaker 3 (6:09) And will to the best of my ability. Listeners will remember this. And there was such a worry about this that they repeated the oath that night to make sure that he actually was president. That's how serious a requirement it is. It says that the president has to pledge to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. That's what defines the office. And we often think about the president as sort of the leader of the country. That's language that Woodrow Wilson introduced in the 20th century, kind of beyond, you know, the other branches. But what that language is meant to do is to say the opposite, that a president is not above the law, far from it, is concerned with the implementation and protection of law, not just that they have to respect rights, but that they have to do more than that, right? They have to preserve, protect, and defend. them, not just not violate them. Speaker 7 (7:03) Okay, Nick, let's get into those vague parts you were talking about and all the rest. Let's do the nuts and bolts of Article 2. Speaker 6 (7:11) Sure thing. Article 2. It is 1,023 words. That is half the length of Article 1. It's got four sections, and it lays out the executive branch. It details the office of the president and the vice president and a bunch of other things. And here we go. Quote, the executive power shall be vested in a president of the United States of America. End quote. And Hannah, we got to stop right there. Speaker 4 (7:35) We just started. We did. We're not even out of the Shire, Nick. This is as far as we've ever gone before. If Speaker 8 (7:42) I take one step more. Speaker 3 (7:44) I mean, it seems straightforward, but notice how quickly it becomes complicated. What is executive power? And that's on the one hand. You know, I think the best historical evidence suggests that the framers themselves had a very constrained idea of what that power was. They thought it was executing the laws, like it says. Speaker 6 (8:04) But on the other hand, some judges and scholars have interpreted this sentence, which is called the vesting clause, to mean that the president is the single person in charge of the entire executive branch. Speaker 7 (8:16) Right. This is the unitary executive. theory, an interpretation that is tied to several recent Supreme Court decisions specifically about who the president can and cannot fire. And Speaker 3 (8:29) I think it's just a weird pair because the idea that the unitary executive is based in the tax, you know, I feel embarrassed at the idea because what the tax... is that they're talking about is that one sentence. And it doesn't really tell us a lot. It's not like, for instance, birthright citizenship, which says, you know, you're