Presiding officer

“ The duties of a presiding officer are of such a nature, and require him to possess so entirely and exclusively the confidence of the assembly, that, with certain exceptions, which will presently be mentioned, he is not allowed to exercise any other functions than those which properly belong to his office ”

“ Frequently the presiding officer is called the President, and sometimes there is a large number of Vice Presidents appointed for merely complimentary purposes. The Vice Presidents in large formal meetings sit on the platform beside the President, and in his absence, or when he vacates the chair, the first on the list that is present should take the chair. ”

“ President” is used where that is the designated title of the presiding officer; “Mr. Moderator” [2] is more common in religious meetings. In every case the presiding officer should be addressed by his official title.] ”

“ The question is frequently put whether it is better to have five commissioners and let them choose their own chairman as a mere presiding officer, or to provide that one commissioner specially elected shall be chairman, with special executive and administrative powers. ”

“ The greatest of my official predecessors, whose memory is still enshrined in so many hearts, and who eminently honored this chair, declared as the essential of a presiding officer promptitude and impartiality in deciding the complex questions of order often sprung instantaneously upon him; firmness and thoroughness in his decisions; patience and good temper toward every member ”

“ An escorting committee is sent out to bring the President in. He walks to the clerk's or reader's desk below the presiding officer's, turns and shakes hands with them both and then proceeds to read his speech, very clearly and audibly. ”

“ OFFICERS DEPENDENT ON VOICE OF PEOPLE. It is well understood that we meet together in general conference twice a year for the purpose of presenting the names of those who have been chosen as presiding officers in the Church, and it is understood that those who occupy these positions are dependent upon the voice of the people for the continuance of the authority, the rights and privileges they exercise. ”

“ Thus, when the organization was projected, she was ready to become one of the earliest members and one of the workers from the start. Serving in the home corps in about all the offices there were, she has repeatedly represented the same in the State and national bodies. Among the many excellent presiding officers whom the local and department organizations have had, it will not be too much to state that no one has ever performed her duties more intelligently or effectually. ”

“ It is impossible that any officer could be chosen more impartially. He is, in consequence of his election, the creature of no particular district or state, but the officer and representative of the Union. ”

“ The President is in no way limited in his selection for the office. He may appoint an officer of any rank whatsoever, from second lieutenant to general officer, but the policy always pursued has been to intrust the important duties of the position to an officer of character, ability, and experience. ”

“ Each head of the nine executive departments in Washington is a line officer running his own department. At the President’s cabinet table he becomes a staff officer deliberating upon the problems of all. ”

“ That in case of the vacancy of the office of major by death or otherwise, it shall be the duty of the Executive Committee to appoint another whose duty it shall be to serve in the place of such removed officer, until the annual election. ”

“ When any forces are raised, they shall be under the command of the executive authority of the state in which they are so raised, unless they be joined by troops from any other state, in which the Congress, or grand council of the states, may appoint a general officer to take the command of the whole ”

“ Congress passed a resolve recommending this step to the States, and advising that the Commander-in-chief should be consulted in making the appointments; that those officers should be promoted who had distinguished themselves for bravery and attention to their duties; that no officer should be appointed who had left his station without leave; and that all the officers to be appointed should be men of honor and known abilities, without particular regard to their having been in service before. [111] This was but a partial remedy for the defects of the system. ”

“ The governor, for the time being, shall be commander-in-chief of the militia, appoint and commission all officers in the same below the rank of general officers; all general officers shall be appointed and commissioned by Congress. ”

“ Each cabinet officer, again, controls his own department pretty much as he pleases, without consultation with the President or with his coadjutors, and often in the face of determinations which have been reached by the others. ”

“ A truly right-minded officer, therefore, at the head of any department, whether it be that of a ship, a fleet, an army, or a cabinet, will seldom, if ever, take into his calculations the effect which any measure is to produce on himself or his own interests—but will steadily seek to discover what is best for the public service. ”

“ We agree to have no officers except a treasurer and secretary pro tem., until after some trial of courage and talent of able-bodied members shall enable us to elect officers from those who shall have rendered the most important services. Nothing but wisdom and undaunted courage, efficiency, and general good conduct shall in any way influence us in electing officers. ”

“ If the majority of the administrative officials who are now elected were made appointive, responsibility for their conduct in office could be concentrated upon the chief executive officer appointing them. ”

“ The officers of the executive department are the governor, lieutenant-governor, secretary of state, attorney-general, treasurer, auditor and superintendent of public instruction, each of whom is elected for a term of four years. ”

“ They are not qualified to exercise themselves the executive department, but they are qualified to name the person who shall exercise it. With us, therefore, they choose this officer every four years. 2. ”

“ I've asked Cabinet secretaries and agency heads to name a chief operating officer, who will be held accountable for the performance of that agency. These officers will make up the President's Management Council, to build a leadership team that listens, learns and innovates. ”

“ The executive, therefore, ought to be so constituted as to be the great protector of the mass of the people. It is the duty of the executive to appoint the officers, and to command the forces, of the republic—to appoint, first, ministerial officers for the administration of public affairs ”

“ Evidently it would be advantageous to promote such a man to the post of governor of the place—a post which will presently become of high importance, and which is actually held by an old officer, almost bed-ridden. ”

“ The first Assistant Secretary is to be considered as a political officer, in the full confidence of his chief, able to advise him, and even at times to replace him; while the second and third Assistant Secretaries have by necessity and custom become permanent officers. ”

“ That a person has served two years continuously since July 16, 1883, in a place in the departmental service below or outside the classified service, and the appointing officer desires, with the approval of the President, upon the recommendation of the Commission, to promote such person into the classified service because of his faithfulness and efficiency in the position occupied by him, and because of his qualifications for the place to which the appointing officer desires his promotion. ”

“ Here the post of Delegate to the General Congress, and also of “Senator,” is treated as an “office.”
Surely this is enough. The post of Senator is an office of honor or profit, and a “Senator” is an “officer.”
2. But, assuming that the post of Senator is an “office,” and that a Senator is an “officer,” the question occurs, To what “department of the public service” does he belong?
Clearly he is not of the “military” or “naval” department. But if not “military” or “naval,” he must be “civil.” Here again consult the dictionary. I cite Webster.
[Pg 285]
“Civil. ”

“ The executive department is vested in the President, chosen every four years by electors, who are voted for by the people. The President is commander-in-chief of the army and navy and appoints the majority of officers, it being necessary that most of the appointments shall be confirmed by the Senate. ”

“ Although under the ultimate supervision of Congress, it has a board of managers which exercises a general control over its affairs, and has a corps of other officers of its own, who are in immediate charge of its activities. ”

“ To give to officers the proper relation and cointelligence in their respective corps, and to preserve in the chief of each the influence and control over his subordinates, there should be no gradation on the basis of the rank of the general with whom they might be serving by appointment. ”

“ It will be time enough to determine the question when the President shall remove an officer in this way, I conceive it can properly be brought before that tribunal; the officer will have a right to a mandamus to be restored to his office; and the judges would determine whether the President exercised a constitutional authority or not.
Some gentlemen think the Constitution takes no notice of this officer, as the head of a department. They suppose him an inferior officer in aid of the executive. ”

“ But the official corps is dispersed throughout the country, in every town, village, and city, mixing with the people, attending their meetings and conventions, becoming chairmen and members of committees, and urging and stimulating partisans to active and vigorous exertion. Acting in concert, and, throughout the whole union, obeying orders issued from the centre, their influence, aided by executive patronage, by the post-office department, and all the vast other means of the executive, is almost irresistible. ”

“ That the general commanding the Army has, under the terms of this section, the right of assigning general officers under his command to the duties of the general staff without reference to the authority of the Executive is plain from the other sections, which declare that the President is to appoint, with the advice of the Senate, the staffs of all general officers other than those who command armies. ”

“ A seat upon the floor of either House of Congress might be granted to the principal officer in each of the Executive departments with the privilege of discussing any measures appertaining to his department. The President was empowered to remove at pleasure the principal officer in each of the Executive departments and all persons connected with the diplomatic service. To give entire control of Cabinet officers and of foreign ministers was considered to be necessary for the proper discharge of the President's duties and for the independence of his department. ”

“ The law constituted the general-in-chief commanding the army and seven other general officers a board of commissioners with the necessary powers for carrying out the purposes of the act, and provided for the detail of officers from the army for the position of governor, deputy governor, and secretary and treasurer, for each site which should be established. ”