President of the United States

The head of state of the United States is called the President, who also serves the functions of chief executive and commander in chief of the armed forces. Under the U.S. Constitution, the U.S. president serves a four-year term and (starting when the inauguration of Dwight Eisenhower brought its twenty-second amendment into full force) may be re-elected only once.

Upon entering office, the President must repeat the following oath or affirmation; "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability; preserve, protect, and defend, the Constitution of the United States". The oath is traditionaly ended with "So help me God".

As the most powerful person in the United States, a democratic republic and currently the world's only superpower, the President is sometimes referred to as "the leader of the free world," though this designation was more common during the Cold War. In government jargon, the President of the United States has been called since the Truman Administration by the acronym POTUS. The wife of the President is traditionally referred to as the First Lady (govt. jargon: FLOTUS).

Table of contents

1 Presidential powers 1.1 Presidential executive powers 1.2 Presidential legislative powers 1.3 Presidential judicial powers 1.4 Presidential powers in foreign affairs 1.5 Constraints on Presidential power 2 Requirements to hold office 3 Succession 4 Presidents of the United States 5 Timeline 6 Former Presidents 7 Presidential salary and perks 8 Presidential facts 8.6 Presidential residences 8.7 Presidents of the Continental Congress 8.8 Presidents of the United States in Congress Assembled 9 Miscellaneous information 10 Related articles 11 External links

Presidential powers

The office of president of the United States is one of the most powerful offices of its kind in the world. The president, the Constitution says, must "take care that the laws be faithfully executed." To carry out this responsibility, the president presides over the executive branch of the federal government — a vast organization numbering about 4 million people, including 1 million active-duty military personnel. In addition, the president has important legislative and judicial powers.

Presidential executive powers

Within the executive branch itself, the president has broad powers to manage national affairs and the workings of the federal government. The president can issue rules, regulations, and instructions called executive orders, which have the binding force of law upon federal agencies but do not require congressional approval. As commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the United States, the president may also call into federal service the state units of the National Guard. In times of war or national emergency, the Congress may grant the president even broader powers to manage the national economy and protect the security of the United States.

The president nominates — and the Senate confirms — the heads of all executive departments and agencies, together with hundreds of other high-ranking federal officials. (See United States Cabinet, Executive Office of the President.) In 2003, more than 3000 executive agency positions were subject to presidential appointment, with more than 1200 requiring Senate approval. The large majority of federal workers, however, are selected through the Civil Service system, in which appointment and promotion are based on ability and experience.

The President is also responsible for preparing the budget of the United States, although the Congress must approve it. (See Office of Management and Budget)

Presidential legislative powers

Despite the constitutional provision that "all legislative powers" shall be vested in the Congress, the president, as the chief formulator of public policy, has a major legislative role. The president can veto any bill passed by Congress and, unless two-thirds of the members of each house vote to override the veto, the bill does not become law.

Much of the legislation dealt with by Congress is drafted at the initiative of the executive branch. In annual and special messages to Congress, the president may propose legislation he believes is necessary. The most important of these is the annual State of the Union Address traditionally given in January. Before a joint session of Congress, the President outlines the status of the country and his legislative proposals for the upcoming year. If Congress should adjourn without acting on those proposals, the president has the power to call it into special session. But beyond this official role, the president, as head of a political party and as principal executive officer of the U.S. government, is primarily in a position to influence public opinion and thereby to influence the course of legislation in Congress.

To improve their working relationships with Congress, presidents in recent years have set up a Congressional Liaison Office in the White House. Presidential aides keep abreast of all important legislative activities and try to persuade senators and representatives of both parties to support administration policies.

Presidential judicial powers

Among the president's constitutional powers is that of appointing important public officials. Presidential nomination of federal judges, including members of the Supreme Court, is subject to confirmation by the Senate. Another significant power is that of granting a full or conditional pardon to anyone convicted of breaking a federal law — except in a case of impeachment. The pardoning power has come to embrace the power to shorten prison terms and reduce fines.

Presidential powers in foreign affairs

Under the Constitution, the president is the federal official primarily responsible for the relations of the United States with foreign nations. The president appoints ambassadors, ministers, and consuls — subject to confirmation by the Senate — and receives foreign ambassadors and other public officials. With the secretary of state, the president manages all official contacts with foreign governments. On occasion, the president may personally participate in summit conferences where chiefs of state meet for direct consultation. Thus, President Woodrow Wilson headed the American delegation to the Paris conference at the end of World War I; President Franklin D. Roosevelt met with Allied leaders during World War II; and every president since then has sat down with world leaders to discuss economic and political issues and to reach bilateral and multilateral agreements.

Through the Department of State, the president is responsible for the protection of Americans abroad and of foreign nationals in the United States. The president decides whether to recognize new nations and new governments, and negotiate treaties with other nations, which become binding on the United States when approved by two-thirds of the Senate. The president may also negotiate "executive agreements" with foreign powers that are not subject to Senate confirmation.

Constraints on Presidential power

Because of the vast array of presidential roles and responsibilities, coupled with a conspicuous presence on the national and international scene, political analysts have tended to place great emphasis on the president's powers. Some have even spoken of "the imperial presidency," referring to the expanded role of the office that Franklin D. Roosevelt maintained during his term.

One of the first sobering realities a new president discovers is an inherited bureaucratic structure that can be difficult to manage and slow to change direction. The president's power to appoint extends only to some 3,000 people out of a civilian government work force of about 3 million.

The president finds that the machinery of government (the civil service) often operates independently of presidential interventions, has done so through earlier administrations, and will continue to do so in the future. New presidents are immediately confronted with a backlog of decisions from the outgoing administration. They inherit a budget formulated and enacted into law long before they came to office, as well as major spending programs (such as veterans' benefits, Social Security payments, and Medicare health insurance for the elderly), which are mandated by law. In foreign affairs, presidents must conform with treaties and informal agreements negotiated by their predecessors in office.

As the happy euphoria of the post-election "honeymoon" dissipates, the new president discovers that Congress has become less cooperative and the media more critical. The president is forced to build at least temporary alliances among diverse, often antagonistic interests — economic, geographic, ethnic, and ideological. Compromises with Congress must be struck if any legislation is to be adopted. "It is very easy to defeat a bill in Congress," lamented President John F. Kennedy. "It is much more difficult to pass one."

Despite these constraints, every president achieves at least some of his legislative goals and prevents by veto the enactment of other laws he believes not to be in the nation's best interests. The president's authority in the conduct of war and peace, including the negotiation of treaties, is substantial. Moreover, the president can use his unique position to articulate ideas and advocate policies, which then have a better chance of entering the public consciousness than those held by his political rivals. President Theodore Roosevelt called this aspect of the presidency "the bully pulpit," for when a president raises an issue, it inevitably becomes subject to public debate. A president's power and influence may be limited, but they are also greater than those of any other American, in or out of office.

Though constrained by various other laws passed by Congress, the President's executive branch conducts most foreign policy, and his power to order and direct troops as commander-in-chief is quite significant. (The exact limits of what a President can do with the military without Congressional authorization are open to debate.)

Requirements to hold office

Article 2, Section 1, of the U.S. Constitution sets the requirements one must meet in order to become President:

1. A natural-born citizen of the United States
2. Thirty-five years of age
3. Resident of the United States for 14 years.

Succession

There is a well-defined sequence of who should fill the Presidential office, upon the death, resignation, or removal from office (by impeachment and subsequent conviction) of a sitting President:

1. the Vice President of the United States
2. the Speaker of the House of Representatives
3. the President pro tempore of the United States Senate.

This list is only partial. See the entire United States Presidential line of succession. The Twenty-fifth Amendment was ratified to define how the President is deemed incapable of discharging his powers and duties and when the Vice President becomes Acting President.

Presidents of the United States

#	Name	Took Office	Left Office	Party
1	George Washington	1789	1797	no party
2	John Adams	1797	1801	Federalist
3	Thomas Jefferson	1801	1809	Democratic-Republican
4	James Madison	1809	1817	Democratic-Republican
5	James Monroe	1817	1825	Democratic-Republican
6	John Quincy Adams	1825	1829	Democratic-Republican
7	Andrew Jackson	1829	1837	Democrat
8	Martin Van Buren	1837	1841	Democrat
9	William Henry Harrison	1841	1841	Whig
10	John Tyler	1841	1845	Whig*
11	James Knox Polk	1845	1849	Democrat
12	Zachary Taylor	1849	1850	Whig
13	Millard Fillmore	1850	1853	Whig
14	Franklin Pierce	1853	1857	Democrat
15	James Buchanan	1857	1861	Democrat
16	Abraham Lincoln	1861	1865	Republican
17	Andrew Johnson	1865	1869	Republican**
18	Ulysses Simpson Grant	1869	1877	Republican
19	Rutherford Birchard Hayes	1877	1881	Republican
20	James Abram Garfield	1881	1881	Republican
21	Chester Alan Arthur	1881	1885	Republican
22	Stephen Grover Cleveland	1885	1889	Democrat
23	Benjamin Harrison	1889	1893	Republican
24	Stephen Grover Cleveland	1893	1897	Democrat
25	William McKinley	1897	1901	Republican
26	Theodore Roosevelt	1901	1909	Republican
27	William Howard Taft	1909	1913	Republican
28	Thomas Woodrow Wilson	1913	1921	Democrat
29	Warren Gamaliel Harding	1921	1923	Republican
30	John Calvin Coolidge, Jr	1923	1929	Republican
31	Herbert Clark Hoover	1929	1933	Republican
32	Franklin Delano Roosevelt	1933	1945	Democrat
33	Harry S. Truman	1945	1953	Democrat
34	Dwight David Eisenhower	1953	1961	Republican
35	John Fitzgerald Kennedy	1961	1963	Democrat
36	Lyndon Baines Johnson	1963	1969	Democrat
37	Richard Milhous Nixon	1969	1974	Republican
38	Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr	1974	1977	Republican
39	James Earl 'Jimmy' Carter, Jr	1977	1981	Democrat
40	Ronald Wilson Reagan	1981	1989	Republican
41	George Herbert Walker Bush	1989	1993	Republican
42	William Jefferson Clinton	1993	2001	Democrat
43	George Walker Bush	2001	-	Republican

* Democrat on Whig ticket
** Democrat on Republican ticket

Timeline

• Martin Van Buren was the first president born after the American Revolution and was thus the first president who was not born as a subject of the Kingdom of Great Britain.
• Franklin Pierce was the first president born in the 19th Century.
• Warren Harding was the first president born after the American Civil War
• John F. Kennedy was the first president born in the 20th Century.
• Jimmy Carter was the first president born after the First World War
• Bill Clinton was the first president born after the Second World War

Former Presidents

After a President leaves office, he continues to be referred to as "President" for the rest of his life. Former Presidents continue to be important national figures, and in some cases go on to successful post-presidential careers. Notable examples have included former President William Howard Taft's appointment as Chief Justice of the United States and former President Jimmy Carter's current career as a global human rights campaigner.

Currently, there are five living former presidents. They are:

• Former President Gerald Ford
• Former President Jimmy Carter
• Former President Ronald Reagan
• Former President George H. W. Bush
• Former President Bill Clinton

There have been only two other occasions where five former presidents were alive:

• From March 4, 1861 to January 18, 1862 Presidents Martin Van Buren, John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, and James Buchanan were living.
• From January 20, 1993 to April 22, 1994 Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush were living.

Presidential salary and perks

Presidential Pay History Date established Salary September 24, 1789 $25,000 March 3, 1873 $50,000 March 4, 1909 $75,000 January 19, 1949 $100,000 January 20, 1969 $200,000 January 20, 2001 $400,000

The first United States Congress voted to pay George Washington a salary of $25,000 a year, a significant sum in 1789. Washington, already a successful man, didn't take the money. Since 2001, the President has earned a salary of $400,000 a year, modest in comparison to the multi-million dollar salaries of most private-sector chief executive officers.

Traditionally, the President, as the most important official in the U.S. government, is to be the highest paid government employee. Consequently, the President's salary serves as a cap of sorts for all other federal officials such as the Chief Justice. The raise for 2001 was approved by Congress and President Bill Clinton in 1999 because other officials who receive annual cost-of-living increases had salaries approaching the President's. Thus, in order to raise the salaries of other federal employees, the President's salary had to be raised to avoid surpassing the President.

Modern Presidents enjoy many non-salary perks such as living and working in the spacious White House mansion in Washington, DC. While travelling, the President is able to conduct all the functions of the office aboard several specially-built Boeing 747s, which take the call-sign Air Force One when the President is aboard. The President travels around Washington in an armored Cadillac limousine, equipped with bullet-proof windows and tires and a self-contained ventilation system in the event of a biological attack. When traveling longer distances around the Washington area, the President travels aboard the Presidential helicopter, Marine One.

Additionally, the President has full use of Camp David in Maryland, a sprawling retreat occasionally used as a casual setting for hosting foreign dignitaries. At all times, the President and his family are protected by an extensive Secret Service detail.

Until the law was changed in 1997, all former Presidents and their family were protected by the Secret Service until their death. The last President to have Secret Service protection for life is Bill Clinton. George Walker Bush and all following Presidents will be protected by the Secret Service for a maximum of 10 years after leaving office.

Presidential facts

Four U.S. Presidents have been assassinated while in office:

• Abraham Lincoln in 1865 by John Wilkes Booth
• James Garfield in 1881 by Charles J. Guiteau (Guiteau shot him but Garfield arguably died due to subsequent incorrect medical care)
• William McKinley in 1901 by Leon Czolgosz
• John F. Kennedy in 1963 by Lee Harvey Oswald [1] although many theories posit additional gunmen. [1]

Four others died in office of natural causes:

• William Henry Harrison, died of pneumonia in 1841
• Zachary Taylor, died of "acute indigestion" in 1850
• Warren G. Harding, died of heart attack in 1923
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt, died of cerebral hemorrhage in 1945

One President resigned from office:

• Richard Nixon in 1974

Two Presidents have been impeached, though neither was subsequently convicted:

• Andrew Johnson in 1868
• Bill Clinton in 1998

Four Presidents have been elected without a plurality of popular votes:

• John Quincy Adams - trailed Andrew Jackson by 44,804 votes in the 1824 election
• Rutherford B. Hayes - trailed Samuel J. Tilden by 264,292 votes in the 1876 election
• Benjamin Harrison - trailed Grover Cleveland 95,713 votes in the 1888 election
• George W. Bush - trailed Al Gore by 540,520 votes in the 2000 election

Two Presidents have been elected without a majority of electoral votes, and were chosen by the House of Representatives:

• Thomas Jefferson - finished with same number of electoral votes as Aaron Burr in the 1800 election
• John Quincy Adams - trailed Andrew Jackson by 15 electoral votes in the 1824 election

Five Presidents were not elected at all, although with the exception of Gerald Ford all were elected Vice President:

• John Tyler - Assumed the Presidency on the death of William Henry Harrison, did not run in the 1844 election.
• Millard Fillmore - Succeeded Zachary Taylor, did not run in the 1852 election.
• Andrew Johnson - Succeeded Abraham Lincoln, did not run in the 1868 election.
• Chester A. Arthur - Succeeded James Garfield, did not run in the 1884 election.
• Gerald Ford - Appointed Vice President on the resignation of Spiro Agnew, sworn in after Nixon's resignation and defeated in the 1976 election by Jimmy Carter.

While most presidents have been of English descent, there have been a few who came, at least in part, from a different European background:

• Dutch: Martin Van Buren, Theodore Roosevelt, and Franklin Roosevelt
• German: Herbert Hoover and Dwight Eisenhower
• Irish: William McKinley, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton

Kennedy was also America's first, and to date, only Catholic president.

Presidential residences

The President's principal workplace and official residence is the White House, but of course they have had other homes. This is a list of some of those homes:

• George Washington - Mount Vernon
• John Adams - Peacefield
• Thomas Jefferson - Monticello
• James Madison - Montpelier
• James Monroe - Ash Lawn
• Andrew Jackson - The Hermitage
• W. H. Harrison - Berkeley Plantation
• John Tyler - Sherwood Forest Plantation
• Martin Van Buren - Lindenwald
• James Buchanan - Wheatland
• Rutherford Hayes - Spiegel Grove
• Grover Cleveland - Westland Mansion
• Theodore Roosevelt - Sagamore Hill
• Woodrow Wilson - Shadow Lawn
• Calvin Coolidge - The Beeches
• Franklin Roosevelt - Springwood (located in Hyde Park, New York; see note at Hyde Park)
• John Kennedy - Hyannisport
• Richard Nixon - Casa Pacifica
• Ronald Reagan - Rancho Cielo
• George H. W. Bush - Walker's Point
• George W. Bush - Prairie Chapel Ranch

Presidents of the Continental Congress

Main article: President of the Continental Congress

There were six men who served as President of the Continental Congress prior to the ratification of the Articles of Confederation. These men held very few powers that are now associated with the U.S. presidency and cannot be considered to have been heads of state. Their primary duty was to preside over the Congress (hence the original meaning of "president").

Presidents of the United States in Congress Assembled

Main article: President of the United States in Congress Assembled

There were ten Presidents under the Articles of Confederation. These men held few powers that are now associated with the U.S. presidency and cannot be considered to have been heads of state or the "Chief Executive". These men were simply heads of government with Congress holding all executive powers.

Miscellaneous information

On a less serious note:

• David Rice Atchison
• Emperor Norton I (1859-1880)
• Tecumseh's curse

Related articles

• Presidential religious affiliations
• U.S. presidential election
• U.S. presidential primary
• U.S. Electoral College
• List of U.S. Presidents by place of birth
• List of U.S. Presidents by height order
• List of U.S. Presidential pets
• List of U.S. Presidential nicknames
• List of U.S. Presidential Doctrines

External links

• Official White House website
• Internet Public Library: POTUS
• Inaugural Addresses of the Presidents of the United States
• The Masonic Presidents Tour - A listing and profiles of those Presidents who were members of the Freemasonry.

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There is also a rock band called The Presidents of the United States of America.