President of US

PRESIDENT OF AMERICA

Introduction

President of the United States, chief executive officer of the federal government, leader of the executive branch, and the commander in chief of the armed forces. The president has the power to make treaties with other nations, with the advice and consent of two-thirds of the Senate. The president also appoints, with Senate consent, diplomatic representatives, Supreme Court judges, and many other officials.

The president and vice president are the only government officials in the United States elected by and representing the entire nation. Although the president shares power with Congress and the judiciary, he or she is the most powerful and important officeholder in the country. The president has no vote in Congress but is the single largest source of legislative proposals that become law. As the principal foreign policy maker, the president of the United States has become the world’s most important leader in international affairs.



Term of Office

The Constitution of the United States specifies a four-year presidential term. It originally said nothing about how many terms a president could serve. But the precedent established by George Washington limited his successors to two terms. Succession by a vice president after a president’s death provided the opportunity to serve more than eight years without strictly violating the two-term rule. No president tried to serve more than eight years in office until Republican Theodore Roosevelt. After filling out three-and-a-half years of the term of President William McKinley following McKinley’s assassination in 1901 and then serving four years in his own right (1905-1909), Roosevelt ran unsuccessfully in 1912 for another four years.

The need for steady leadership during World War II (1939-1945) made it possible for Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt to break the tradition by winning four successive elections between 1932 and 1944. In a reaction against Franklin Roosevelt’s extended presidency, in 1951 Congress and state legislatures approved the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, which limits a president to two elected terms. The amendment also prohibits a person from running for election a second time if he or she has already served more than two years of a term to which someone else had been elected.



Presidential Qualifications and Salary

The Constitution requires presidents to be natural-born citizens of the United States who are at least 35 years of age and have resided in the United States for 14 years. As a tacit statement of America’s commitment to democracy and equal opportunity, the Constitution gave any free white male citizen of the country the opportunity to become president. All males gained the right to become president in 1870 when the 15th Amendment to the Constitution gave African Americans the right to vote. Women were excluded from running for the office until 1920, when the 19th Amendment to the Constitution gave them the right to vote.

The Constitution specifies that presidents receive compensation (salary and benefits) for their work, and Congress sets the specific amount. The salary of presidents cannot be increased or diminished during their term of office. Nor can the president receive additional payments from the federal government or any of the states while in office. The Constitution also disallows presidents and other federal officials from receiving any title of nobility, gift, payment, or official position from a king, prince, or foreign state. All gifts to a president from foreign governments belong to the people of the United States rather than the president.
Election
Campaign
Main articles: United States presidential primary, United States presidential nominating convention, and United States presidential election debates

The modern presidential campaign begins before the primary elections, which the two major political parties use to clear the field of candidates in advance of their national nominating conventions, where the most successful candidate is made the party's nominee for president. The party's presidential candidate chooses a vice presidential nominee and this choice is rubber-stamped by the convention. Also, the party establishes a platform on which to base its campaign. Although nominating conventions have a long history in the United States, their substantive importance in the political process has greatly diminished; however, they remain important as a way of energizing the parties for the general election and focusing public attention on the nominees.

Nominees participate in nationally televised debates, and while the debates are usually restricted to the Democratic and Republican nominees, third party candidates may be invited, such as Ross Perot in the 1992 debates. Nominees campaign across the country to explain their views, convince voters, and solicit contributions. Much of the modern electoral process is concerned with winning swing states through frequent visits and mass media advertising drives.

Legislative and Judicial Responsibilities
The president proposes much of the legislation that Congress approves. The president’s power to veto (reject) legislation also serves as a strong influence on the legislative process. Because it takes a two-thirds vote of both the House and the Senate to override a presidential veto, Congress often modifies pending legislation to suit the president’s preferences. Aside from the role in proposing and vetoing laws, the president exercises important legislative authority by issuing executive orders that have the force of law. The president also supervises the implementation of laws by directing administrative agencies, such as the Department of Justice and the Department of Agriculture.

The president appoints federal judges, subject to the approval of the Senate. In addition, the president assumes important judicial and law enforcement powers through executive agencies. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) gathers evidence against perpetrators of federal crimes and the Justice Department seeks indictments and convictions in the courts against wrongdoers. Agencies such as the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) act as quasi-judicial bodies by holding hearings, issuing regulations, and adjudicating disputes.
Economic Powers
The president exerts substantial influence on the economic life of the nation through budgetary and taxing proposals. The president’s decisions to increase and reduce budgets and to cut or raise taxes in conjunction with Congress affect the entire country, from the largest corporations to the individual taxpayer. Presidential decisions early in the country’s history to contribute federal funds to road and canal projects helped boost the nation’s economic development, and federal spending continues to drive growth in many areas. The president’s ability to shape tariffs on imports affects the thousands of businesses that buy and sell goods to other countries. A president’s power to regulate industries through the enforcement of safety requirements and environmental regulations affects nearly every workplace in America. The executive branch employs millions of workers, including clerks, investigators, lawyers, and others, and their pay rates help set a standard of living for millions of other citizens.
Foreign policy
The president is the chief diplomat of the United States. The Constitution gives the president the power to negotiate treaties and appoint diplomatic representatives with the advice and consent of the Senate. The president also has the power to negotiate executive agreements with foreign countries that have the force and effect of law but do not require congressional approval. The president has the discretion to give official recognition to foreign governments. Democrat Woodrow Wilson, for example, refused to recognize the government of Mexico in 1913 because it had come to power through violence.
Military Leadership

As commander in chief of the armed forces, the president has the power to formulate and direct military strategy and actions in times of war and peace. As the country’s principal military commander, the president is responsible for the nation’s security and the safety of its citizens. Although the Constitution grants Congress the power to declare war, historically the president has had nearly total freedom to send troops into combat. In the second half of the 19th century, many presidents sent U.S. forces into Latin American countries to defend American business interests. Harry Truman made a much more substantial commitment of American soldiers in 1950 when he decided to fight the Korean War (1950-1953). A series of presidents—Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon—waged war in Vietnam without a formal declaration of war from Congress (see Vietnam War). Since the establishment of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in 1947, nearly every president has used executive power to order the agency to conduct covert military operations abroad.
Appointive Powers

Subject to confirmation by a majority of the Senate, the president appoints the members of the Cabinet, the heads of independent federal agencies, and a large number of the administrative personnel of the federal executive departments and agencies. The president also appoints federal judges, including the justices of the Supreme Court of the United States; many federal employees; and the diplomatic representatives of the United States. The president also commissions, subject to congressional confirmation, all officers of the armed forces.