|SALARY: |$200,000 plus $50,000 allowance for expenses, and up to |
| |$100,000 tax-free for travel and official entertainment |
|INAUGURATION: |January 20, following the November general election |
|QUALIFICATIONS: |Native-born American citizen, at least 35 years old and at|
| |least 14 years a resident of the United States. |
|CHIEF DUTY: |To protect the Constitution and enforce the laws made by |
| |the Congress. |
|OTHER POWERS: |To recommend legislation to the Congress; to call special |
| |sessions of the Congress; to deliver messages to the |
| |Congress; to veto bills; to appoint federal judges; to |
| |appoint heads of federal departments and agencies and |
| |other principal federal officials; to appoint |
| |representatives to foreign countries; to carry on official|
| |business with foreign nations; to exercise the function of|
| |commander-in-chief of the armed forces; to grant pardons |
| |for offenses against the United States. |
The Constitution requires the president to be a native-born American
citizen at least 35 years of age. Candidates for the presidency are chosen
by political parties several months before the presidential election, which
is held every four years (in years divisible evenly by four) on the first
Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
The method of electing the president is peculiar to the American system.
Although the names of the candidates appear on the ballots, technically the
people of each state do not vote directly for the president (and vice
president). Instead, they select a slate of presidential electors, equal to
the number of senators and representatives each state has in Congress. The
candidate with the highest number of votes in each state wins all the
electoral votes of that state.
The electors of all 50 states and the District of Columbia—a total of
538 persons—compose what is known as the Electoral College. Under the terms
of the Constitution, the College never meets as a body. Instead, the
electors gather in the state capitals shortly after the election and cast
their votes for the candidate with the largest number of popular votes in
their respective states. To be successful, a candidate for the presidency
must receive 270 votes. The Constitution stipulates that if no candidate
has a majority, the decision shall be made by the House of Representatives,
with all members from a state voting as a unit. In this event, each state
and the District of Columbia would be allotted one vote only.
The presidential term of four years begins on January 20 (it was changed
from March by the 20th Amendment, ratified in 1933) following a November
election. The president starts his or her official duties with an
inauguration ceremony, traditionally held on the steps of the U.S. Capitol,
where Congress meets'. The president publicly takes an oath of office,
which is traditionally administered by the chief justice of the United
States. The words are prescribed in Article II of the Constitution:
/ 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-taking ceremony is usually followed by an inaugural address in
which the new president outlines the policies and plans of his or her
administration.
PRESIDENTIAL POWERS
The office of President of the United States is one of the most powerful in
the world. The president, the Constitution says, must "take care that the
laws be faithfully executed." To carry out this responsibility, he or she
presides over the executive branch of the federal government—a vast
organization numbering several million people—and in addition has important
legislative and judicial powers.
LEGILATIVE 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 in 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 an
annual and special messages to Congress, the president may propose
legislation he or she believes is necessary. If Congress should adjourn
without acting on those proposals, the president has the power to call it
into special session. But, beyond all this, the president, as head of a
political party and as principal executive officer of the U.S. government,
is 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.
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.
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. 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 chooses the heads of all executive departments and
agencies, together with hundreds of other high-ranking federal officials.
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
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.
Presidents appoint ambassadors, ministers and consuls—subject to
confirmation by the Senate—and receive 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 conferred with
Allied leaders at sea, in Africa and in Asia during World War II; and every
president since Roosevelt has met with world statesmen 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. Presidents decide whether to recognize new nations and new
governments, and negotiate treaties with other nations, which are 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 "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 which is difficult to manage and slow to
change direction. Power to appoint ex- ' tends only to some 3,000 people
out of a civilian government ' work force of more than three million, most
of whom are protected in their jobs by Civil Service regulations.
The president finds that the machinery of government operates pretty
much 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 on issues that are often complex and unfamiliar.
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 for the elderly), which are mandated
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