There are only a few specific requirements to become president. Article II of the Constitution requires only that a president be a “natural born citizen” of the United States, at least thirty-five years old, and a “resident within the United States” for fourteen years.
While the constitutional requirements to become president are minimal, voters generally expect presidential candidates to meet a wide range of informal requirements before they will choose them to be their president. Americans expect their president to be a strong leader who understands the needs of the people and represents them. Presidential hopefuls must also convey their trustworthiness, honesty, integrity, and wisdom to the electorate.2 We expect the president to work hard to mold the personality of the United States and its people into a unified nation.
Some of the demands voters place on those who would be president are contradictory. For example, candidates are often expected to be visionaries, but they should also have a keen grasp on practical matters. They should be above politics, but the presidential nomination process is highly partisan.3 Voters want a candidate who is a “common” individual they can relate to, but candidates are also expected to possess uncommon intelligence and experiences.
Presidents are elected to serve for four-year terms. With the exception of Franklin D. Roosevelt, no president has served more than two terms. This was originally out of respect for George Washington and the precedent he set by stepping down after his second term. After Roosevelt served three terms, an additional amendment was proposed that would limit the time a president could spend in office. Today, the Twenty-second Amendment imposes a two-term limit on presidents. A vice president who assumes office part way through a president’s term, however, may serve for two-and-a-half terms, or a total of ten years. For example, Lyndon B. Johnson succeeded John F. Kennedy after Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 and later ran for president, winning the 1964 election. He could have run again in 1968 but decided against seeking a second term. Eight other vice presidents have become president after the sitting president died or resigned.
The taking of the oath of office is one of the most formal events surrounding the election of a new president. Every president since George Washington has taken the oath of office. Although the location has changed over time, it has become tradition to administer the oath of office on the west portico4 of the Capitol Building. The text is prescribed in the United States Constitution (Article II, Section I, Clause 8). The president-elect places his hand on the Bible, raises his right hand, and takes the oath as directed by the chief justice. The following is the text that is repeated by each president in connection with his inauguration into office:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of the President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of the United States.
The president has many responsibilities that he accepts when becoming a new president. Why do you think the oath of office only specifies the president’s responsibility to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution? Why would that be significant? Think about it.
The executive branch and the office of the president have grown significantly since George Washington first took office in 1789. He purposely downplayed the status of the office, not wanting the people to revere him as anything but a patriotic man willing to serve his country. He dealt personally with Congress and the Supreme Court, not relying on people to carry his messages for him. Jefferson employed a staff of two—a messenger and a secretary. By 1900 the White House staff had grown to a dozen. The explosion of activity in the White House during Franklin Roosevelt’s administration created a need for additional staff, and the number of people working for the president has steadily increased since that time.
Although President Thomas Jefferson employed a staff of two, the president’s “personal” staff today consists of more than five hundred people. The original presidential cabinet consisted of the secretaries of state, war, and treasury. Today the cabinet is made up of the heads of fourteen federal departments: the secretary of state, secretary of the treasury, secretary of defense, attorney general, secretary of the interior, secretary of agriculture, secretary of commerce, secretary of labor, secretary of health and human services, secretary of housing and urban development, secretary of transportation, secretary of education, secretary of energy, secretary of veterans affairs, and secretary of homeland security. Within each department there are multiple subagencies and officers with independent agencies and commissions supporting them.
Presidents work and exercise their power within a system that separates and shares political power between three branches of government, the executive branch (the president), the legislative branch (Congress), and the judicial branch (the court system). Each of the three branches has the capability and authority to check and balance the others, thus inhibiting any severe misuses of power. The check-and-balance system, however, can cause much political turmoil and gridlock. The three branches are especially prone to gridlock under divided-party government, in which opposing political parties control Congress and the presidency. Since World War II, most presidents have faced a Congress controlled by the opposite party.
In the domestic arena, the president, known as the chief executive, has the formal constitutional authority to oversee the execution and implementation of the law. The president also oversees the various departments and agencies of the executive branch. With the advice and consent of the Senate, the president appoints the leaders of each executive branch department and works with these individuals to implement the programs and policies passed by Congress.
The president is also considered the nation’s chief legislator. Through presidential speeches (such as the inaugural and State of the Union addresses) and by formally submitting a budget to Congress, the president has a significant influence on the legislative agenda. The president can also veto any legislation Congress passes. Given the two-thirds majority vote required in each house to override a veto, a president can threaten a veto to influence the legislative process.
The president also plays a significant role in shaping the composition of the Supreme Court and the federal court system. With the advice and consent of the Senate, the president appoints Supreme Court justices and other federal judges.
The Constitution establishes that the president of the United States shall be the commander in chief of the armed forces. The president commissions all military officers and appoints all high-ranking military leaders. While Congress has the authority to declare war, presidents have frequently made war without explicit congressional cooperation.
The president is also the nation’s chief diplomat, formally authorized to receive all foreign ministers and ambassadors and, with the consent of the Senate, nominate United States ambassadors to other nations. The president also negotiates treaties and other international agreements.
1. Butterfield, L. H., ed. Adams Family Correspondence. Vols. I–VI. The Adams Papers. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1961: II, p. 30.
2. a body of qualified voters
3. divided according to political parties
4. a porch or walkway with a roof supported by columns, often leading to the entrance of a building