presidency

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Established under Article 2 of the Constitution, the office of the president was unique and without precedent, although some of its features, including the designation "president," were foreshadowed in several state constitutions. The principal architect was James Wilson of Pennsylvania, head of the faction at the Constitutional Convention calling for a strong executive on the ground that in a country as large as the United States only such a one could have influence in distant parts. As chairman of the Committee of Detail, he proposed a single rather than a plural head, who would have control of foreign affairs and be able to exercise a legislative veto. Wilson's view that the president must be a man of the people carried the day, though his desire that the president be elected directly by the people did not.

The question of how to choose the executive was commingled with the question of how to keep the office independent of the legislature. The outcome was the creation of an electoral college chosen by the state legislatures exclusively for the purpose of naming a president. The assumption that George Washington would be the first president and willing to serve indefinitely informed the decision that there should be no limit on the reeligibility of the president. The length of the president's term, much discussed, was fixed at four years by the committee appointed late in the convention to deal with unfinished business. Charged to see that the laws are faithfully executed, the president is head of the executive branch and commander in chief of the armed forces. Through the veto he also exercises legislative power, and through his power to appoint judges and the requirement that he execute the laws, he exercises judicial power, too.

In practice the presidency has been an evolving office. Each chief executive has put his stamp on it through the force of his personality and the requirements of the day. The president is now the central American political figure, a constant source of news and symbol of the nation. He has become the de facto head of his political party, and the chief shaper of foreign policy, including the initiation of treaties. Through the device of executive agreements a president may make international arrangements for the life of his term in office that dispense with the need to obtain the approval of Congress. Congress, moreover, has by statute conferred extraconstitutional powers upon the president that include such matters as the management of trade relations, the protection of natural resources, and the right to intervene in labor-management disputes.

The recruitment of presidents has been a source of fascination, wonderment, and entertainment for Americans almost from the beginning of the Republic. George Washington in 1789 (and again in 1793), and John Adams in 1797 were chosen chief executive by the electoral college, as the Constitution intended. Adams was succeeded in turn by Thomas Jefferson (1801), James Madison (1809), and James Monroe (1817)--all from Virginia. This so-called Virginia Dynasty came to an end as new states farther to the west entered the Union and made claims requiring satisfaction.

Meanwhile, by 1800, divergent political factions were coalescing into the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties, and these loosely organized entities, through their leaders in Congress assembled in caucuses, selected the candidates for the office. After 1824, when John Quincy Adams was elected in a canvass so close that it had to be decided by the House of Representatives, "King Caucus," increasingly criticized as "undemocratic," gave way to popularly chosen nominating conventions, which had already found favor in many states. By 1832, the major parties, now the National Republicans and the Democrats, were nominating their presidential candidates in national conventions.

Andrew Jackson, an icon of the frontier, was elected handily in 1828. He was the first "man of the people" and the creator of a new kind of president, a man with a national rather than merely sectional constituency and responsive to newly emergent public opinion. The death of William Henry Harrison in 1841, the first president to die in office, settled the problem of presidential succession. Despite some argument that the vice president was only acting president, John Tyler's insistence that he was indeed the president prevailed. Still, it was not until Theodore Roosevelt, who had succeeded to the presidency on the death of William McKinley in 1901, was subsequently nominated for the top place (in 1904) that an "accidental" president was so honored.

The election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860, which provoked secession and brought on the Civil War, opened yet another era in the history of the office. The Republican party, recognized as the savior of the Union, became for two generations the party of the presidents. Between 1860 and 1932 only Grover Cleveland and Woodrow Wilson carried the Democratic banner to victory. But the Great Depression that led in 1932 to the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat, not only shattered the spell of the Republicans but once more altered the character of the office. Under Roosevelt, it became a dynamo of social experimentation aimed at providing for the needs of the deprived. The Second World War, which began in the middle of Roosevelt's unique four-term presidency, gave the office immense cachet as the voice of democracy and the free world. By that time, presidents were elected following campaigns of nationwide barnstorming, after the pattern set by William Jennings Bryan, the Democratic candidate in 1896. Candidates' positions earlier were conveyed to a few newspapers in carefully wrought letters. Beginning in 1932 radio was a principal means of reaching voters, followed after 1948 by television.

The coming of the cold war in 1945 placed new responsibility on the presidency as the energizer of opposition to communism. That long struggle ended with the collapse of the Soviet empire in the late 1980s. In the same period, the presidency had not flourished uniformly. After Dwight D. Eisenhower's two terms ended in 1961, no chief executive left office amid the cheers of the people for almost thirty years: John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963 (the fourth assassination in the history of the office, after Lincoln, 1865; James A. Garfield, 1881; William McKinley, 1901); Lyndon B. Johnson's presidency was devastated by the nation's growing opposition to the war in Vietnam; Richard M. Nixon's tenure was terminated by his resignation (the first in White House history) when he was about to be impeached for obstruction of justice, abuse of power, and contempt of Congress--all charges growing out of the Watergate affair. Vice President Spiro T. Agnew, having been forced to resign under threat of indictment for income-tax evasion, was replaced by Nixon under the terms of the Twenty-fifth Amendment with Representative Gerald Ford of Michigan. When Ford became president upon Nixon's departure, he named Nelson A. Rockefeller to be vice president, thus giving the country for the only time both an unelected chief executive and an unelected vice president.

The election in 1976 of Jimmy Carter and in 1980 of Ronald Reagan, whose main experience had been as governors, seemed to show a popular desire to have a president who arose outside the "intrigues" of Washington, D.C. But in 1988, when George Bush became president, voters opted for a person well acquainted with politics in the nation's capital.

From the start of the presidency, the president's wife has been a public figure in her own right. Although the label "First Lady" was not commonly used until after the Civil War, the wife of the president has always been accorded uncommon respect. Martha Washington was often referred to as "Lady Washington," and the titles "Mrs. President" and "Presidentress" were familiar appellations until the Civil War, a recognition that in significant ways the presidency is a two-person office. James Buchanan remains the only bachelor president.

Among presidents' wives, a number have stood out in the public eye in addition to Mrs. Washington: Dolley Payne Madison (who served as hostess for Jefferson, a widower, and then for her husband, 1801-1817), Sara Childress Polk (1845-1849), Mary Todd Lincoln (1861-1865), and Eleanor Roosevelt (1933-1945). Although no woman has yet been elected to the White House, Edith Galt Wilson, President Wilson's wife, performed so many duties during his incapacity from a massive stroke that she has been called the "first woman president." Jimmy Carter's wife, Rosalynn, sometimes attended cabinet meetings and conducted diplomacy unofficially. She and Betty Ford expressed the opinion that the First Lady ought to be a paid position. Nancy Reagan was widely known to help make her husband's calendar and to influence the choice of staff members.

Indubitably the presidents have tended to be what the people want them to be. Some part of James Monroe's appeal, for instance, was that he looked like George Washington. Some part of Abraham Lincoln's appeal was that he could be both "Honest Abe," a rail-splitting frontiersman, and "Father Abraham," a biblical figure battling the sin of slavery. Some part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's appeal was that, unable to walk, he symbolized an entire nation paralyzed and needing help to get going again. And time and again, the electorate has chosen the chief executive because he triumphed on the battlefield. Indeed, each victorious war has produced a hero who became president. Jackson ("Old Hickory") and William Henry Harrison ("Old Tippecanoe") had been heroes of the War of 1812, Zachary Taylor ("Old Rough and Ready") was a conquering hero of the Mexican War, and the Civil War yielded a whole series of chief executives. Theodore Roosevelt, who came to the White House via the vice presidency, owed his place on the ticket chiefly to his derring-do in the Spanish-American War. Herbert Hoover, though not a military figure, was widely revered as the man who had helped feed the Allies in World War I. And Dwight Eisenhower ("Ike") was the "liberator of Europe" in World War II.

In recent years presidents have had to wrestle with questions that hitherto were dealt with on the municipal or state levels. They are now involved with public health matters, homelessness, child care, and innumerable other issues never dreamed of by the Founding Fathers. A consequence is that presidents have become, after a fashion, "super mayors" and "super governors," drawing political fire they formerly were spared. To meet the nation's myriad needs, the president must rely on an array of advisers, whom he selects on the basis of personal and political preference that is as varied as the presidents themselves. The cabinet, an extraconstitutional body that came into existence in 1791, is the president's "official family." Originally consisting of the heads of the Departments of State, Treasury, and War, and the Office of the Attorney General, today it has fourteen members, making it an unwieldy body for the making of decisions. The president relies heavily on his in-house staff and particularly on his chief of staff, who is effectively his main consultant in generating policy.

As the president has become the political pivot of the country, the citizenry has evidenced an inclination to tinker with the office, proposing such changes as limiting the chief executive to a single six-year term (which Jackson advocated) and adopting a system more like the British parliamentary arrangement with a prime minister. Aside from the Bill of Rights and the Civil War amendments, most of the amendments to the Constitution have modified the presidency, although the alterations have not affected its powers. The changes attest to the incompleteness of the Constitution on the subject deriving from the understandable inability of the Founding Fathers to foresee future contingencies and to a continuing public concern over the choice of the president and other details of his service.

The Twelfth Amendment (1804) provided that the president and vice president be chosen on separate ballots--to prevent a recurrence of the disarray caused in 1800 when Jefferson and Aaron Burr were tied for president in the electoral college and the choice had to be made by the House of Representatives, with the loser, Burr, becoming vice president. The Twentieth Amendment (1933) moved Inauguration Day from March 4 to January 20 and provided that if the president-elect fails to qualify by that day, the vice president-elect becomes president. The Twenty-second Amendment (1951) declared that no person may be elected president more than twice--a posthumous slap at Franklin D. Roosevelt. The Twenty-fifth Amendment (1967) created an arrangement of wide scope to cover presidential disability--prompted by Eisenhower's major illnesses while in office and by Kennedy's assassination. The line of succession to the presidency after the vice president was established by statute in 1947, placing the Speaker of the House of Representatives after the vice president, followed by the president pro tempore of the Senate, and then the members of the cabinet, beginning with the secretary of state, in the order of the creation of the departments. An earlier law of 1886, now superseded, had placed the members of the cabinet after the vice president.

At the end of the twentieth century, the presidency more than ever was what Theodore Roosevelt called it, a "bully pulpit" for the exercise of moral leadership and the preachment of national values. It remained the richest political prize in the world, quested after like no other. Those who would occupy this august office, as well as the student who would understand it, must accept the pronouncement of Calvin Coolidge: the presidency "does not yield to definition. Like the glory of the morning sunrise, it can only be experienced--it cannot be told."

Bibliography:

Betty Boyd Caroli, First Ladies (1987); Henry F. Graff, ed., The Presidents: A Reference History (1984); Joseph Nathan Kane, Facts about the Presidents: A Compilation of Biographical and Historical Information (1989); Louis W. Koenig, The Chief Executive, 5th ed. (1986).

Author:

Henry F. Graff

See also Constitution; Elections; Electoral College; Impeachment; Kitchen Cabinet; Party Conventions; Public Opinion Polling; Vice Presidency.

Presidents of the United States

No.	Name:	Born-Died:	Years in Office:	Political Party:	Home State:	Vice President:
1	George Washington	1732-1799	1789-1797	None	Va.	John Adams
2	John Adams	1735-1826	1797-1801	Federatr	Mass.	Thomas Jefferson
3	Thomas Jefferson	1743-1826	1801-1809	Republicana	Va.	Aaron Burr George Clinton
4	James Madison	1751-1836	1809-1817	Republican	Va.	George Clinton Elbridge Gerry
5	James Monroe	1758-1831	1817-1825	Republican	Va.	Daniel D. Tompkins
6	John Quincy Adams	1767-1848	1825-1829	Republican	Mass.	John C. Calhoun
7	Andrew Jackson	1767-1845	1829-1837	Democratic	Tenn.	John C. Calhoun Martin Van Buren
8	Martin Van Buren	1782-1862	1837-1841	Democratic	N.Y.	Richard M. Johnson
9	William Henry Harrison	1773-1841	1841	Whig	Ohio	John Tyler
10	John Tyler	1790-1862	1841-1845	Whig	Va.	--
11	James K. Polk	1795-1849	1845-1849	Democratic	Tenn.	George M. Dallas
12	Zachary Taylor	1784-1850	1849-1850	Whig	La.	Millard Fillmore
13	Millard Fillmore	1800-1874	1850-1853	Whig	N.Y.	--
14	Franklin Pierce	1804-1869	1853-1857	Democratic	N.H.	William R. King
15	James Buchanan	1791-1868	1857-1861	Democratic	Pa.	John C. Breckinridge
16	Abraham Lincoln	1809-1865	1861-1865	Republican	Ill.	Hannibal Hamlin Andrew Johnson
17	Andrew Johnson	1808-1875	1865-1869	Republican	Tenn.	--
18	Ulysses S. Grant	1822-1885	1869-1877	Republican	Ill.	Schuyler Colfax Henry Wilson
19	Rutherford B. Hayes	1822-1893	1877-1881	Republican	Ohio	William A. Wheeler
20	James A. Garfield	1831-1881	1881	Republican	Ohio	Chester A. Arthur
21	Chester A. Arthur	1830-1886	1881-1885	Republican	N.Y.	--
22	Grover Cleveland	1837-1908	1885-1889	Democratic	N.Y.	Thomas A. Hendricks
23	Benjamin Harrison	1833-1901	1889-1893	Republican	Ind.	Levi P. Morton
24	Grover Cleveland		1893-1897	Democratic	N.Y.	Adlai E. Stevenson
25	William McKinley	1843-1901	1897-1901	Republican	Ohio	Garret A. Hobart Theodore Roosevelt
26	Theodore Roosevelt	1858-1919	1901-1909	Republican	N.Y.	-- Charles W. Fairbanks
27	William Howard Taft	1857-1930	1909-1913	Republican	Ohio	James S. Sherman
28	Woodrow Wilson	1856-1924	1913-1921	Democratic	N.J.	Thomas R. Marshall
29	Warren G. Harding	1865-1923	1921-1923	Republican	Ohio	Calvin Coolidge
30	Calvin Coolidge	1872-1933	1923-1929	Republican	Mass.	-- Charles G. Dawes
31	Herbert Hoover	1874-1964	1929-1933	Republican	Calif.	Charles Curtis
32	Franklin D. Roosevelt	1882-1945	1933-1945	Democratic	N.Y.	John Nance Garner Henry Wallace Harry S. Truman
33	Harry S. Truman	1884-1972	1945-1953	Democratic	Mo.	-- Alben W. Barkley
34	Dwight D. Eisenhower	1890-1969	1953-1961	Republican	Kans.	Richard M. Nixon
35	John F. Kennedy	1917-1963	1961-1963	Democratic	Mass.	Lyndon B. Johnson
36	Lyndon B. Johnson	1908-1973	1963-1969	Democratic	Texas	-- Hubert H. Humphrey
37	Richard M. Nixon	1913-1994	1969-1974	Republican	Calif.	Spiro T. Agnew Gerald Ford
38	Gerald Ford	1913-	1974-1977	Republican	Mich.	Nelson A. Rockefeller
39	Jimmy Carter	1924-	1977-1981	Democratic	Ga.	Walter F. Mondale
40	Ronald Reagan	1911-	1981-1989	Republican	Calif.	George Bush
41	George Bush	1924-	1989-1993	Republican	Texas	J. Danforth Quayle
42	William J. Clinton	1946-	1993-	Democratic	Arkansas	Albert A. Gore, Jr.

a. The Republican party of the third through sixth presidents was not the modern party, which was founded in 1854.

The presidency is the most powerful formal political institution in post-communist Russia. Except for the ceremonial title given to the head of the USSR Supreme Soviet, the Soviet Union did not have a presidency until its waning years, although the adoption of one was discussed under Josef Stalin and again under Nikita Khrushchev. New proposals resurfaced in the late 1980s, prompting intense debate among Communist Party elites about the efficacy of introducing an institution that could challenge the party's authority. Despite concerns about the concentration of power in the hands of a single individual, the Supreme Soviet and the Congress of People's Deputies approved the Soviet presidency in 1990. The first presidential election was to be held by the legislature, with sub-sequent popular elections. Mikhail Gorbachev became president in March 1990, receiving 71 percent of the votes in the Congress of People's Deputies.

The union republics began electing presidents before the dissolution of the USSR. In June 1991, Boris Yeltsin was chosen as Russia's first president in an election that pitted him against five competitors. In his first term, following the breakup of the USSR, Yeltsin faced a recalcitrant parliament that opposed many of his initiatives. The conflict between the executive and legislative branches culminated in Yeltsin's issuing a decree that dissolved parliament on September 21, 1993. Parliament rejected the decree and declared Vice President Alexander Rutskoi to be acting president. The forces opposing Yeltsin assembled armed supporters, occupied the Russian White House, and attempted to take control of the main television network. Pro-Yeltsin forces attacked the White House and crushed the parliamentary rebellion in early October 1993.

The constitutional crisis led to the formal strengthening of the presidency, codified in the 1993 constitution. Rather than a pure presidential system, the Russian Federation adopted a semi-presidential system in which the president is the popularly elected head of state, and the prime minister, nominated by the president, is the head of government. The president is elected to a four-year term using a majority-runoff system that requires a majority vote to win in the first round of competition. If no candidate gains a majority, a runoff is held between the top two candidates from the first round. The president wields substantial formal powers and thus has more authority than the leaders in parliamentary and many other semipresidential systems. Among other things, the president can veto laws, make decrees, initiate legislation, call for referenda, and suspend local laws that contravene the constitution. The president is limited to two consecutive terms in office.

Yeltsin was reelected president in July 1996, after defeating the candidate of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Gennady Zyuganov, in the second round of competition. Yeltsin resigned from the presidency on December 31, 1999. Vladimir Putin served briefly as acting president and then was elected in March 2000. Putin reasserted presidential authority, strengthening central control over the regions, challenging powerful business interests, and extending control over the press.

Bibliography

Huskey, Eugene. (1999). Presidential Power in Russia. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.

Nichols, Thomas M. (2001). The Russian Presidency. New York: St. Martin's.

—ERIK S. HERRON

The chief executive officer of an institution of higher education in the United States is commonly known as president. There are some campuses, however, which use the titles of chancellor, dean, or chief executive officer in lieu of president. The diversity of higher education institutions in the United States has resulted in chief executive officers at U.S. colleges and universities with a wide variety of background characteristics and job responsibilities.

Characteristics

Historically, college presidents have been over-whelmingly white, Protestant, and male. By the late 1990s more than 19 percent of college presidents were women and 11 percent were members of other minority groups. The average age for presidents was 57.6 years, with 30 percent never having served as a full-time faculty member. More than 80 percent hold an earned doctorate, with the single largest field of study being education. Most college and university presidents are members of their institution's governing board, although not all have voting rights. The average length of service for a president is seven years.

Career Path

The path to the college presidency was historically pursued by ordained ministers. This held true especially for those institutions created to educate future religious leaders. As institutions began to educate beyond theology and law, presidents with educational backgrounds in the arts and sciences became predominant. These academic presidents still constitute the single largest type of all college presidents, particularly at four-year institutions. In the latter half of the twentieth century great changes occurred in higher education, shifting the role of the U.S. college president. Two-year public community college systems were created in most states as a means to provide greater access to higher education, and a number of four-year institutions were founded to accommodate the rising number of students going on to college. This exponential growth required the addition of many presidential positions. Many of those named to the presidency of the two-year colleges came from the ranks of professional educators, in particular from the staff of local school systems. Selection of presidents at four-year institutions shifted from academic ranks to mostly those from administrative positions at a college or university.

Increasingly, more chief executive officers are arriving at the presidency from areas other than the traditional vice president of academic affairs position. These nontraditional presidents are typically individuals who have worked in other areas of college or university administration, such as finance, institutional advancement, or student affairs. Some institutions have even gone to the business community for individuals to fill the presidency. This shift stems from the need of higher education institutions to run more like a business and to use skills of management and finance that are not as prevalent in academe.

Even with these changes in a president's educational and experiential background, it is still uncommon for college presidents to shift between different types of institutions. Individuals who have worked at two-year colleges typically remain at two-year institutions. The same is true for doctorate-granting, comprehensive, baccalaureate, and specialized institutions. For all institutional types, presidents are usually hired from another institution rather than from within the same institution. Due to the extensive nature of the position, the search process to select a college or university president often involves a number of individuals with a vested interest and often takes an entire year.

Roles and Responsibilities

The college president is typically responsible to a governing board for the successful operation of the institution. Some presidents lead an institution affiliated with a church denomination or a state system, and may therefore report to the chief executive officer of that particular organization. The president's relationship with the institution's board of trustees is critical. One of the board's primary duties is to hire and fire the president, and thus it is important for the president to be attentive to the needs and desires of the board.

Many presidents gain the full trust and support of their boards, which allows them to establish and carry out a vision for the institution. The construction of a vision for an institution by the president is critical because it tells the story of where an institution has been and provides direction for where the institution is headed. "This vision, if believed in by the faculty, administrators, staff and students, has the potential to transform an institution. The degree to which the president is respected and admired by the faculty will be the extent to which he or she is able to inspire trust and confidence, the extent to which he or she is believable, and can deliver" (Fisher, p. 101). Although the president is the voice for the vision, the president does not usually create this vision alone. The college or university president must identify, and be attentive to, the strengths and weaknesses of the institution. Understanding the capacity of those who work for the college or university and how the institution fits within the larger higher education sector allows the president to determine what the institution can achieve. The president must craft this vision, with members of the college community taking ownership in its development. Once the vision is crafted, the president must share it at every opportunity.

A significant aspect of the college president's role is symbolic in nature. Whether it is leading the opening convocation, dedicating a new facility, or presiding over commencement ceremonies, the president represents the institution. Within the college community, the president can use the influence derived from the symbolic nature of his or her position to move the institution in a given direction. Out in the greater community the president's role is often more prominent. Individuals not directly involved with the college typically believe a college or university president has authority and control over more than he or she really does. As a result, presidents may find themselves under greater pressure from external constituents than internal constituents. The resulting role for many presidents becomes one of mediator, facilitator, and consensus maker for issues both internal and external to the institution.

Internally, a college president is responsible for the effective operation of the institution. Most presidents have an advisory cabinet composed of vice presidents and potentially one or two other key individuals who help the president ensure that the goals and vision are being implemented in a positive fashion. The president's broad areas of responsibility include academic affairs, which encompasses development of the curriculum and new educational programs; oversight and maintenance of facilities; fund-raising and communicating the image of the institution through institutional advancement; enrollment management, which tracks graduation, admission rates, and financial aid to ensure stable student enrollment; the finances of the institution; and finally, the management of out-of-classroom issues in student affairs, such as judicial hearings, residence life, and health services. Although there are countless variations in the organizational structure and scope of responsibilities, these areas, in most instances, are overseen by a vice president. For example, many institutions combine facilities and finance into one functional area. The organizational structure of the president's cabinet reflects institutional as well as presidential values and goals.

Although the president has vice presidents and their staffs to carry out each functional role, the president will be involved at varying levels at different times, depending on the issue at hand. A president may serve as the final arbiter for a student judicial hearing, determine whether a faculty member receives tenure, or assist in the detailed development of a new facility for the campus. However, it is a rare campus where the president has developed authority in a top-down fashion. The president relies on the expertise and experience of his or her staff to accomplish the details of the institutional vision.

For most presidents their power is derived through their influence with the various campus and community constituents. In working with the curriculum and other components of the educational programs, the president typically encourages faculty to take the lead and reserves specific input for those items that are absolutely critical for the fulfillment of the institution's vision. As the college or university representative, the president's views typically carry significant weight. This significance allows for the opinion of the president to steer decisions in a manner perceived as beneficial to the college or university.

From the vision comes the task of strategic planning to enable an institution to achieve its goals. The president must look beyond next year's class size, the goal for the upcoming annual fund, and other short-term concerns of the institution to see beyond the horizon and craft a path for the college or university on its way to fulfilling the vision. Crafting a long-range plan constitutes one of the major areas of time spent by a president. He or she must also spend considerable time on and off campus raising money for the institution, visiting with alumni in areas with significant numbers, and meeting with key individuals who may have the ability to support the institution.

Bibliography

Cohen, Michael D., and March, James G. 1974. Leadership and Ambiguity: The American College President. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Fisher, James L. 1984. Power of the Presidency. New York: Macmillan.

Fisher, James L., and Koch, James V. 1996. Presidential Leadership: Making a Difference. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press.

Kerr, Clark, and Gade, Marian. L. 1986. The Many Lives of Academic Presidents: Time, Place and Character. Washington, DC: Association of Governing Boards.

Murphy, Mary Kay, ed. 1997. The Advancement President and the Academy: Profiles in Institutional Leadership. Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press.

Ross, Marlene, and Green, Madeline F. 2000. The American College President: 2000 Edition. Washington, DC: American Council on Education.

— ALAN P. DUESTERHAUS

A cynical view of the world by Ambrose Bierce

n.

The greased pig in the field game of American politics.

---

See words rhyming with "presidency."

Dansk (Danish)
n. - præsidentværdighed, direktørstilling, præsidenttid, administrativt område

Nederlands (Dutch)
presidentschap, presidium

Français (French)
n. - présidence

Deutsch (German)
n. - Präsidentschaft, Vorsitz

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (διάρκεια θητείας σε) προεδρία

Italiano (Italian)
presidenza

Português (Portuguese)
n. - presidência (f)

Русский (Russian)
президентство

Español (Spanish)
n. - presidencia

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - presidentskap, presidentämbete, presidentperiod, ordförandeskap, -tid, presidium

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
总统职位, 主席职位, 总裁职位

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 總統職位, 主席職位, 總裁職位

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 미국대통령의 지위

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 大統領の職

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) رئاسه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮נשיאות, תקופת כהונה כנשיא‬

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