President of the United States

The president of the United States is by far the best known politician both within the United States and around the world. Americans who struggle to recall the name of their representative, senator, or governor almost certainly know the name of the president. Citizens of other countries from Iraq to China, Australia to Russia, are generally familiar with the president's name and photograph and have an opinion on his performance in office. The fame that U.S. presidents enjoy today is appropriate, for the person who holds that office is at the center of both American politics and world affairs. Yet the president is not all-powerful at home or abroad. U.S. presidents are of ten frustrated overseas (for example, in their attempts to bring peace to the Middle East or Northern Ireland), and domestically it is well to remember that, as the political scientist Charles O. Jones has emphasized, the United States does not have a presidential system of government in the sense that presidents are free to make and implement policy.

Powers of the Office

The Constitution, as is well known, created a system of checks and balances to prevent tyrannical government. The political scientist Richard Neustadt correctly noted that the Constitution did not create a system of separated powers favored by theorists such as Montesquieu, in which legislative, judicial, and executive powers were kept separate from one another. Rather, the Constitution gave pieces of all these powers to all branches of government. The power to oversee the departments and agencies of the federal government is given to Congress and the courts as well as to the president; Congress as well as the president is involved in foreign policy through Congress's powers to block the appointment of ambassadors and decide whether to accept or reject treaties, and through its general power of the purse through which it decides how much, if at all, to fund policies proposed by the president and his officers.

The Constitution is also particularly brief and ambiguous in describing the powers of the president. The president is given the rights to nominate ambassadors and other officers of the United States and to require their opinions in writing, to veto legislation (subject to override by a two-thirds majority), to report on the state of the union, to negotiate treaties, and to be commander in chief. The Constitution therefore provides a mixture of both precise and ambiguous powers to the president. There was no doubt from the earliest years of the republic that the power to veto legislation provided presidents with an enormously valuable bargaining chip in the legislative process. In the case of other Constitutional grants of power, it has taken many years of practice and interpretation to define what they mean. At the time the Constitution was written, the role of the British king as commander in chief had become merely ceremonial and honorific. Yet by the late twentieth century, U.S. presidents had successfully asserted that this title empowered them to order American forces into battle even if Congress had not used its undoubted constitutional right to decide whether or not to declare war. In the Cold War nuclear era, the implications were sobering. On a less dramatic level, the question of which officers and officials of the United States the president can not only appoint but dismiss is similarly ambiguous in the Constitution. The matter was not fully settled by the Supreme Court until the twentieth century; for example, the president can fire the Attorney General or the Secretary of State, but cannot fire members of independent regulatory commissions or independent counsels. In important respects, therefore, the powers of the president have accumulated over the centuries rather than invariably originating unambiguously from the Constitution.

The Constitution gave the president one enormous advantage compared with the other two branches of government, namely the singularity of the office. Power in Congress is widely fragmented between two chambers and among numerous committees, subcommittees, and part leaders. Individual legislators are hesitant to grant much of their own power to anyone. The president in contrast enjoys a solitary splendor. As Alexander Hamilton recognized in the Federalist Papers, the president is much better placed to act with speed and dispatch in making decisions than the fragmented Congress. The president's bargaining position with Congress is also enhanced by its divisions and his singularity.

Presidents enjoy one important advantage because of a constitutional practice rather than the Constitution as such. The president is uniquely positioned to claim to be the person who can speak for the United States and the national interest, particularly during crises and emergencies. This reflects the fact that, contrary to the plan for electing the president set out in the Constitution, the president is in practice elected directly by the people voting state by state. Thus the president can claim with some plausibility to be the only politician to have been elected by all the people, in contrast to legislators elected by a single state or district. Yet all these Constitutional advantages must be set against the constraints the Constitution provides and that we have discussed above. The most obvious are worth reiterating. Presidents cannot legislate without Congress. Presidents cannot even implement established policies unless Congress, which has the power of the purse, provides the funding. The contrast with a prime minister who can rely on a disciplined parliamentary majority (as is generally the case in Great Britain) is striking.

The Presidency in the Political System

The Constitution therefore confers both opportunities and constraints upon the president. As we have seen, American presidents share all their powers with other branches of government. Presidents can achieve their policy goals only by winning the support of other political actors. The nature of American politics makes the challenge all the greater. Political parties in the United States are famously (or notoriously) less disciplined than parties in parliamentary systems; the president's unofficial role as leader of his party nationally does not automatically result in legislators from that party supporting one of the president's bills in Congress, particularly if their constituents' interests or opinions conflict with it. Attempts by even the most prestigious presidents to punish members of their own party who have failed to support them (such as Roosevelt in the 1930s) have harmed presidents more than the objects of their wrath. American political parties historically have not coalesced around explicit ideologies to which presidents can appeal for support. It is true that in the late twentieth century the parties in Congress achieved much greater cohesion than in the past, with much larger proportions of legislators voting with their party much more of ten than in previous years. Yet, as President Clinton experienced when his proposal for national health insurance failed in a Congress controlled by his own Democratic Party without even a formal vote being taken, higher party unity scores do not necessarily result in support for a particular presidential proposal from his own party. As Richard Neustadt argued, the power of the president is the power to persuade.

Fortunately for presidents, they enjoy a number of advantages not enumerated in the Constitution to help them in their attempts to persuade. Particularly in times of acute crisis, such as the beginning of a war, the president's dual role as head of state as well as head of government causes a "rally effect" in which the public and other politicians unite in support of the nation's leader. Presidents can reward support with government contracts for the legislator's constituency, appointments for friends, or support for the legislator's own favorite proposal. Most importantly, presidents have the ability to "go public" in the words of Samuel Kernell, appealing to the public for support over the heads of other politicians. The rise of the electronic media, first radio and then television, has enabled presidents to establish a direct, almost personal relationship with voters that skilled presidents such as Ronald Reagan or Bill Clinton have used to good effect. It is probably advisable for presidents to use this tactic on a limited number of important issues lest it lose its impact. If used wisely, it can be decisive.

The degree to which presidents are successful in persuading other politicians to follow their lead has varied significantly. Three different cycles can be distinguished. First, success varies over the course of a presidency. Even those presidents regarded as the most successful in gaining support from Congress have found that toward the end of their presidencies their success has faltered. Both Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson experienced dramatic success in obtaining legislation from Congress only to experience subsequent periods of frustration and failure. Second, a president's success may be influenced by reactions to events that occurred under his predecessors. Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter both suffered from the belief that under their predecessors an overly powerful "imperial presidency" had developed. Ronald Reagan benefited from a fear that under Carter and Ford the presidency had become "imperiled, not imperial." Third, there have been longer-term historical variations. The unimposing presidents that James Bryce had in mind when he discussed the office in his magisterial book, The American Commonwealth, gave way to the strong presidencies of Theodore Roosevelt and (after William Howard Taft) Woodrow Wilson. The uninspiring presidents after Wilson were followed by the strong leadership of Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman.

The Office

The Constitution talks of the president, but in the modern era, at least, the presidency is not merely the president but a sizable political institution employing over 1,500 people. By way of contrast, the Executive Office contained less than half that number (703) in 1943 when Roosevelt had a world war to run. Some of these people are civil servants, notably in the Office of Management and Budget that constructs the president's budget and monitors the regulations that agencies and departments develop. Around 400 are members of the White House staff, a group of political appointees whose role and power varies from the relatively mundane (arranging travel, answering correspondence) to the extremely important (writing speeches, advising on policy issues.)

The growth in the size of the Executive Office might be seen as reflecting merely the growth in the responsibilities of governments in all advanced industrialized economies and in the international role of the United States. It is important to note, however, that new functions or responsibilities of American government could have been entrusted to established departments such as State or the Treasury. After all, American presidents are given far more freedom to make political appointments to the top positions in government departments than most democratic heads of government enjoy, and the number of such political appointees continues to grow. Newly elected presidents in the United States can make about 5,000 political appointments; a British prime minister in a country with admittedly only about one-fifth of the U.S. population can make fewer than two hundred.

All modern presidents have felt, however, that they needed their own staffers to advise them from within the White House rather than relying on the cabinet secretaries. In part this results from the fact that issues do not correspond to departmental boundaries; a foreign policy crisis will almost certainly involve the Department of Defense, the Treasury, and the Department of Justice as well as the State Department. It also reflects, however, presidents' suspicions about the responsiveness of the civil service in government departments and the commitment of cabinet secretaries to the president's agenda. After all, many political appointments are made more for political reasons (ensuring that there are enough women or minorities in the president's appointments) rather than because those selected are known to have a clear commitment to the president's policy preferences. Indeed, of ten presidents must make appointments to positions in policy fields that they have rarely thought about, and they have no clear preferences until a problem develops. Moreover, political appointees in departments must operate in a political setting in which many influences upon them—powerful congressional committees, the opinions of the permanent bureaucracy, interest groups—can pull them away from the president's priorities and policy positions.

Unlike the leaders of most advanced democracies, American presidents are presented with the challenge of constructing the core executive for themselves. British prime ministers used to walk through the front door of 10 Downing Street to take charge of a prime ministership that was ready to use and with key officials (who are permanent civil servants)in place. U.S. presidents arrive to find that their predecessor has removed all key files and computer discs. A number of obvious dangers lie in wait for the new president in constructing his or her administration. Some presidents (Johnson, Nixon) are said to have created a severely hierarchical structure for the White House staff that screened out and sheltered them from bad news or contrary opinions that they needed to hear. Others (Carter for most of his administration, Clinton for periods of his) have been criticized for allowing too much access to them by too many of their staff, resulting in incoherent decision making and excessive demands on their time, down to, in Carter's case, allegedly deciding on who could use the White House tennis courts. Reagan claimed that members of his Executive Office, notably Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North of the National Security Council staff, had organized the illegal sale of weapons to Iran and transfer of the proceeds to right-wing rebels in Nicaragua. In short, the Executive Office, if organized ineffectively, can harm presidents as well as helping them. An appropriate structure for the White House staff and the Executive Office in general will avoid these dangers. It will also, however, take into account the styles and personalities of the incumbent; an appropriate structure for one president may be inappropriate for another.

The Presidency and the World

Presidents of the United States are elected only by Americans, but their policies and performance matter to people throughout the world. Although the end of the Cold War meant that presidents were no longer as obviously leaders of a mighty "Western" coalition, the dominant position of the United States in the world has compelled U.S. presidents to accept a role of global leadership. Post–Cold War presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush came into office determined to be more domestically oriented than their predecessors but were unable to escape the demands of world leadership. Global issues ranging from climate change to trade, from bringing peace to the Balkans to combating international terrorism against the United States, from countering the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait to settling disputes with the European Union over the use of growth hormones in beef cattle, have regularly forced themselves onto the agendas of the post–Cold War presidents.

Leaders in other countries are as much a part of the attentive audience for presidents as, for example, representatives in Congress. The annual meeting of the leaders of major advanced industrialized nations known as the G8 brings presidents (and more extensively, their staffs) into regular dialogue with foreign counterparts. Certain foreign leaders (the British prime minister, the Russian president) expect to speak with the U.S. president regularly and informally on major global issues. Almost all foreign heads of government prize the publicity and prestige that a visit to the White House brings. Foreign leaders know that, given the extent of American economic, diplomatic, and military power, a decision not to become involved in a problem that concerns them is as much a policy decision on the part of the American president as a decision to become involved. Presidents frequently find themselves practicing what Robert Putnam termed the "two level game" of balancing the sometimes conflicting, sometimes coinciding demands of global politics on the one hand and domestic politics on the other.

The Presidency in a New Century

The history of the U.S. presidency has been a history of expansion. The institution has grown in terms of the number of people it employs, in terms of the range of policy problems for which presidents are held accountable, and in terms of the international responsibilities of its incumbent. In spite of the misleading adage that "all politics is local," Americans feel that through the medium of television they have a closer connection with the president than with any other politician. Yet all the prominence and responsibilities that befall a modern president must still be handled within the framework established by an eighteenth-century document, the Constitution, that created not a presidential system of government but a system of separated institutions sharing the powers of government. The president, whose international prominence is so great, must always remember that at home, success depends on the ability to persuade other politicians to cooperate.

Bibliography

Burke, John P. The Intuitional Presidency: Organizing and Managing the White House from FDR to Clinton. Baltimore and London: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000.

Edwards, George C. At the Margins: Presidential Leadership of Congress. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press, 1969.

Greenstein, Fred I. The Hidden Hand Presidency; Eisenhower as Leader. New York: Basic Books, 1982.

Hart, John. The Presidential Branch. New York: Pergamon, 1987.

Rockman, Bert A. The Leadership Question: The Presidency and the American System. New York: Praeger, 1984.

Schlesinger, Arthur M., Jr. The Imperial Presidency. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1973.

Skowronek, Stephen S. The Politics Presidents Make: Leadership from John Adams to George Bush. Cambridge, Mass.: Belkap Press, 1993.

View more History, Politics, Society videos

As commander in chief, the President of the United States oversees not only all U.S. military forces, but U.S. national security as a whole. In this capacity, the President exercises executive command and control of intelligence agencies, and issues executive orders and presidential directives that shape national security policy. The nation's 14 largest intelligence agencies belong to the Intelligence Community, whose leader, the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), reports directly to the President. Executive oversight of intelligence also emanates through the National Security Council (NSC) and the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board (PFIAB). The President in turn presents intelligence budgets to the U.S. Congress, which exercises checks and balances on executive power.

Architect of National Security

The modern age of national security began in 1947, with the passage of the National Security Act, which reorganized the Department of Defense (DOD) and established the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and NSC. Prior to that time, the President had always exercised control over the armed forces as commander in chief, but now he also supervised a nascent security and intelligence apparatus destined to grow considerably over the years.

The modern President articulates much of his role as director of national security policy through executive orders and, more recently, presidential directives. Executive orders, which originated under the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt and grew considerably in number after World War II, are theoretically subject to congressional override, but in practice amount to executive edicts. Important executive orders from the 1970s and onward have addressed issues such as the organization of the Intelligence Community and the handling of classified documents.

Whereas executive orders are open to the public, presidential directives are classified, and knowledge of their content only emerges, if at all, after the fact. These directives have guided security and intelligence policy since the administration of President John F. Kennedy, and each administration has sought to place its own stamp on them by giving them specific titles as a class. For example, they were known as national security directives under George H. W. Bush, presidential decision directives under William J. Clinton, and national security presidential directives under George W. Bush.

In 1986, Congress called on presidents to issue an annual National Security Strategy (NSS), a document outlining the blueprint for national security. Prior to the 2002 NSS of George W. Bush, these usually did little more than simply restate policies then in effect. The Bush NSS, on the other hand, outlined an explicit framework for U.S. actions to be taken in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

The Advisors

In directing intelligence policy, the President relies on Cabinet-level advisors whose departments have a role in national security. Most notable among these are the secretaries of State, Defense, Homeland Security, Energy, and the Treasury, as well as the Attorney General. Other Cabinet officials, including the secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, and Transportation, also support some national-security functions, and may be called upon for advice relating to their specific areas.

The role of the Vice-President as advisor varies as a function of his relationship with the President. Kennedy, for instance, worked little with Lyndon B. Johnson, whose inclusion on the winning 1960 ticket had resulted from a marriage of convenience designed to attract conservative Southern Democrats. On the other hand, George W. Bush has relied heavily on Vice-President Dick Cheney, who served in the administration of his father.

The NSC. The Vice President is, along with the secretaries of State and Defense, a statutory member of the NSC, as is the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the DCI. The chairman of the NSC is the President himself. Intended to serve as the principal advisory board on matters of national security and foreign policy, the NSC has in practice functioned to a level of importance determined by the chief executive.

In general, Democratic presidents have tended to take an ad hoc approach to the NSC, while Republicans, starting with Dwight D. Eisenhower, have relied more heavily on the NSC, or at least on the National Security Advisor, who played an important role in the administrations of Richard M. Nixon, George W. Bush, and others. The role of the National Security Advisor, officially titled the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, is not mentioned in the National Security Act, and emerged only during the Kennedy administration.

In addition to the four statutory members, the two statutory advisors on military and intelligence affairs, and the National Security Advisor, the Secretary of the Treasury is a regular attendee at NSC meetings. The Chief of Staff to the President, Counsel to the President, and Assistant to the President for Economic Policy are invited to attend any NSC meeting, while the Attorney General and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) are invited to attend those meetings that pertain to their responsibilities. The directors of other executive departments and agencies, as well as other senior officials, are called to attend when appropriate. Under the George W. Bush administration, the Director (later Secretary) of Homeland Security has been a regular participant in NSC meetings.

PFIAB. Established by President Eisenhower in 1956, PFIAB is an independent advisory board within the Executive Office of the President. It consists of 16 uncompensated members, selected by the President from outside the ranks of government. PFIAB reviews the activities and performance of all agencies involved in intelligence activities, and advises the President on its assessments of their performance. It also provides the President with input on the objectives, conduct, and coordination of activities by members of the Intelligence Community.

Under the aegis of the PFIAB is the three-member Intelligence Oversight Board (IOB), established by President Gerald Ford in 1976. The IOB is responsible for oversight regarding the legality and propriety of intelligence activities, particularly—according to its charter—those "intelligence activities that the IOB believes may be unlawful or contrary to executive order or presidential directive." Originally an independent body, the IOB became a standing committee of the PFIAB in 1997.

The Intelligence Community, Budgeting, and Congress

In addition to leading the CIA, DCI serves as the President's principal advisor on intelligence matters. He also leads the Intelligence Community, which, along with CIA, includes 13 other agencies within the departments of Defense, State, Energy, Justice, the Treasury, and Homeland Security. Among the members of the Intelligence Community are the Federal Bureau of Investigation, National Security Agency, and Defense Intelligence Agency.

DCI reports to the President both directly and (depending on the operational structure of the administration in question) through the National Security Advisor. As head of the Intelligence Community, DCI presents the President with the annual Intelligence Community budget, known as the National Foreign Intelligence Program (NFIP).

In preparing the budget for intelligence and national security activities in the coming fiscal year, the President also relies on the Secretary of Defense. The latter presents the President with two budgets: the Joint Military Intelligence Program (JMIP) for military intelligence, and Tactical Intelligence and Related Areas (TIARA) for specific tactical intelligence requirements of the military services.

Using the NFIP, JMIP, and TIARA budgets, the President proceeds to establish an overall DOD intelligence budget with the help of the National Security Advisor and the OMB. He then presents these requests to Congress, which, once it approves the request, passes the annual intelligence authorization act. The latter originated in the late 1970s, as a result of congressional distrust toward the executive branch in the fallout from the Watergate scandal.

Intelligence authorization acts, in addition to numerous mechanisms for direct congressional oversight of intelligence, gives Congress influence over intelligence activities. In the case of the intelligence authorization process, Congress may refuse budgeting for certain requested activities, with the result being a tug-of-war between the White House and Capitol Hill. On the other hand, the President himself may veto intelligence authorization acts, which also include other, non-budgetary, provisions.

Further Reading

Books

Andrew, Christopher M. For the President's Eyes Only: Secret Intelligence and the American Presidency from Washington to Bush. New York: HarperCollins, 1995.

Gore, Albert. The Intelligence Community: Accompanying Report of the National Performance Review, Office of the Vice President. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1993.

Helgerson, John L. Getting to Know the President: CIA Briefings of Presidential Candidates, 1952–1992. Washington, D.C.: Central Intelligence Agency, 1996.

Mann, Thomas E. A Question of Balance: The President, Congress. Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1990.

Thompson, Kenneth W. The President, the Bureaucracy, and World Regions in Arms Control. Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1998.

The head of the executive branch, one of the three branches of the federal government.

The U.S. Constitution sets relatively strict requirements about who may serve as president and for how long. Under Article II, only a natural-born citizen of the United States is eligible to serve as president; a person born outside of the United States, even if he later becomes a citizen, may not serve. In addition, a person must be at least thirty-five years old to become president and must have resided in the United States for at least fourteen years. Under the Twenty-second Amendment, which was added to the Constitution in 1951, no person may serve as president for more than two four-year terms. The amendment further provides that a person who succeeds to the office for more than two years of an unexpired term (for example, because a sitting president dies or resigns) may serve for only one additional four-year term.

Article II also sets the parameters of the president's authority. The article provides that the president is the commander in chief of the armed services. As commander in chief, the president has the power to preserve the peace by governing a captured territory until Congress establishes civil authority over it; she also may declare martial law, which provides for the imposition of military authority over civilians in the event of an invasion, insurrection, disaster, or similar occurrence. In addition, the president can end a war through a treaty or a presidential proclamation. The power to declare war, however, is vested exclusively in Congress and not the president. In a situation of an undeclared war, under the War Powers Resolution of 1973 (50 U.S.C.A. § 1541 et seq.) the president must consult with Congress before introducing armed forces into hostilities. Nevertheless, the practical effect of the statute is somewhat limited because it recognizes the power of the president to unilaterally deploy military forces when necessary.

As the head of the executive branch, the president executes the law but does not legislate, although he submits budgets, and may propose bills, to Congress. The president's legislative power is limited to approving or disapproving bills passed by Congress. If the president approves a measure, it becomes law. If he vetoes the bill, or refuses to approve it, it goes back to either the House of Representatives or to the Senate (wherever the bill first originated). If both bodies then pass the bill again by a two-thirds margin, the president's veto has been overridden and she must sign it into law. Under the line-item veto law, the president may veto only a portion of a bill while leaving the remainder of the legislation intact (2 U.S.C.A. § 691 [1996]).

The president's executive powers also include the authority to issue proclamations and executive orders. A proclamation is a general announcement of policy, whereas an executive order has the force and effect of law by carrying out a provision of the Constitution, a federal statute, or a treaty. For example, during World War II President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued an executive order confining Japanese American citizens to camps following the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

The president has the exclusive authority to represent the United States in its relationships with governments of other countries. Through the secretary of state and other officials, the president communicates with other nations, recognizes foreign governments, and makes agreements, including the negotiation of treaties. Treaties, however, must be approved by two-thirds of the Senate before taking effect. Executive agreements with other nations do not require Senate approval but still carry the force of law. For instance, the United States, through the president, has frequently entered into executive agreements to supply economic aid to other nations.

In domestic matters the president is advised by the cabinet, which is comprised of more than a dozen executive departments covering a wide range of areas, including commerce, housing, labor, and the treasury. Each department is headed by a secretary, who is responsible for its overall administration and for reporting to the president.

Should the president be unable to serve a full term, Article II and the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the Constitution provide for a line of succession. If the president dies, resigns, or is removed from office through the impeachment process, the vice president becomes the acting president. This transfer of power also occurs if the president informs both houses of Congress that she is temporarily unable to discharge the duties of president. The House of Representatives can impeach a president or indict her for treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. If the House votes to impeach, the president is not automatically removed from office; impeachment is instead a formal charge accusing the president of a crime. The articles, or charges, of impeachment are submitted to the Senate, where the president is tried, with the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court presiding over the proceeding. A two-thirds vote in the Senate is needed for a conviction, and the removal of the president from office. The only president to have been impeached was Andrew Johnson, who in 1868 was acquitted by only one vote. In 1974 the House Judiciary Committee voted to impeach Richard M. Nixon, but he resigned from office before the entire House could vote on the matter.

In May 1997 the Supreme Court ruled that a sitting president does not have presidential immunity from suit over conduct unrelated to his official duties. The holding came in a civil suit brought by Paula Corbin Jones against President Bill Clinton. Jones's suit was based on conduct alleged to have occurred while Clinton was governor of Arkansas.

See: Constitution of the United States; Electoral College; Executive Privilege; Presidential Powers; Separation of Powers; Watergate.

"POTUS" redirects here. For political talk radio, see P.O.T.U.S. (Sirius XM).

For other uses, see President of the United States (disambiguation). For a list, see List of Presidents of the United States.

President of the United States of America
Presidential Seal
Presidential Standard
Incumbent Barack Obama since January 20, 2009
Style	Mr. President[1] (informal) The Honorable[2] (formal) His Excellency[3][4] (diplomatic, outside the U.S.)
Residence	White House Washington, D.C.
Term length	Four years renewable once
Inaugural holder	George Washington April 30, 1789
Formation	United States Constitution March 4, 1789
Salary	$400,000 annually
Website	The White House

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.

Article II of the U.S. Constitution vests the executive power of the United States in the president and charges him with the execution of federal law, alongside the responsibility of appointing federal executive, diplomatic, regulatory, and judicial officers, and concluding treaties with foreign powers, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The president is further empowered to grant federal pardons and reprieves, and to convene and adjourn either or both houses of Congress under extraordinary circumstances.^[5] Since the founding of the United States, the power of the president and the federal government have grown substantially^[6] and each modern president, despite possessing no formal legislative powers beyond signing or vetoing congressionally passed bills, is largely responsible for dictating the legislative agenda of his party and the foreign and domestic policy of the United States.^[7] The president is frequently described as the most powerful person in the world.^{[8][9][10][11][12][13]}

The president is indirectly elected by the people through the Electoral College to a four-year term, and is one of only two nationally elected federal officers, the other being the Vice President of the United States.^[14] The Twenty-second Amendment, adopted in 1951, prohibits anyone from ever being elected to the presidency for a third full term. It also prohibits a person from being elected to the presidency more than once if that person previously had served as president, or acting president, for more than two years of another person's term as president. In all, 43 individuals have served 55 four-year terms.^[15] On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama became the 44th and current president.

Contents 1 Origin 2 Powers and duties 2.1 Article I legislative role 2.2 Article II executive powers 2.2.1 War and foreign affairs powers 2.2.2 Administrative powers 2.2.3 Juridical powers 2.2.4 Legislative facilitator 2.3 Ceremonial roles 2.4 Evolution of power and duties 3 Selection process 3.1 Eligibility 3.2 Campaigns and nomination 3.3 Election and oath 3.4 Tenure and term limits 3.5 Vacancy or disability 4 Compensation 5 Post-presidency 5.1 Presidential libraries 6 See also 6.1 Categories 6.2 Articles 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External links

Origin

United States
This template is part of the series: Politics and government of the United States
Federal government Constitution Taxation Legislature Congress House Speaker Party leaders Congressional districts Senate President pro tempore Party leaders Executive President Vice President Cabinet Federal agencies Judiciary Federal courts Supreme Court Courts of Appeals District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Off-year elections Political parties Democratic Republican Third parties Federalism State government Governors Legislatures (List) State courts Local government
Other countries · Atlas Politics portal
v d e

In 1776, the Thirteen Colonies, acting through the Second Continental Congress, declared political independence from Great Britain during the American Revolution. The new states, though also independent of each other,^[16] recognized the necessity of coordinating their efforts against the British.^[17] Desiring to avoid anything that remotely resembled a monarchy, Congress negotiated the Articles of Confederation to establish a weak alliance between the states.^[16] As a central authority, Congress under the Articles was without any legislative power; it could make its own resolutions, determinations, and regulations, but not any laws, nor any taxes or local commercial regulations enforceable upon citizens.^[17] This institutional design reflected the conception of how Americans believed the deposed British system of Crown and Parliament ought to have functioned with respect to the royal dominion: a superintending body for matters that concerned the entire empire.^[17] Out from under any monarchy, the states assigned some formerly royal prerogatives (e.g., making war, receiving ambassadors, etc.) to Congress, while keeping the rest for themselves. The Articles took effect on March 1, 1781, when Maryland became the final state to ratify them.

In 1783, the Treaty of Paris secured independence for the former colonies. With peace at hand, the states each turned toward their own internal affairs.^[16] By 1786, Americans found their continental borders besieged and weak, their respective economies in crises as neighboring states agitated trade rivalries with one another, witnessed their hard currency pouring into foreign markets to pay for imports, their Mediterranean commerce preyed upon by North African pirates, and their foreign-financed Revolutionary War debts unpaid and accruing interest.^[16] Civil and political unrest loomed. Aiming toward a first step of resolving interstate commercial antagonisms, Virginia called for a trade conference in Annapolis, Maryland, set for September 1786. When the convention failed for lack of attendance due to suspicions among most of the other states, the Annapolis delegates called for a convention to offer revisions to the Articles, to be held the next spring in Philadelphia. Prospects for the next convention appeared bleak until James Madison and Edmund Randolph succeeded in securing George Washington's attendance as a delegate to Philadelphia.^[16][18]

When the Constitutional Convention convened in May 1787, the 12 state delegations in attendance (Rhode Island was absent) brought with them an accumulated experience over a diverse set of institutional arrangements between legislative and executive branches from within their respective state governments. Most states maintained a weak executive without veto or appointment powers, elected annually by the legislature to a single term only, sharing power with an executive council, and countered by a strong legislature.^[16] New York offered the greatest exception, having a strong, unitary governor with veto and appointment power elected to a three-year term, and eligible for reelection to an indefinite number of terms thereafter.^[16] It was through the closed-door negotiations at Philadelphia that the presidency framed in the U.S. Constitution emerged.

Powers and duties

Article I legislative role

Obama signing legislation at the Resolute desk.

The first power the Constitution confers upon the president is the veto. The Presentment Clause requires any bill passed by Congress to be presented to the president before it can become law. Once the legislation has been presented, the president has three options:

1. Sign the legislation; the bill then becomes law.
2. Veto the legislation and return it to Congress, expressing any objections; the bill does not become law, unless each house of Congress votes to override the veto by a two-thirds vote.
3. Take no action. In this instance, the president neither signs nor vetoes the legislation. After 10 days, not counting Sundays, two possible outcomes emerge:
   • If Congress is still convened, the bill becomes law.
   • If Congress has adjourned, thus preventing the return of the legislation, the bill does not become law. This latter outcome is known as the pocket veto.

In 1996, Congress attempted to enhance the president's veto power with the Line Item Veto Act. The legislation empowered the president to sign any spending bill into law while simultaneously striking certain spending items within the bill, particularly any new spending, any amount of discretionary spending, or any new limited tax benefit. Once a president had stricken the item, Congress could pass that particular item again. If the president then vetoed the new legislation, Congress could override the veto by its ordinary means, a two-thirds vote in both houses. In Clinton v. City of New York, 524 U.S. 417 (1998), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled such a legislative alteration of the veto power to be unconstitutional.

Article II executive powers

War and foreign affairs powers

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States, successfully preserved the Union during the American Civil War.

Perhaps the most important of all presidential powers is command of the United States armed forces as commander-in-chief. While the power to declare war is constitutionally vested in Congress, the president commands and directs the military and is responsible for planning military strategy. The framers of the Constitution took care to limit the president's powers regarding the military; Alexander Hamilton explains this in Federalist No. 69:

The President is to be commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States. ... It would amount to nothing more than the supreme command and direction of the military and naval forces ... while that [the power] of the British king extends to the DECLARING of war and to the RAISING and REGULATING of fleets and armies, all [of] which ... would appertain to the legislature.^[19] [Emphasis in the original.]

Congress, pursuant to the War Powers Resolution, must authorize any troop deployments longer than 60 days, although that process relies on triggering mechanisms that have never been employed, rendering it ineffectual.^[20] Additionally, Congress provides a check to presidential military power through its control over military spending and regulation. While historically presidents initiated the process for going to war,^[21][22] critics have charged that there have been several conflicts in which presidents did not get official declarations, including Theodore Roosevelt's military move into Panama in 1903,^[21] the Korean War,^[21] the Vietnam War,^[21] the invasions of Grenada in 1983^[23] and Panama in 1990.^[24]

Along with the armed forces, the president also directs U.S. foreign policy. Through the Department of State and the Department of Defense, 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 negotiates treaties with other nations, which become binding on the United States when approved by two-thirds vote of the Senate.

Although not constitutionally provided, presidents also sometimes employ "executive agreements" in foreign relations. These agreements frequently regard administrative policy choices germane to executive power; for example, the extent to which either country presents an armed presence in a given area, how each country will enforce copyright treaties, or how each country will process foreign mail. However, the 20th century witnessed a vast expansion of the use of executive agreements, and critics have challenged the extent of that use as supplanting the treaty process and removing constitutionally prescribed checks and balances over the executive in foreign relations. Supporters counter that the agreements offer a pragmatic solution when the need for swift, secret, and/or concerted action arises.

Administrative powers

The president is the head of the executive branch of the federal government and is constitutionally obligated to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed." The executive branch has over four million employees, including members of the military.^[25]

Presidents make numerous executive branch appointments: an incoming president may make up to 6,000 before he takes office and 8,000 more during his term. Ambassadors, members of the Cabinet, and other federal officers, are all appointed by a president with the "advice and consent" of a majority of the Senate. Appointments made while the Senate is in recess are temporary and expire at the end of the next session of the Senate.

The power of a president to fire executive officials has long been a contentious political issue. Generally, a president may remove purely executive officials at his discretion.^[26] However, Congress can curtail and constrain a president's authority to fire commissioners of independent regulatory agencies and certain inferior executive officers by statute.^[27]

The president possesses the ability to direct much of the executive branch through executive orders that are grounded in federal law or constitutionally granted executive power. Executive orders are reviewable by federal courts and can be repealed by federal legislation.

To manage the growing federal bureaucracy, Presidents have gradually surrounded themselves with many layers of staff, who were eventually organized into the Executive Office of the President of the United States. Within the Executive Office, the President's innermost layer of aides (and their assistants) are located in the White House Office.

Juridical powers

The president also has the power to nominate federal judges, including members of the United States courts of appeals and the Supreme Court of the United States. However, these nominations do require Senate confirmation. Securing Senate approval can provide a major obstacle for presidents who wish to orient the federal judiciary toward a particular ideological stance. When nominating judges to U.S. district courts, presidents often respect the long-standing tradition of Senatorial courtesy. Presidents may also grant pardons and reprieves, as is often done just before the end of a presidential term, not without controversy.^[28][29][30]

Historically, two doctrines concerning executive power have developed that enable the president to exercise executive power with a degree of autonomy. The first is executive privilege, which allows the president to withhold from disclosure any communications made directly to the president in the performance of executive duties. George Washington first claimed privilege when Congress requested to see Chief Justice John Jay's notes from an unpopular treaty negotiation with Great Britain. While not enshrined in the Constitution, or any other law, Washington's action created the precedent for the privilege. When Richard Nixon tried to use executive privilege as a reason for not turning over subpoenaed evidence to Congress during the Watergate scandal, the Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683 (1974), that executive privilege did not apply in cases where a president was attempting to avoid criminal prosecution. When President Bill Clinton attempted to use executive privilege regarding the Lewinsky scandal, the Supreme Court ruled in Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S. 681 (1997), that the privilege also could not be used in civil suits. These cases established the legal precedent that executive privilege is valid, although the exact extent of the privilege has yet to be clearly defined. Additionally, federal courts have allowed this privilege to radiate outward and protect other executive branch employees, but have weakened that protection for those executive branch communications that do not involve the president.^[31]

President George W. Bush delivering the 2007 State of the Union Address, with Vice President Cheney and Speaker of the House Pelosi behind him.

The state secrets privilege allows the president and the executive branch to withhold information or documents from discovery in legal proceedings if such release would harm national security. Precedent for the privilege arose early in the 19th century when Thomas Jefferson refused to release military documents in the treason trial of Aaron Burr and again in 1876 in Totten v. United States, when the Supreme Court dismissed a case brought by a former Union spy.^[32] However, the privilege was not formally recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court until United States v. Reynolds (1953) where it was held to be a common law evidentiary privilege.^[33] Before the September 11 attacks, use of the privilege had been rare, but increasing in frequency.^[34] Since 2001, the government has asserted the privilege in more cases and at earlier stages of the litigation, thus in some instances causing dismissal of the suits before reaching the merits of the claims, as in the Ninth Circuit's ruling in Mohamed v. Jeppesen Dataplan.^[33][35][36] Critics of the privilege claim its use has become a tool for the government to cover up illegal or embarrassing government actions.^[37][38]

Legislative facilitator

Representing the executive branch of government, the president cannot simultaneously hold a seat in Congress. Therefore, the president cannot directly introduce legislative proposals for consideration in Congress. The president, however, can take an indirect role in shaping legislation, especially if the president's political party has a majority in one or both houses of Congress. For example, the president or other officials of the executive branch may draft legislation and then ask senators or representatives to introduce these drafts into Congress. The president can further influence the legislative branch through constitutionally mandated, periodic reports to Congress. These reports may be either written or oral, but today are given as the State of the Union address, which often outlines the president's legislative proposals for the coming year.

In the 20th century critics began charging that too many legislative and budgetary powers have slid into the hands of presidents that should belong to Congress. As the head of the executive branch, presidents control a vast array of agencies that can issue regulations with little oversight from Congress. One critic charged that presidents could appoint a "virtual army of 'czars' – each wholly unaccountable to Congress yet tasked with spearheading major policy efforts for the White House."^[39] Presidents have been criticized for making signing statements when signing congressional legislation about how they understand a bill or plan to execute it.^[40] This practice has been criticized by the American Bar Association as unconstitutional.^[41] Conservative commentator George Will wrote of an "increasingly swollen executive branch" and "the eclipse of Congress."^[42]

According to Article II, Section 3, Clause 2 of the Constitution, the president may convene either or both houses of Congress. If both houses cannot agree on a date of adjournment, the president may appoint a date for Congress to adjourn.

Ceremonial roles

President Woodrow Wilson throwing out the ceremonial first ball on Opening Day, 1916

As head of state, the president can fulfill traditions established by previous presidents. William Howard Taft started the tradition of throwing out the ceremonial first pitch in 1910 at Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C., on the Washington Senators' Opening Day. Every president since Taft, except for Jimmy Carter, threw out at least one ceremonial first ball or pitch for Opening Day, the All-Star Game, or the World Series, usually with much fanfare.^[43]

Other presidential traditions are associated with American holidays. Rutherford B. Hayes began in 1878 the first White House egg rolling for local children.^[44] Beginning in 1947 during the Harry S. Truman administration, every Thanksgiving the president is presented with a live domestic turkey during the annual national thanksgiving turkey presentation held at the White House. Since 1989, when the custom of "pardoning" the turkey was formalized by George H. W. Bush, the turkey has been taken to a farm where it will live out the rest of its natural life.^[45]

Presidential traditions also involve the president's role as head of government. Many outgoing presidents since James Buchanan traditionally give advice to their successor during the presidential transition.^[46] Ronald Reagan and his successors have also left a private message on the desk of the Oval Office on Inauguration Day for the incoming president.^[47]

	Four ruffles and flourishes and "Hail to the Chief" (long version)
Problems listening to this file? See media help.

During a state visit by a foreign head of state, the president typically hosts a State Arrival Ceremony held on the South Lawn, a custom begun by John F. Kennedy in 1961.^[48] This is followed by a state dinner given by the president which is held in the State Dining Room later in the evening.^[49]

The modern presidency holds the president as one of the nation's premier celebrities. Some argue that images of the presidency have a tendency to be manipulated by administration public relations officials as well as by presidents themselves. One critic described the presidency as "propagandized leadership" which has a "mesmerizing power surrounding the office."^[50] Administration public relations managers staged carefully crafted photo-ops of smiling presidents with smiling crowds for television cameras.^[51] One critic wrote the image of John F. Kennedy was described as carefully framed "in rich detail" which "drew on the power of myth" regarding the incident of PT 109^[52] and wrote that Kennedy understood how to use images to further his presidential ambitions.^[53] As a result, some political commentators have opined that American voters have unrealistic expectations of presidents: voters expect a president to "drive the economy, vanquish enemies, lead the free world, comfort tornado victims, heal the national soul and protect borrowers from hidden credit-card fees."^[54]

Evolution of power and duties

Most of the nation's Founding Fathers expected the Congress, which was the first branch of government described in the Constitution, to be the dominant branch of government; they did not expect a strong executive.^[55] However, the power of the presidency has shifted over time, and some today would describe the modern presidency as too powerful,^[56][57] unchecked, unbalanced,^[58] and "monarchist" in nature.^[59] Critic Dana D. Nelson believes presidents over the past thirty years have worked towards "undivided presidential control of the executive branch and its agencies."^[60] She criticizes proponents of the unitary executive for expanding "the many existing uncheckable executive powers – such as executive orders, decrees, memorandums, proclamations, national security directives and legislative signing statements – that already allow presidents to enact a good deal of foreign and domestic policy without aid, interference or consent from Congress."^[60] Scott Shane wrote that the expanded presidency was "the greatest threat ever to individual freedom and democratic rule."^[61]

Selection process

George Washington, the first President of the United States

Eligibility

Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the Constitution sets the principal qualifications one must meet to be eligible to the office of president. A president must:

• be a natural born citizen of the United States;^[62]
• be at least thirty-five years old;
• have been a permanent resident in the United States for at least fourteen years.

A person who meets the above qualifications is still disqualified from holding the office of president under any of the following conditions:

• Under the Twenty-second Amendment, no person can be elected president more than twice. The amendment also specifies that if any eligible person who serves as president or acting president for more than two years of a term for which some other eligible person was elected president, the former can only be elected president once. Scholars disagree whether anyone no longer eligible to be elected president could be elected vice president, pursuant to the qualifications set out under the Twelfth Amendment.^[63]

• Under Article I, Section 3, Clause 7, upon conviction in impeachment cases, the Senate has the option of disqualifying convicted individuals from holding other federal offices, including the presidency.^[64]

• Under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, the Constitution prohibits a person from becoming president who swore an oath to support the Constitution and later rebelled against the United States. However, the Congress, by a two-thirds vote of each house, can remove the disqualification.

Campaigns and nomination

Main articles: United States presidential primary, United States presidential nominating convention, United States presidential election debates, and United States presidential election

The modern presidential campaign begins before the primary elections, which the two major political parties use to clear the field of candidates before their national nominating conventions, where the most successful candidate is made the party's nominee for president. Typically, the party's presidential candidate chooses a vice presidential nominee, and this choice is rubber-stamped by the convention.

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.

Election and oath

Main articles: Electoral College (United States) and Oath of office of the President of the United States

A map of the United States showing the number of electoral votes allocated to each state; 270 electoral votes are required for a majority out of 538 overall.

Presidents are elected indirectly in the United States. A number of electors, collectively known as the Electoral College, officially select the president. On Election Day, voters in each of the states and the District of Columbia cast ballots for these electors. Each state is allocated a number of electors, equal to the size of its delegation in both Houses of Congress combined. Generally, the ticket that wins the most votes in a state wins all of that state's electoral votes and thus has its slate of electors chosen to vote in the Electoral College.

The winning slate of electors meet at its state's capital on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, about six weeks after the election, to vote. They then send a record of that vote to Congress. The vote of the electors is opened by the sitting vice president, acting in his capacity as President of the Senate and read aloud to a joint session of the incoming Congress, which was elected at the same time as the president.

Pursuant to the Twentieth Amendment, the president's term of office begins at noon on January 20 of the year following the election. This date, known as Inauguration Day, marks the beginning of the four-year terms of both the president and the vice president. Before executing the powers of the office, a president is constitutionally required to take the presidential oath:

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.^[65]

Although not required, presidents have traditionally palmed a Bible while swearing the oath and have added, "So help me God!" to the end of the oath. Further, though no law requires that the oath of office be administered by any specific person, presidents are traditionally sworn in by the Chief Justice of the United States.

Tenure and term limits

Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected to four terms before the adoption of the Twenty-second Amendment.

The term of office for president and vice president is four years. George Washington, the first president, set an unofficial precedent of serving only two terms, which subsequent presidents followed until 1940. Before Franklin D. Roosevelt, attempts at a third term were encouraged by supporters of Ulysses S. Grant and Theodore Roosevelt; neither of these attempts succeeded. In 1940, Franklin D. Roosevelt declined to seek a third term, but allowed his political party to "draft" him as its presidential candidate and was subsequently elected to a third term. In 1941, the United States entered World War II, leading voters to elect Roosevelt to a fourth term in 1944.

After the war, and in response to Roosevelt being elected to third and fourth terms, the Twenty-second Amendment was adopted. The amendment bars anyone from being elected president more than twice, or once if that person served more than half of another president's term. Harry S. Truman, who was president when the amendment was adopted, and so by the amendment's provisions exempt from its limitation, also briefly sought a third (a second full) term before withdrawing from the 1952 election.

Since the amendment's adoption, four presidents have served two full terms: Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Jimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush sought a second term, but were defeated. Richard Nixon was elected to a second term, but resigned before completing it. Lyndon B. Johnson was the only president under the amendment to be eligible to serve more than two terms in total, having served for only fourteen months following John F. Kennedy's assassination. However, Johnson withdrew from the 1968 Democratic Primary, surprising many Americans. Gerald Ford sought a full term, after serving out the last two years and five months of Nixon's second term, but was not elected.

Vacancy or disability

See also: Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, United States presidential line of succession, Presidential Succession Act, and Impeachment in the United States

Vacancies in the office of president may arise under several possible circumstances: death, resignation and removal from office.

Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution allows the House of Representatives to impeach high federal officials, including the president, for "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." Article I, Section 3, Clause 6 gives the Senate the power to remove impeached officials from office, given a two-thirds vote to convict. The House has thus far impeached two presidents: Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998. Neither was subsequently convicted by the Senate; however, Johnson was acquitted by just one vote.

Under Section 3 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment, the president may transfer the presidential powers and duties to the vice president, who then becomes acting president, by transmitting a statement to the Speaker of the House and the president pro tempore of the Senate stating the reasons for the transfer. The president resumes the discharge of the presidential powers and duties when he transmits, to those two officials, a written declaration stating that resumption. This transfer of power may occur for any reason the president considers appropriate; in 2002 and again in 2007, President George W. Bush briefly transferred presidential authority to Vice President Dick Cheney. In both cases, this was done to accommodate a medical procedure which required Bush to be sedated; both times, Bush returned to duty later the same day.^[66]

Under Section 4 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment, the vice president, in conjunction with a majority of the Cabinet, may transfer the presidential powers and duties from the president to the vice president by transmitting a written declaration to the Speaker of the House and the president pro tempore of the Senate that the president is unable to discharge the presidential powers and duties. If this occurs, then the vice president will assume the presidential powers and duties as acting president; however, the president can declare that no such inability exists and resume the discharge of the presidential powers and duties. If the vice president and Cabinet contest this claim, it is up to Congress, which must meet within two days if not already in session, to decide the merit of the claim.

The United States Constitution mentions the resignation of the president but does not regulate the form of such a resignation or the conditions for its validity. Pursuant to federal law, the only valid evidence of the president's resignation is a written instrument to that effect, signed by the president and delivered to the office of the Secretary of State.^[67] This has only occurred once, when Richard Nixon delivered a letter to Henry Kissinger to that effect.

The Constitution states that the vice president becomes president upon the removal from office, death or resignation of the preceding president. If the offices of president and vice president both are either vacant or have a disabled holder of that office, the next officer in the presidential line of succession, the Speaker of the House, becomes acting president. The line then extends to the president pro tempore of the Senate, followed by every member of the Cabinet in a set order.

Compensation

Presidential pay history

Date established	Salary	Salary in 2009 dollars
September 24, 1789	$25,000	$566,000
March 3, 1873	$50,000	$865,000
March 4, 1909	$75,000	$1,714,000
January 19, 1949	$100,000	$906,000
January 20, 1969	$200,000	$1,175,000
January 20, 2001	$400,000	$487,000
Sources:[68][69][70]

The president earns a $400,000 annual salary, along with a $50,000 annual expense account, a $100,000 nontaxable travel account and $19,000 for entertainment.^[71][72] The most recent raise in salary was approved by Congress and President Bill Clinton in 1999 and went into effect in 2001.

The White House in Washington, D.C. serves as the official place of residence for the president; he is entitled to use its staff and facilities, including medical care, recreation, housekeeping, and security services. Naval Support Facility Thurmont, popularly known as Camp David, is a mountain-based military camp in Frederick County, Maryland used as a country retreat and for high alert protection of the president and his guests. Blair House, located next to the Old Executive Office Building at the White House Complex and Lafayette Park, is a complex of four connected townhouses exceeding 70,000 square feet (6,500 m²) of floor space which serves as the president's official guest house and as a secondary residence for the president if needed.^[73]

For ground travel, the president uses the presidential state car, which is an armored limousine built on a heavily modified Cadillac-based chassis.^[74] One of two identical Boeing VC-25 aircraft, which are extensively modified versions of Boeing 747-200B airliners, serve as long distance travel for the president, and are referred to as Air Force One while the president is on board.^[75][76] The president also uses a United States Marine Corps helicopter, designated Marine One when the president is aboard.

The United States Secret Service is charged with protecting the sitting president and the first family. As part of their protection, presidents, first ladies, their children and other immediate family members, and other prominent persons and locations are assigned Secret Service codenames.^[77] The use of such names was originally for security purposes and dates to a time when sensitive electronic communications were not routinely encrypted; today, the names simply serve for purposes of brevity, clarity and tradition.^[78]

• Presidential Amenities
• 

  The White House

• 

  Camp David

• 

  Blair House

• 

  Presidential State Car

• 

  Air Force One

• 

  Marine One

Post-presidency

Presidents Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon, George H. W. Bush, Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter dedicate the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in 1991.

Presidents George H. W. Bush, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter in the Oval Office on January 7, 2009.

Beginning in 1959, all living former presidents were granted a pension, an office and a staff. The pension has increased numerous times with Congressional approval. Retired presidents now receive a pension based on the salary of the current administration's cabinet secretaries, which is $191,300 as of 2008.^[79] Some former presidents have also collected congressional pensions.^{[80][dead link]} The Former Presidents Act, as amended, also provides former presidents with travel funds and franking privileges.

Until 1997, all former presidents, and their families, were protected by the Secret Service until the president's death. The last president to have lifetime Secret Service protection was Bill Clinton; all subsequent presidents are protected by the Secret Service for a maximum of ten years after leaving office.^[81]

Some presidents have had significant careers after leaving office. Prominent examples include William Howard Taft's tenure as Chief Justice of the United States and Herbert Hoover's work on government reorganization after World War II. Grover Cleveland, whose bid for reelection failed in 1888, was elected president again four years later in 1892. Two former presidents served in Congress after leaving the White House: John Quincy Adams was elected to the House of Representatives, serving there for seventeen years, and Andrew Johnson returned to the Senate in 1875. John Tyler served in the provisional Congress of the Confederate States during the Civil War and was elected to the Confederate House of Representatives.

Presidents may use their predecessors as emissaries to deliver private messages to other nations,^[82] or as official representatives of the United States to state funerals and other important foreign events.^[83] Richard Nixon made multiple foreign trips to countries including China and Russia, and was lauded as an elder statesman.^[84] Jimmy Carter has become a global human rights campaigner, international arbiter and election monitor, and a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Bill Clinton has also worked as an informal ambassador, most recently in the negotiations that led to the release of two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee from North Korea. Clinton has also been active politically since his presidential term ended, working with his wife Hillary on her presidential bid.

Currently there are four living former presidents:

• Living former presidents
• 

  Jimmy Carter (D),
  served 1977–1981

• 

  George H. W. Bush (R),
  served 1989–1993

• 

  Bill Clinton (D),
  served 1993–2001

• 

  George W. Bush (R),
  served 2001–2009

Presidential libraries

Main article: Presidential library

Each president since Herbert Hoover has created a repository known as a presidential library for preserving and making available his papers, records and other documents and materials. Completed libraries are deeded to and maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); the initial funding for building and equipping each library must come from private, non-federal sources.^{[citation needed]} There are currently thirteen presidential libraries in the NARA system. There are also a number of presidential libraries maintained by state governments and private foundations, such as the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, which is run by the State of Illinois.

As many presidents live for many years after leaving office, several of them have personally overseen the building and opening of their own presidential libraries. Some even making arrangements for their own burial at the site. Several presidential libraries therefore contain the graves of the president they document, such as the Richard Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, California and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. The graves are viewable by the general public visiting these libraries.

See also

Government of the United States portal

Categories

• Category:Lists relating to the United States presidency
• Category:United States presidential history

Articles

• Curse of Tippecanoe
• Fiction regarding United States presidential succession
• Historical rankings of Presidents of the United States
• Imperial Presidency
• The Imperial Presidency
• Imperiled presidency
• List of multilingual Presidents of the United States
• List of Presidents of the United States by age
• List of United States Presidents by military rank
• Presidential $1 Coin Program
• Religious affiliations of Presidents of the United States
• US Presidents on US postage stamps
• List of Presidents of the United States with facial hair
• Vice President of the United States
• President of the Continental Congress
• List of Presidents of the United States, sortable by previous experience

References

1. ^ "How To Address The President; He Is Not Your Excellency Or Your Honor, But Mr. President". The New York Times. 1891-08-02. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9D06E3D9143AE533A25751C0A96E9C94609ED7CF. 
2. ^ "Models of Address and Salutation". Ita.doc.gov. http://www.ita.doc.gov/ita_sec/Address%20and%20Salutation.htm. Retrieved 2010-09-04. 
3. ^ The White House Office of the Press Secretary (September 1, 2010). "Remarks by President Obama, President Mubarak, His Majesty King Abdullah, Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas Before Working Dinner". WhiteHouse.gov. http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2010/09/01/remarks-president-obama-president-mubarak-his-majesty-king-abdullah-prim. Retrieved July 19, 2011. 
4. ^ "Exchange of Letters". Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the United Nations. September 1978. http://www.un.int/wcm/content/site/palestine/cache/offonce/pid/12020. Retrieved July 19, 2011. 
5. ^ "Transcript of the Constitution of the United States – Official". Archives.gov. http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html. Retrieved 2010-09-04. 
6. ^ The Influence of State Politics in Expanding Federal Power,' Henry Jones Ford, Proceedings of the American Political Science Association, Vol. 5, Fifth Annual Meeting (1908) Retrieved on 17 March 2010
7. ^ Pfiffner, J. P. (1988). "The President's Legislative Agenda". Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 499: 22–35. doi:10.1177/0002716288499001002.  edit
8. ^ Noer, Michael; Perlroth, Nicole (2009-11-11). "The World's Most Powerful People". Forbes.com. http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/09/world-most-powerful-leadership-power-09-intro.html. Retrieved 2010-09-04. 
9. ^ "The Most Powerful Man in the World is a Black Man – The Los Angeles Sentinel". Lasentinel.net. http://www.lasentinel.net/The-Most-Powerful-Man-in-the-World-is-a-Black-Man.html. Retrieved 2010-09-04. 
10. ^ Michael Kailis (2010-01-20). "Vladimir Putin". AskMen.com. http://www.askmen.com/top_10/entertainment_60/70c_top_10_list.html. Retrieved 2010-09-04. 
11. ^ "Who should be the world's most powerful person?". The Guardian (London). 2008-01-03. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/jan/03/uselections2008.world. 
12. ^ by Jon Meacham (2008-12-20). "Meacham: The History of Power". Newsweek. http://www.newsweek.com/2008/12/19/the-story-of-power.html. Retrieved 2010-09-04. 
13. ^ Fareed Zakaria (2008-12-20). "The NEWSWEEK 50: Barack Obama". Newsweek. http://www.newsweek.com/2008/12/19/1-barack-obama.html. Retrieved 2010-09-04. 
14. ^ Our Government • The Executive Branch, The White House
15. ^ "The Executive Branch". Whitehouse.gov. http://www.whitehouse.gov/our_government/executive_branch/. Retrieved 2009-01-27. . Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms, so he is counted twice; as the 22nd and 24th presidents.
16. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Milkis, Sidney M.; Nelson, Michael (2008). The American Presidency: Origins and Development (5th ed.). Washington, D.C.: CQ Press. pp. 1–25. ISBN 0872893368. 
17. ^ ^{a b c} Kelly, Alfred H.; Harbison, Winfred A.; Belz, Herman (1991). The American Constitution: Its Origins and Development. I (7th ed.). New York: W.W. Norton & Co.. pp. 76–81. ISBN 0393960560. 
18. ^ Beeman, Richard (2009). Plain, Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution. New York: Random House. ISBN 0812976847. 
19. ^ Hamilton, Alexander. The Federalist #69 (reposting). Retrieved June 15, 2007.
20. ^ Christopher, James A.; Baker, III (July 8, 2008). "The National War Powers Commission Report" (PDF). The Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. http://millercenter.org/policy/commissions/warpowers/report. Retrieved 15 December 2010. "No clear mechanism or requirement exists today for the president and Congress to consult. The War Powers Resolution of 1973 contains only vague consultation requirements. Instead, it relies on reporting requirements that, if triggered, begin the clock running for Congress to approve the particular armed conflict. By the terms of the 1973 Resolution, however, Congress need not act to disapprove the conflict; the cessation of all hostilities is required in 60 to 90 days merely if Congress fails to act. Many have criticized this aspect of the Resolution as unwise and unconstitutional, and no president in the past 35 years has filed a report “pursuant” to these triggering provisions." 
21. ^ ^{a b c d} "The Law: The President's War Powers". Time Magazine. June 1, 1970. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,878290,00.html. Retrieved 2009-09-28. 
22. ^ Alison Mitchell (May 2, 1999). "The World; Only Congress Can Declare War. Really. It's True". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/02/weekinreview/the-world-only-congress-can-declare-war-really-it-s-true.html. Retrieved 2009-11-08. "Presidents have sent forces abroad more than 100 times; Congress has declared war only five times: the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Spanish-American War, World War I and World War II." 
23. ^ Alison Mitchell (May 2, 1999). "The World; Only Congress Can Declare War. Really. It's True". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/02/weekinreview/the-world-only-congress-can-declare-war-really-it-s-true.html. Retrieved 2009-11-08. "President Reagan told Congress of the invasion of Grenada two hours after he had ordered the landing. He told Congressional leaders of the bombing of Libya while the aircraft were on their way." 
24. ^ Michael R. Gordon (1990-12-20). "U.s. troops move in panama in effort to seize noriega; gunfire is heard in capital". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1220.html#article. Retrieved 2009-11-08. "It was not clear whether the White House consulted with Congressional leaders about the military action, or notified them in advance. Thomas S. Foley, the Speaker of the House, said on Tuesday night that he had not been alerted by the Administration." 
25. ^ "The Executive Branch". The White House website. http://www.whitehouse.gov/our-government/executive-branch. Retrieved October 17, 2010. 
26. ^ Shurtleff v. United States, 189 U.S. 311 (1903); Myers v. United States, 272 U.S. 52 (1926).
27. ^ Humphrey's Executor v. United States, 295 U.S. 602 (1935) and Morrison v. Olson, 487 U.S. 654 (1988), respectively.
28. ^ David Johnston (1992-12-24). "Bush Pardons 6 in Iran Affair, Aborting a Weinberger Trial; Prosecutor Assails 'Cover-Up'". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1224.html. Retrieved 2009-11-08. "But not since President Gerald R. Ford granted clemency to former President Richard M. Nixon for possible crimes in Watergate has a Presidential pardon so pointedly raised the issue of whether the President was trying to shield officials for political purposes." 
29. ^ David Johnston (1992-12-24). "Bush Pardons 6 in Iran Affair, Aborting a Weinberger Trial; Prosecutor Assails 'Cover-Up'". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1224.html. Retrieved 2009-11-08. "The prosecutor charged that Mr. Weinberger's efforts to hide his notes may have 'forestalled impeachment proceedings against President Reagan' and formed part of a pattern of 'deception and obstruction.'... In light of President Bush's own misconduct, we are gravely concerned about his decision to pardon others who lied to Congress and obstructed official investigations." 
30. ^ Peter Eisler (2008-03-07). "Clinton-papers release blocked". USA TODAY. http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2008-03-06-clinton-library-foia_N.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-08. "Former president Clinton issued 140 pardons on his last day in office, including several to controversial figures, such as commodities trader Rich, then a fugitive on tax evasion charges. Rich's ex-wife, Denise, contributed $2,000 in 1999 to Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign; $5,000 to a related political action committee; and $450,000 to a fund set up to build the Clinton library." 
31. ^ Millhiser, Ian (2010-06-01). "Executive Privilege 101". Center for American Progress. http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2010/06/executive_privilege.html. Retrieved 2010-10-08. 
32. ^ "Part III of the opinion in ''Mohamed v. Jeppesen Dataplan''". Caselaw.findlaw.com. http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-9th-circuit/1537579.html. Retrieved 2010-11-29. 
33. ^ ^{a b} Frost, Amanda; Florence, Justin (2009). "Reforming the State Secrets Privilege". American Constitution Society. http://www.acslaw.org/Advance%20Spring%2009/Reforming%20the%20State%20Secrets%20Privilege.pdf. Retrieved 2010-10-08. 
34. ^ Weaver, William G.; Pallitto, Robert M. (2005). "State Secrets and Executive Power". Political Science Quarterly (The Academy of Political Science) 120 (1): 85–112. "Use of the state secrets privilege in courts has grown significantly over the last twenty-five years. In the twenty-three years between the decision in Reynolds [1953] and the election of Jimmy Carter, in 1976, there were four reported cases in which the government invoked the privilege. Between 1977 and 2001, there were a total of fifty-one reported cases in which courts ruled on invocation of the privilege. Because reported cases only represent a fraction of the total cases in which the privilege is invoked or implicated, it is unclear precisely how dramatically the use of the privilege has grown. But the increase in reported cases is indicative of greater willingness to assert the privilege than in the past." 
35. ^ Savage, Charlie (2010-09-08). "Court Dismisses a Case Asserting Torture by C.I.A". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/09/us/09secrets.html. Retrieved 2010-10-08. 
36. ^ Finn, Peter (2010-09-09). "Suit dismissed against firm in CIA rendition case". Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/08/AR2010090807334.html. Retrieved 2010-10-08. 
37. ^ Greenwald, Glenn (2009-02-10). "The 180-degree reversal of Obama's State Secrets position". Salon.com. http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2009/02/10/obama. Retrieved 2010-10-08. 
38. ^ American Civil Liberties Union (2007-01-31). "Background on the State Secrets Privilege". ACLU. http://www.aclu.org/national-security/background-state-secrets-privilege. Retrieved 2010-10-08. 
39. ^ Eric Cantor (July 30, 2009). "Obama's 32 Czars". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/29/AR2009072902624.html. Retrieved 2009-09-28. 
40. ^ Dana D. Nelson (October 11, 2008). "The 'unitary executive' question". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-nelson11-2008oct11,0,224216.story. Retrieved 2009-10-04. 
41. ^ Transcript – Ray Suarez and others (July 24, 2006). "President's Use of 'Signing Statements' Raises Constitutional Concerns". PBS Online NewsHour. http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/white_house/july-dec06/signing_07-24.html. Retrieved 2009-11-11. "The American Bar Association said President Bush's use of "signing statements," which allow him to sign a bill into law but not enforce certain provisions, disregards the rule of law and the separation of powers. Legal experts discuss the implications." 
42. ^ George F. Will – op-ed columnist (December 21, 2008). "Making Congress Moot". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/19/AR2008121902929.html. Retrieved 2009-09-28. 
43. ^ Duggan, Paul (April 2, 2007). "Balking at the First Pitch". Washington Post: p. A01. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/01/AR2007040101262.html. 
44. ^ Grier, Peter (April 25, 2011). "The (not so) secret history of the White House Easter Egg Roll". Christian Science Monitor. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/DC-Decoder/2011/0425/The-not-so-secret-history-of-the-White-House-Easter-Egg-Roll. Retrieved May 6, 2011. 
45. ^ Hesse, Monica (November 21, 2007). "Turkey Pardons, The Stuffing of Historic Legend". The Washington Post. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/20/AR2007112002331_4.html?sub=AR&sid=ST2007112002354. Retrieved May 14, 2011. 
46. ^ Gibbs, Nancy (13-11-2008). "How Presidents Pass The Torch". TIME. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1858896,00.html. Retrieved 06-05-2011. 
47. ^ Dorning, Mike (22-01-2009). "A note from Bush starts morning in the Oval Office". Chicago Tribune. http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1232616798110550.xml&coll=2. Retrieved 06-05-2011. 
48. ^ James A. Abbott and Elaine M. Rice (1998). Designing Camelot: The Kennedy White House Restoration. Van Nostrand Reinhold. pp. 9–10. ISBN 0-442-02532-7. 
49. ^ "The White House State Dinner". The White House Historical Association. http://www.whitehousehistory.org/whha_press/press_archives/whha_info-statedinner.pdf. Retrieved May 14, 2011. 
50. ^ Rachel Dykoski (November 1, 2008). "Book note: Presidential idolatry is "Bad for Democracy"". Twin Cities Daily Planet. http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/article/2008/10/29/book-note-presidential-idolatry-quotbad-democracyquot.html?mini=eventcalendar/2009/02/all. Retrieved 2009-11-11. "Dana D. Nelson's book makes the case that we've had 200+ years of propagandized leadership..." 
51. ^ John Neffinger (April 2, 2007). "Democrats vs. Science: Why We're So Damn Good at Losing Elections". Huffington Post. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-neffinger/democrats-vs-science-why-_b_44733.html. Retrieved 2009-11-11. "...back in the 1980s Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes ran a piece skewering Reagan's policies on the elderly ... But while her voiceover delivered a scathing critique, the video footage was all drawn from carefully-staged photo-ops of Reagan smiling with seniors and addressing large crowds ... Deaver thanked ... Stahl...for broadcasting all those images of Reagan looking his best." 
52. ^ Dana D. Nelson (2008). "Bad for democracy: how the Presidency undermines the power of the people". U of Minnesota Press. ISBN 9780816656776. http://books.google.com/books?id=qgAWphms5oMC&pg=PA57&lpg=PA57&dq=kennedy+image+nelson+%22bad+for+democracy%22&source=bl&ots=BQX6dXpTNw&sig=qbo2XZA-Exl28hYrX2vuwm532BI&hl=en&ei=ZMr6Spr3K8_anAfxk8X9DA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CA8Q6AEwAg#v=snippet&q=kennedy&f=false. Retrieved 2009-11-11. "in rich detail how Kennedy drew on the power of myth as he framed his experience during World War II, when his PT boat was sliced in half by a Japanese..." 
53. ^ Dana D. Nelson (2008). "Bad for democracy: how the Presidency undermines the power of the people". U of Minnesota Press. ISBN 9780816656776. http://books.google.com/books?id=qgAWphms5oMC&dq=kennedy+image+nelson+%22bad+for+democracy%22&q=kennedy#v=snippet&q=kennedy&f=false. Retrieved 2009-11-11. "Even before Kennedy ran for Congress, he had become fascinated, through his Hollywood acquaintances and visits, with the idea of image... (p.54)" 
54. ^ Lexington (2009-07-21). "The Cult of the Presidency". The Economist. http://www.economist.com/blogs/lexington/2009/07/the_cult_of_the_presidency.cfm. Retrieved 2009-11-09. "Gene Healy argues that because voters expect the president to do everything ... When they inevitably fail to keep their promises, voters swiftly become disillusioned. Yet they never lose their romantic idea that the president should drive the economy, vanquish enemies, lead the free world, comfort tornado victims, heal the national soul and protect borrowers from hidden credit-card fees." 
55. ^ Michiko Kakutani (book reviewer) (July 6, 2007). "Unchecked and Unbalanced". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/06/books/06book.html. Retrieved 2009-11-09. "the founding fathers had 'scant affection for strong executives' like England’s king, and ... Bush White House’s claims are rooted in ideas “about the ‘divine’ right of kings” ... and that certainly did not find their 'way into our founding documents, the 1776 Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of 1787.'" 
56. ^ "The Conquest of Presidentialism". The Huffington Post. August 22, 2008. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-sirota/the-conquest-of-president_b_120582.html. Retrieved 2009-09-20. 
57. ^ interview by David Schimke (September–October 2008). "Presidential Power to the People – Author Dana D. Nelson on why democracy demands that the next president be taken down a notch". Utne Reader. http://www.utne.com/2008-09-01/Politics/Presidential-Power-to-the-People.aspx. Retrieved 2009-09-20. 
58. ^ Ross Linker (2007-09-27). "Critical of Presidency, Prof. Ginsberg and Crenson unite". The Johns-Hopkins Newsletter. http://media.www.jhunewsletter.com/media/storage/paper932/news/2007/09/27/NewsFeatures/Critical.Of.Presidency.Prof.Ginsberg.And.Crenson.Unite-2997235.shtml. Retrieved 2009-11-09. "presidents slowly but surely gain more and more power with both the public at large and other political institutions doing nothing to prevent it." 
59. ^ Michiko Kakutani (book reviewer) (July 6, 2007). "Unchecked and Unbalanced". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/06/books/06book.html. Retrieved 2009-11-09. "UNCHECKED AND UNBALANCED: Presidential Power in a Time of Terror By Frederick A. O. Schwarz Jr. and Aziz Z. Huq (authors)" 
60. ^ ^{a b} By Dana D. Nelson (October 11, 2008). "Opinion–The 'unitary executive' question – What do McCain and Obama think of the concept?". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-nelson11-2008oct11,0,224216.story. Retrieved 2009-09-21. 
61. ^ Scott Shane (September 25, 2009). "A Critic Finds Obama Policies a Perfect Target". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/26/us/politics/26activist.html. Retrieved 2009-11-08. "There is the small, minority-owned firm with deep ties to President Obama’s Chicago backers, made eligible by the Federal Reserve to handle potentially lucrative credit deals. 'I want to know how these firms are picked and who picked them,' Mr. Wilson, the group’s president, tells his eager researchers." 
62. ^ Foreign-born Americans who were citizens at the time the Constitution was adopted were also eligible to become president, provided they met the age and residency requirements. However, this allowance has since become obsolete.
63. ^ See: Peabody, Bruce G.; Gant, Scott E. (1999). "The Twice and Future President: Constitutional Interstices and the Twenty-Second Amendment". Minnesota Law Review (Minneapolis, MN: Minnesota Law Review) 83 (565). ; alternatively, see: Albert, Richard (2005). "The Evolving Vice Presidency". Temple Law Review (Philadelphia, PA: Temple University of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education) 78 (811, at 856–9). 
64. ^ See GPO Annotated U.S. Constitution, 2002 Ed., at 611 & nn.772–73.
65. ^ U.S. Const. art. II, § 1, cl. 8.
66. ^ Guardian, "Bush colonoscopy leaves Cheney in charge", July 20, 2007
67. ^ 3 U.S.C. § 20
68. ^ "Presidential and Vice Presidential Salaries, 1789+". University of Michigan. http://www.lib.umich.edu/node/11736/. Retrieved 2009-10-07. 
69. ^ Relative Value in US Dollars. Measuring Worth. Retrieved May 30, 2006.
70. ^ Dept. of Labor Inflation Calculator. Inflation Calculator. Retrieved August 10, 2009.
71. ^ "How much does the U.S. president get paid?". Howstuffworks. Retrieved July 24, 2007.
72. ^ Salaries of Federal Officials: A Fact Sheet. United States Senate website. Retrieved August 6, 2009.
73. ^ "President's Guest House (includes Lee House and Blair House), Washington, DC". http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/buildingView.do?pageTypeId=17109&channelPage=/ep/channel/gsaOverview.jsp&channelId=-25241&bid=724. Retrieved 2009-09-30. 
74. ^ New Presidential Limousine enters Secret Service Fleet US Secret Service Press Release (January 14, 2009) Retrieved on 2009-01-20
75. ^ Air Force One. White House Military Office. Retrieved June 17, 2007.
76. ^ Any U.S. Air Force aircraft carrying the president will use the call sign "Air Force One." Similarly, "Navy One", "Army One", and "Coast Guard One" are the call signs used if the president is aboard a craft belonging to these services. "Executive One" becomes the call sign of any civilian aircraft when the president boards.
77. ^ "Junior Secret Service Program: Assignment 7. Code Names". National Park Service. http://www.nps.gov/archive/eise/secret16.htm. Retrieved 2007-08-18. 
78. ^ "Candidate Code Names Secret Service Monikers Used On The Campaign Trail". CBS. 2008-09-16. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/16/earlyshow/main4452073.shtml?source=RSSattr=Politics_4452073. Retrieved 2008-11-12. 
79. ^ "Former Presidents Act (FPA)". U.S. Senate. 1958. http://www.senate.gov/reference/resources/pdf/98-249.pdf. Retrieved 2007-01-05. 
80. ^ "Former presidents cost U.S. taxpayers big bucks". Toledo Blade. 2007-01-07. http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070107/NEWS09/70107004. Retrieved 2007-05-22. 
81. ^ 18 U.S.C. § 3056
82. ^ "Shock and Anger Flash Throughout the United States". Associated Press. 1981-03-31. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=TE4tAAAAIBAJ&sjid=bM4FAAAAIBAJ&dq=reagan%20assassination%201981&pg=1392%2C4423618. Retrieved March 11, 2011. 
83. ^ "FOUR PRESIDENTS". Reagan Presidential Library, National Archives and Records Administration. http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/photographs/four.html. Retrieved April 3, 2011. 
84. ^ Biography of Richard M. Nixon, The White House

Further reading

• Bumiller, Elisabeth (January 2009). "Inside the Presidency". National Geographic 215 (1): 130–149. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/01/president/bumiller-text. 
• Couch, Ernie. Presidential Trivia. Rutledge Hill Press. March 1, 1996. ISBN 1-55853-412-1
• Lang, J. Stephen. The Complete Book of Presidential Trivia. Pelican Publishing. September 2001. ISBN 1-56554-877-9
• Leonard Leo, James Taranto, and William J. Bennett. Presidential Leadership: Rating the Best and the Worst in the White House. Simon and Schuster, June, 2004, hardcover, 304 pages, ISBN 0-7432-5433-3
• Presidential Studies Quarterly, published by Blackwell Synergy, is a quarterly academic journal on the President.
• Waldman, Michael, and George Stephanopoulos. My Fellow Americans: The Most Important Speeches of America's Presidents, from George Washington to George W. Bush. Sourcebooks Trade. September 2003. ISBN 1-4022-0027-7
• Winder, Michael K. Presidents and Prophets: The Story of America's Presidents and the LDS Church. Covenant Communications. September 2007. ISBN 1-59811-452-2

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article: President of the United States Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Presidents of the United States

Official

• "Executive Office of the President". http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/. Retrieved 2009-01-21. 
• "White House". http://www.whitehouse.gov/president/. Retrieved 2005-10-07. 

Presidential histories

• A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns, 1787–1825 Presidential election returns including town and county breakdowns
• "Life Portraits of the American Presidents". C-SPAN. http://www.americanpresidents.org/. Retrieved 2005-10-07.  Companion website for the C-SPAN television series: American Presidents: Life Portraits
• "Presidential Documents from the National Archives". http://www.footnote.com/us-presidents.php. Retrieved 2007-03-21.  Collection of letters, portraits, photos, and other documents from the National Archives
• "The American Presidency Project". UC Santa Barbara. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/. Retrieved 2005-10-07.  Collection of over 67,000 presidential documents
• The History Channel: US Presidents

Miscellaneous

• "All the President's Roles". Ask Gleaves. http://www.gvsu.edu/hauenstein/index.cfm?id=600041AC-93E7-4378-305E5A2BF6EC3C57. Retrieved 2006-10-20.  Article analyzing a president's many hats
• "Allpresidents.org". Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies. http://www.gvsu.edu/hauenstein/. Retrieved 2006-10-18.  Educational site on the American presidency
• "Presidents' Occupations". http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0768854.html. Retrieved 2007-08-20.  Listing of every President's occupation(s) before and after becoming the Commander in Chief
• "The Masonic Presidents Tour". The Masonic Library and Museum of Pennsylvania. http://www.pagrandlodge.org/mlam/presidents/index.html. Retrieved 2005-10-07.  Brief histories of the Masonic careers of Presidents who were members of the Freemasons
• "The Presidents". American Experience. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/presidents/. Retrieved 2007-03-04.  PBS site on the American presidency
• Presidents of the United States: Resource Guides from the Library of Congress
• Shapell Manuscript Foundation Images of documents written by U.S. presidents

v d e Presidents of the United States George Washington John Adams Thomas Jefferson James Madison James Monroe John Quincy Adams Andrew Jackson Martin Van Buren William Henry Harrison John Tyler James K. Polk Zachary Taylor Millard Fillmore Franklin Pierce James Buchanan Abraham Lincoln Andrew Johnson Ulysses S. Grant Rutherford B. Hayes James A. Garfield Chester A. Arthur Grover Cleveland Benjamin Harrison Grover Cleveland William McKinley Theodore Roosevelt William Howard Taft Woodrow Wilson Warren G. Harding Calvin Coolidge Herbert Hoover Franklin D. Roosevelt Harry S. Truman Dwight D. Eisenhower John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson Richard Nixon Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter Ronald Reagan George H. W. Bush Bill Clinton George W. Bush Barack Obama

v d e Chief executives of the United States President President of the United States State governors (current list) Alabama · Alaska · Arizona · Arkansas · California · Colorado · Connecticut · Delaware · Florida · Georgia · Hawaii · Idaho · Illinois · Indiana · Iowa · Kansas · Kentucky · Louisiana · Maine · Maryland · Massachusetts · Michigan · Minnesota · Mississippi · Missouri · Montana · Nebraska · Nevada · New Hampshire · New Jersey · New Mexico · New York · North Carolina · North Dakota · Ohio · Oklahoma · Oregon · Pennsylvania · Rhode Island · South Carolina · South Dakota · Tennessee · Texas · Utah · Vermont · Virginia · Washington · West Virginia · Wisconsin · Wyoming Territorial executives American Samoa · District of Columbia · Guam · Northern Mariana Islands · Puerto Rico · United States Virgin Islands Defunct Pre-state territories · Panama Canal Zone · Philippine Commonwealth · Philippine Islands (until 1935) · Cuba · Dominican Republic · Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands

v d e Lists relating to Presidents of the United States and Vice Presidents of the United States Presidential lists by order Service Age Birth Death Historical rankings Military rank Number living Oldest Time in office Timeline Professional careers Political affiliation Other offices held Elected office Executive experience Inaugurations Doctrines International trips Judicial appointments Pardons Vetoes Control of Congress Assassination attempts and plots Libraries Campaign slogans Currency appearances U.S. postage stamp appearances Personal life Nicknames Names Genealogical relationship Education Military service Pets Place of birth Place of primary affiliation Previous occupation Religious affiliation Residences Summer White Houses Languages Handedness Deaths in office Vice presidential lists Order of service Time in office Age of ascension Other offices held Birth Tie-breaking votes Death and longevity Vacancies Place of primary affiliation Religious affiliation Education Succession Line of succession Designated survivor Elections Elections Electoral College margin Popular vote margin Candidates 1789–1852 1856–present Democratic tickets Republican tickets Height African American Female Lost their home state Former presidents who ran again All candidates with at least one electoral vote In fiction Presidents Vice Presidents Candidates Succession Families First Family First ladies (List Number living) Second ladies Children

v d e Executive Office of the President of the United States Council of Economic Advisers · Council on Environmental Quality · National Security Council · Homeland Security Council · Office of Administration · Office of Management and Budget · Office of National Drug Control Policy · Office of Science and Technology Policy · Office of the United States Trade Representative · President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board · President's Intelligence Advisory Board · White House Office · Office of the Vice President

v d e United States Armed Forces Book Portal A MC N AF CG Category A MC N AF CG PHS NOAA Navbox A MC N AF CG Leadership Commander-in-chief: President of the United States Secretary of Defense Deputy Secretary of Defense Joint Chiefs of Staff (Chairman) United States Congress: Committees on Armed Services: Senate House Active duty four-star officers Highest ranking officers in history National Security Act of 1947 Goldwater–Nichols Act Organization Service departments Department of Defense (Secretary): Army (Secretary) Navy (Secretary) Air Force (Secretary) Department of Homeland Security (Secretary): Coast Guard Branches Army (Chief of Staff) Marine Corps (Commandant) Navy (Chief of Naval Operations) Air Force (Chief of Staff) Coast Guard (Commandant) Other uniformed services Public Health Service Commissioned Corps (Surgeon General) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Corps (Director) Reserve components Reserves: A MC N AF CG National Guard:  A AF Civilian auxiliaries Military Auxiliary Radio System Merchant Marine Civil Air Patrol Coast Guard Auxiliary Unified Combatant Command Northern Central European Pacific Southern Africa Special Operations Strategic Transportation Structure United States Code Title 10 Title 14 Title 32 The Pentagon Installations A MC N AF CG Budget Units: A MC N AF CG Logistics Media Operations and history Current deployments Conflicts Wars Timeline History: A MC N AF CG Colonial WWII Civil affairs African Americans Asian Americans Jewish Americans Sikh Americans Historiography: A: 1/2 MC N AF Art: A AF Personnel Training MEPS ASVAB Recruit training: A MC N AF CG Officer candidate school: A MC N AF Warrant: A MC Service academies: A (prep) N (prep) AF (prep) CG Merchant Marine PHS Junior/Reserve Officers' Training Corps: A MC/N AF Medical Other education Uniforms Uniforms: A MC N AF CG Awards & decorations: Inter-service A MC/N AF CG Foreign International Devices Badges: Identification A MC N AF CG Ranks Enlisted: A MC N AF CG Warrant officers Officer: A MC N AF CG PHS NOAA Other Oath: Enlistment Office Creeds & Codes: Code of Conduct NCO A MC N AF CG Service numbers: A MC N AF CG Military Occupational Specialty/Rating/Air Force Specialty Code Pay Uniform Code of Military Justice Judge Advocate General's Corps Military Health System/TRICARE Separation Veterans Affairs Conscription Chiefs of Chaplains: A MC N AF CG Equipment A MC: vehicles weapons other N AF CG Land Individual weapons Crew-served weapons Vehicles (active) Sea All watercraft Ships: A N (active) AF CG MSC NOAA Weapons: N CG Aircraft: N CG NOAA Reactors Air Aircraft WWI active Aircraft designation Missiles Helicopter arms Other Electronics (designations) Flags: A MC N AF CG Ensign Jack Guidons Food WMDs: Nuclear Biological Chemical Legend: A = Army, MC = Marine Corps, N = Navy, AF = Air Force, CG = Coast Guard, PHS = Public Health Service, NOAA = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, MSC = Military Sealift Command

v d e United States presidential elections 1788 1792 1796 1800 1804 1808 1812 1816 1820 1824 1828 1832 1836 1840 1844 1848 1852 1856 1860 1864 1868 1872 1876 1880 1884 1888 1892 1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 Electoral College Electoral vote changes Electoral votes by state Results by Electoral College margin Results by popular vote margin Results by state Voter turnout Presidential primaries Presidential nominating conventions See also House elections Senate elections Gubernatorial elections

v d e United States (outline) History Timeline Pre-Columbian era Colonial era (Thirteen Colonies, Colonial American military history) American Revolution (War) Federalist Era War of 1812 Territorial acquisitions Territorial evolution Mexican–American War Civil War Reconstruction era Indian Wars Gilded Age African-American Civil Rights Movement (1896–1954) Spanish–American War Imperialism World War I Roaring Twenties Great Depression World War II (Home front) Cold War Korean War Space Race African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968) Feminist Movement Vietnam War Post-Cold War (1991–present) War on Terror (War in Afghanistan, Iraq War) Timeline of modern American conservatism Topics Demographic Discoveries Economic (Debt Ceiling) Inventions (before 1890, 1890–1945, 1946–1991, after 1991) Military Postal Technological and industrial Federal government Law Constitution Federalism Preemption Separation of powers Bill of Rights Civil liberties Code of Federal Regulations Federal Reporter United States Code United States Reports Legislature - Congress Senate Vice President President pro tem House of Representatives Speaker Judiciary - Supreme Court Federal courts Courts of appeal District courts Executive - President Executive Office Cabinet / Executive departments Civil service Independent agencies Law enforcement Public policy Intelligence Central Intelligence Agency Defense Intelligence Agency National Security Agency Federal Bureau of Investigation Uniformed Services Dept. of Defense Air Force Army Marine Corps Navy National Guard Dept. of Homeland Security Coast Guard Dept. of Commerce NOAA Corps Dept. of Health & Human Services Public Health Service Corps Politics Divisions Elections Electoral College Foreign policy Foreign relations Ideologies Local governments Parties Democratic Party Republican Party Third parties Political status of Puerto Rico Red states and blue states Scandals State governments Uncle Sam Geography Cities, towns, and villages Counties Extreme points Islands Mountains Peaks Appalachian Rocky National Park System Regions Great Plains Mid-Atlantic Midwestern New England Northwestern Southern Southwestern Pacific Western Rivers Colorado Columbia Mississippi Missouri Ohio Rio Grande States Territory Water supply and sanitation Economy Agriculture Banking Communications Companies Dollar Energy Federal Budget Federal Reserve System Financial position Insurance Mining Public debt Taxation Tourism Trade Transportation Wall Street Society Topics Crime Demographics Education Family structure Health care Health insurance Incarceration Languages American English Spanish French Media People Public holidays Religion Sports Social class Affluence American Dream Educational attainment Homelessness Homeownership Household income Income inequality Middle class Personal income Poverty Professional and working class conflict Standard of living Wealth Culture Architecture Art Cinema Cuisine Dance Fashion Flag Folklore Literature Music Philosophy Radio Television Theater Issues Abortion Affirmative action Anti-Americanism Capital punishment Drug policy Energy policy Environmental movement Exceptionalism Gun politics Health care reform Human rights Immigration Illegal Immigration LGBT rights Same-sex marriage Obesity Racism Terrorism Book Category Portal WikiProject

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)