An Overview of the U.S. Presidency

It can be heard over a steaming cup of morning coffee or a holiday dinner with family. It is broadcasted over the American airwaves and printed in a myriad of newspapers, magazines, and books. Arguments over it erupt in the most unlikely places-on a street corner, in a bar, or on a city bus. Criticism of President George W. Bush and his predecessors can be found everywhere, debated across the U.S. by people of every race, gender, age, ethnic background, and walk of life. A vast number of these Americans readily insist that they could do a much better job than these politicians, if only they were given a chance to become President. But could they? Would these individuals actually have the ability to successfully obtain and hold the Presidency, or would they drastically fall short of their goal?

In reality, the majority of Americans fail to realize how daunting a task it is to simply become President of the United States, not to mention to successfully serve in that office. Prior to my research, I was no exception. Now I have a new appreciation for what effort and determination is necessary to simply become a presidential candidate. Although I still have my criticism of today's politicians, I know realize that it is no simple task to be the President of the United States.

Qualifications of the Presidency

Before an individual can even try to become a candidate in a presidential election, he or she must meet specific qualifications, which are outlined in the U.S. Constitution (Article II, Section I). First, an individual must be a natural-born citizen of the U.S. or he or she cannot run for the Presidency. Furthermore, he or she is required to have lived in the U.S. for at least fourteen years prior to the election. Lastly, no person younger than thirty-five can be President.

The Beginning of the Campaign Trail

If a person meets all three of these qualifications, he or she can then begin the process of running for President. Initially, a presidential candidate publicly announces his or her decision to run for the Presidency (Hartman, 2008). With this announcement, the first phase of his or her hectic campaign for this political office is underway. If the candidate is the member of one of the major political parties, he or she must first campaign to win the nomination of that party. Ultimately, he or she will have to strategically campaign to gain as many party supporters, also known as delegates, as possible (Bennett, 2004; Hartman, 2008).

Simultaneously, every candidate must also campaign for the support of voters so he or she will have enough support within the general public in the primary election. If the individual campaigns well and wins enough support with his or her political party, he or she will be officially nominated as one of the presidential candidates for that party. A person can also be nominated as a presidential candidate by local members of his or her party after campaigning at a caucus. (The proceedings of each caucus are regulated differently by each political party and state) (Bennett, 2004; Hartman, 2008).

Primary Elections

Primary elections are then held in each of the fifty states so voters may help determine which of the nominated candidates will represent their party in the actual presidential race (Bennett, 2004; Hartman, 2008). Unfortunately for the candidate, the individual states control which nominees can appear on their presidential ballot. Thus, each nominee must struggle to meet the requirements of each state to be able to appear on their ballots in the primary elections and later, in the general election, if he or she successful becomes the party's final candidate (The Century Foundation, 2004).

Third-party nominees and independent candidates, however, have a much more difficult task of meeting the separate requirements of the fifty states and then appearing on the presidential ballot without the seemingly endless support and financial clout which the Democratic and Republican parties possess. Some states appear to penalize these candidates by requiring nominees to acquire an enormous quantity of voter signatures and by charging them considerable filing fees before their names can appear on the ballots of these states (The Century Foundation, 2004).

The General Election

If the candidate manages to make it onto the presidential ballot in the primaries and then win this election, the second phase of his or her campaign begins. This individual must focus upon running against the candidates of any other political party participating in the election. Instead of simply drawing the support of members of his or her party, the candidate must also try to rally support from voters of the other parties to gain the support of the majority of voters, campaigning vigorously from state to state (Bennett, 2004; Hartman, 2008).

"Presidential elections are held every four years on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November" (Hartman, 2008, Citizens cast their votes, para. 1). At these elections, voters select on the presidential ballot which candidate they support. The result of these elections is called the popular vote. The presidential election then goes to the electoral college. Each individual is given as many electors in the electoral college as the number of senators and representatives it has in Congress (Bennett, 2004). Which party's electors who get to vote in the electoral college depends on the popular vote in the sate they represent. The winning party of the popular vote in a state is given all that state's electoral votes and in turn, normally votes for their nominee (Radding, 1979, p. 16-17). Finally, the presidential candidate who receives the majority of the electoral votes is elected as President of the United States. If, however, no candidate is given at least 270 of the electoral votes, the election is then sent to the House of Representatives, where a candidate will finally be chosen (U.S. Department of State, 2000).

The Presidential Inauguration

If a candidate wins the electoral vote, he or she will then be inaugurated on January 20. At the presidential inauguration, the winning candidate takes an oath of office and finally is officially sworn in as the new President. This oath begins the President's challenge of faithfully and adequately serving in America's highest political office (Hartman, 2008; U.S. Department of State, 2000).

Presidential Powers

As the head of the U.S. Executive Branch, the President's roles and responsibilities are many and are outlined in the Constitution (Radding, 1979, p. 2-10). First of all, the President serves as commander in chief of the armed forces (Article II, Section 2) although only Congress has the power to officially declare war (Article I, Section 8). Also, the President can grant pardons and reprieves for federal crimes ". . . except in Cases of Impeachment" (Article II, Section 2). This section of the U.S. Constitution goes on further to stipulate that the President can (1) draw up treating with foreign nations (but only with the approval of two-thirds of the Senate), (2) nominate and appoint such officials as "Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls,
Furthermore, the President (1) must periodically present to Congress addresses about the state of the union, (2) can recommend legislation to Congress, (3) may convene both houses of Congress under certain circumstances, (4) receives "Ambassadors and other public Ministers" from foreign countries, and (5) sees that all federal laws are "faithfully executed" (Article II, Section 3). Finally, another power of the President is the ability to approve or block laws passed by Congress. If he or she does not approve of a bill that has passed through Congress, he or she has the power to veto that bill, sending it back to Congress for revision (Article I, Section 7).

Conclusion

After reviewing all that an individual must endure to seek the Presidency, it is clear that the decision to run for this political office is neither a light nor simple one. A great deal of time, energy, and money must be sacrificed to run for President. And even after all these sacrifices are made, it is not even guaranteed that the candidate will ever gain the privilege of serving of President of the United States. Consequently, it takes a truly dedicated, driven, and patient individual to take on this daunting challenging.

References:

Bennett, S. (2004, February 10). Electing the U.S. President. In Research Note, No. 30. Retrieved October 1, 2008, from Parliament of Australia Web site: http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/rn/2003-04/04rn30.pdf

The Century Foundation. (2004, September 16). Issue brief-Crashing parties: The problem of ballot access. Retrieved October 1, 2008, from http://www.tcf.org/Publications/ElectionReform/ballotaccess0916.pdf

Hartman, H. (2008). Step-by-step on the campaign trail: How the President gets elected. Retrieved October 1, 2008, from http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0878225.html

Radding, C. (1979). The modern presidency. Watts.

U.S. Department of State. (2000, September). Chapter 3-The Executive Branch: Powers of the Presidency. In Outline of U.S. government. Retrieved October 1, 2008, from http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/outusgov/ch3.htm