I INTRODUCTION

President of the United States is the chief executive officer of the federal government, leader of the executive branch, and the commander in chief of the armed forces. The president has the power to make treaties with other nations, with the advice and consent of two-thirds of the Senate. The president also appoints, with Senate consent, diplomatic representatives, Supreme Court judges, and many other officials.

　　The president and vice president are the only government officials in the United States elected by and representing the entire nation. Although the president shares power with Congress and the judiciary, he or she is the most powerful and important officeholder in the country. The president has no vote in Congress but is the single largest source of legislative proposals that become law. As the principal foreign policy maker, the president of the United States has become the world's most important leader in international affairs.

II TERM OF OFFICE AND QUALIFICATIONS

A Term of Office

　　The Constitution of the United States specifies a four-year presidential term. It originally said nothing about how many terms a president could serve. But the precedent established by George Washington limited his successors to two terms. Succession by a vice president after a president's death provided the opportunity to serve more than eight years without strictly violating the two-term rule. No president tried to serve more than eight years in office until Republican Theodore Roosevelt. After filling out three-and-a-half years of the term of President William McKinley following McKinley's assassination in 1901 and then serving four years in his own right (1905-1909), Roosevelt ran unsuccessfully in 1912 for another four years.
　　 The need for steady leadership during World War II (1939-1945) made it possible for Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt to break the tradition by winning four successive elections between 1932 and 1944. In a reaction against Franklin Roosevelt's extended presidency, in 1951 Congress and state legislatures approved the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, which limits a president to two elected terms. The amendment also prohibits a person from running for election a second time if he or she has already served more than two years of a term to which someone else had been elected.

B Presidential Qualifications and Salary

　　The Constitution requires presidents to be natural-born citizens of the United States who are at least 35 years of age and have resided in the United States for 14 years. As a tacit statement of America 's commitment to democracy and equal opportunity, the Constitution gave any free white male citizen of the country the opportunity to become president. All males gained the right to become president in 1870 when the 15th Amendment to the Constitution gave African Americans the right to vote. Women were excluded from running for the office until 1920, when the 19th Amendment to the Constitution gave them the right to vote.
　　 The Constitution specifies that presidents receive compensation (salary and benefits) for their work, and Congress sets the specific amount. The salary of presidents cannot be increased or diminished during their term of office. Nor can the president receive additional payments from the federal government or any of the states while in office. The Constitution also disallows presidents and other federal officials from receiving any title of nobility, gift, payment, or official position from a king, prince, or foreign state. All gifts to a president from foreign governments belong to the people of the United States rather than the president.
　　 Congress establishes presidential salaries. Originally, the president earned $25,000, and this was doubled to $ 50,000 in 1873. In 1907 Congress added an annual $25,000 stipend for expenses connected with the office. The president's salary increased to $ 75,000 in 1909 and went up again to $ 100,000 in 1949. At that time the expense allowance also increased to $90,000. In 1969 the salary advanced to $200,000, with $100,000 budgeted for travel and another $50,000 for expenses. In 2001 the salary increased to $400,000 plus $50,000 for expenses. Because the president's official duties incur far more expenses than the expense budget can cover, agencies of the federal government often assume responsibility for presidential events. The Department of Defense, for example, pays the cost of having a military band perform at White House social functions and ceremonies.
　　 For most of America 's history, retired presidents did not receive a pension. In 1958 Congress passed the Former Presidents Act, which gave retired presidents a pension of $25,000 per year, an office, and a staff. Congress has increased the pension several times. Former presidents now receive a pension that is based on the annual salary of a cabinet secretary, which was $ 161,200 in 2001. Former presidents have historically been given a generous allowance for office and staff. Beginning with Democrat Bill Clinton, presidents (or their surviving widows or widowers) will receive funds for an office and staff for four and one-half years after they leave office.

III ELECTION TO THE PRESIDENCY

　　The power of the presidency makes it the most sought-after position in American politics. The keen competition for the post and high cost of waging an effective campaign limits the pool of candidates to a select few. The Constitution originally provided for the election of the president and vice president by the electoral college. Members of the electoral college, who are called electors, represent their states by casting votes for two candidates, with the person receiving the greatest number of votes becoming president and the second-place finisher, vice president. A tie vote in the 1800 election between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr led to the enactment in 1804 of the 12th Amendment to the Constitution, which provides that the electoral college use separate ballots, one for president and one for vice president.
　　 By the mid-19th century the votes of the electoral college had only symbolic importance. Electors from each state simply followed the will of the voting majority by giving their votes to the candidate receiving the most popular votes. However, in the electoral college system, it is possible for candidates to win a majority of electoral votes, and therefore the presidency, without winning the nationwide popular vote. This scenario has occurred three times in United States history: in 1876, when Rutherford B. Hayes beat Samuel Tilden; in 1888, when Benjamin Harrison defeated Grover Cleveland; and in 2000, when George W. Bush prevailed over Al Gore. Another president who lost the popular vote was John Quincy Adams, who was elected in 1824 by the House of Representatives after no candidate received a majority in the electoral college.
　　 The president and vice president are the only public officials in the United States chosen in a nationwide election, which takes place every four years. There are three major steps in a presidential candidate's journey toward the White House: primary elections, the party convention, and the campaign for the general election between party nominees. After winning election the president takes an oath of office on Inauguration Day. The long and expensive process from primary elections through the general election weeds out most potential candidates.
　　 Microsoft Encarta Reference Library 2005 1993-2004 Microsoft Corporation.