Choosing a President

Qualifications

  • Natural-born citizen of the United States (in U.S. or to U.S. citizen)
  • 35 years old
  • Have spent at least fourteen years in the United States (need not be consecutive)

Term Limits

A president can serve a maximum of two, four year terms or ten years

Presidential Primaries

Voters indicate preferences for nominees for president of the United States indirectly through the choice of delegates to the presidential nominating convention.

Caucuses

Voting is held at local, county, and then state levels to determine a delegate.

Electoral College

Each state has as many electors as it does members of Congress. This system makes it more advantageous for candidates to focus on states with high numbers of electoral votes.

Arguments Against

  • Winner of popular vote could lose election
  • Nothing requires electors to vote for candidate favored by the State (faithless electors)
  • House of Representatives could be forced to decide an election
  • Small states are overrepresented and large states are underrepresented

Arguments For

  • Helps to identify the president quickly
  • Promotes the two-party system

Executive Office of the President and the Cabinet

This consists of multiple levels of support staff that reports to the current President. The White House Office includes the President's key personal and political staff. The President's closest advisors are located in the West Wing.

National Security Council

Advises the President in domestic, foreign, and military matters related to national security.

Office of Management and Budget

Prepares the budget for the President, which he submits to Congress yearly. They revise federal agencies' proposal estimates, makes sure they fit into the President's program, and monitors spending.

Presidential Cabinet

Fifteen departments today, for which the President appoints the head of each department. They advise the President on any subject he may require relating to the duties of each member's respective office. Meetings are often called to show unified support for a certain policy.

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