President of the United States

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The President of the United States of America (POTUS) is the head of state of the United States. In the U.S. Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.

Because of the superpower status of the United States, the American President is widely considered to be the most powerful person on earth and is usually one of the world's best-known public figures^{[[Citing sources citation needed]]}. The President is sometimes referred to as "the leader of the free world," although the usage of this phrase has declined since the end of the Cold War.

The United States was the first nation to create the office of President as the head of state in a modern republic. Today the presidential system of government is used in several countries throughout the world.

The 43rd and current President of the United States is George W. Bush. He is currently serving his second term.

Creation of Office

After the adoption of the Articles of Confederation in 1781, the President of the Continental Congress was renamed to President of the United States in Congress Assembled. Functionally, the President of the United States in Congress Assembled was quite different from the modern office of the President of the United States; the President of the USiCA was nothing more than the presiding officer of the legislature and was neither a head of government nor head of state. After the Constitutional Convention, the position of the President of the United States in Congress Assembled was dissolved and replaced with the positions of the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and the President of the Senate and President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate. The executive branch was established, and the office of President of the United States of America was created.

Requirements to hold office

Section One of Article II of the U.S. Constitution establishes the requirements one must meet in order to become President. The president must be a natural-born citizen of the United States (or a citizen of the United States at the time the U.S. Constitution was adopted), be at least 35 years old, and have been a resident of the United States for 14 years.

The natural-born citizenship requirement has been the subject of controversy recently. Some commentators argue that the clause should be repealed because it excludes qualified people based on so-called "technicalities", and fails to appreciate the contributions made by immigrants to American society. Supporters counter that the requirement protects the United States from foreign interference — another country could send an emigrant to the United States and through subterfuge get them elected. Many prominent public officials are barred from the presidency because they are not natural-born citizens (for example, Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright, Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao and Governors Arnold Schwarzenegger of California and Jennifer Granholm of Michigan), as well as other well-known persons born in other countries who have done great service for the United States. Constitutional amendments are occasionally proposed to remove or modify this requirement, but none have been successful.

The only time recently that the natural-born citizenship requirement has been implicated in regard to a presidential candidate was in 1968. That year, Michigan Gov. George W. Romney was a candidate for the Republican nomination for President. Romney had been born in Chihuahua, Mexico to American parents. However, Romney's campaign fizzled and the question was never seriously discussed.

Election

Presidents and Vice Presidents of the United States are elected every four years indirectly through the Electoral College. They are the only nationally elected offices in the United States, since executive officers and judges are appointed, and Congressmen are elected at the state level.

Campaign

The modern presidential campaign begins before the primary elections, which the two major political parties use to clear the field of candidates in advance of their national nominating conventions, where the most successful candidate is made the party's nominee for President. The party's presidential candidate chooses a vice presidential nominee and this choice is rubber-stamped by the convention. Also, the party establishes a platform on which to base its campaign. Although nominating conventions have a long history in the United States, their substantive importance in the political process has greatly diminished; however, they remain important as a way of energizing the parties for the general election and focusing the public's attention on the nominees.

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.

Electoral College

On election day, the voting public select their preferred candidate, which usually translates into a vote for a slate of electors put forward by the candidate's party. Although state legislatures have the constitutional power to appoint slates of electors, all fifty states have established popular election of presidential electors. In December, electors gather at the state capitals to cast their ballots, which are then transmitted to Congress under the care of the sitting vice president. The ballots are counted and certified in January before both houses of Congress. Should a candidate for either President or Vice President fail to achieve a majority of votes, the United States House of Representatives (voting by state) chooses the next president from among the candidates while the United States Senate (voting normally) selects the vice president.

Last election

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Summary of the 2 November 2004 President of the United States>United States presidential election results

Candidates		Party	Votes	%	Electoral vote
George W. Bush	Republican Party	62,040,610	50.73%	286
John Kerry	Democratic Party	59,028,444	48.27%	251
John Edwards1				1
Ralph Nader	Independent, Reform Party	465,650	0.38%	-
Michael Badnarik	Libertarian Party	397,265	0.32%	-
Michael Peroutka	Constitution Party	143,630	0.12%	-
David Cobb	Green Party	119,859	0.10%	-
	Other		99,887	0.08%	-
Total			122,295,345	100.0%	538
Source: [FEC 2004 Election Results]

Term of office

The President and Vice President serve a term of office of four years. The Twenty-second Amendment (which took effect in 1951) provides that no one may be elected to the office more than twice, and that no one may be elected President more than once who has held the office of (or acted as) President for more than two years of another's term. Prior to the ratification of this amendment, and following the precedent set by George Washington, an unofficial limit of two terms was generally observed, with the only exception being Franklin D. Roosevelt, who served three full terms and died in his fourth after just over 12 years in office. Since the amendment went into effect, three Presidents have served two full terms: Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. Richard Nixon was elected to a second term but resigned before completing it. Current President George W. Bush will become the fourth if he completes his current term, in 2009. Lyndon B. Johnson was one of two presidents since the ratification of the amendment to have been eligible to have served more than 2 terms, having served only 14 months of John F. Kennedy's term after becoming president following the latter's assassination. Harry S. Truman was also eligible for a potential third term as the 22nd specifically states it did not apply to the president in office upon it's ratification (Truman). He briefly sought re-election in 1952, but withdrew after losing the New Hampshire primary.

Powers

The President, according to the Constitution, must "take care that the laws be faithfully executed." To carry out this responsibility, he has many powers, most of which are subject to or checked by Congressional power. He presides over the executive branch of the federal government; a vast organization of about 4 million people, including 1 million active-duty military personnel, of whom he is Commander in Chief.

According to the Federalist Papers #69, which states, "In most of these particulars, the power of the President will resemble equally that of the king of Great Britain and of the governor of New York. The most material points of difference are these: First. The President will have only the occasional command of such part of the militia of the nation as by legislative provision may be called into the actual service of the Union. The king of Great Britain and the governor of New York have at all times the entire command of all the militia within their several jurisdictions. In this article, therefore, the power of the President would be inferior to that of either the monarch or the governor. Secondly. The President is to be commander-in-chief of the army and navy of the United States. In this respect his authority would be nominally the same with that of the king of Great Britain, but in substance much inferior to it. It would amount to nothing more than the supreme command and direction of the military and naval forces, as first General and admiral of the Confederacy; while that of the British king extends to the DECLARING of war and to the RAISING and REGULATING of fleets and armies, all which, by the Constitution under consideration, would appertain to the legislature". However, his control over these tools of state are checked by Congress' power "to make Rules for the Government and Regulation for the land and naval Forces" (Article I, Section 8).

As President-elect, he will make as many as 6,000 appointments in addition to those that must be made during his term proper (including appointments to the federal judiciary), but the Senate must consent to all appointments, except those of "inferior officers" that Congress has vested exclusively in him, the courts, or the heads of departments. He may make temporary appointments without the advice and consent of the Senate if the Senate is in recess, but such appointments expire at the end of the next session of the Senate.

While he may not personally initiate legislation, the President may veto any legislation passed by Congress. Such a veto may be overturned by a two-thirds majority vote in each House. He may make treaties, but two-thirds of the Senate must ratify the treaty. He is also required by the Constitution to give Congress information on the State of the Union and propose measures for their consideration.

According to political scientist Richard Neustadt, "Presidential power is the power to persuade and the power to persuade is the ability to bargain". The President's constitutional domestic power is limited, and so, according to Neustadt, successful bargaining with Congress is usually essential to Presidential success.

Presidential salary and benefits

Salary

Presidential pay history

Date established	Salary	Salary in 2005 dollars
September 24, 1789	,000	1,000 (1790)
March 3, 1873	,000	1,000 (1873)
March 4, 1909	,000	,607,000 (1909)
January 19, 1949	0,000	0,000 (1949)
January 20, 1969	0,000	,067,000 (1969)
January 20, 2001	0,000	1,000 (2001)

The First U.S. Congress voted to pay George Washington a salary of $25,000 a year (about $531,000 in 2005 terms) — a significant sum in 1789. Washington, already a wealthy man, refused to accept his salary. Similarly, John F. Kennedy donated his salary to charities.Richard Reeves. President Kennedy: Profile of Power. (1993)

Traditionally, the President is the highest-paid government employee. Consequently, the President's salary serves as a traditional cap for all other federal officials, such as the Chief Justice. A raise for 2001 was approved by Congress and President Bill Clinton in 1999 because other officials who receive annual cost-of-living increases had salaries approaching the President's. Consequently, to raise the salaries of the other federal employees, the President's salary had to be raised as well. The President's monetary compensation is minuscule in comparison to the CEOs of most Fortune 500 companies; in some parts of the United States some medical specialists (such as cardiovascular surgeons) will earn comparable salaries. Some critics suggest that, in order to attract talented management, business, and other CEO's, the President's salary should be increased, to perhaps five or ten million dollars per year. It would be a fraction of the federal budget, and would at least be somewhat on par with the going rate for modern CEO and management salaries.

In recent times former Presidents, while they remain healthy, earn far more money after the end of their presidential term; Forbes magazine estimated Bill Clinton, despite health problems that prevented him working for some part of the year, earned $6 million in 2005 [link]. Overall the vast majority of US presidents were very affluent upon entering office and thus were not dependent on the salary. In 2005 current US president George W. Bush earned roughly $830,000, more than twice his salary, mostly from capital gains income. Vice president Dick Cheney earned an approximate one-million dollars the same year.

Travel

While traveling, the President is able to conduct all the functions of the office aboard two custom-built Boeing 747 aircraft popularly known as Air Force One. However, this is not the actual name of the plane since any U.S. Air Force aircraft carrying the President will use the call sign "Air Force One." In addition to Air Force One, the President also utilizes a United States Marine Corps helicopter, most often to carry him from the White House to Air Force One. When the President boards this helicopter or any other Marine Corps aircraft, the aircraft uses the call sign "Marine One". (Previously, an Army aircraft dubbed "Army One" was also used.) "Navy One" and "Coast Guard One" are the call signs used if the President is aboard an aircraft belonging to those two services—for instance, when President George W. Bush landed aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln in a Navy jet. "Executive One" would be used if the President flew aboard a civilian aircraft.

The President also utilizes a motorcade, in which the President himself rides in an armored Presidential limousine, currently a heavily modified Cadillac DTS.

Secret Service

The President and his family are always protected by a Secret Service detail. 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 is Bill Clinton; George W. Bush and all subsequent Presidents will be protected by the Secret Service for a maximum of 10 years after leaving office.

Office-holders

Image:George-Washington.jpg|1.George Washington1789–1797 Image:Johnadamsvp.flipped.jpg|2.John Adams1797–1801 Image:Thomas Jefferson rev.jpg|3.Thomas Jefferson1801–1809 Image:Jm4.gif|4.James Madison1809–1817 Image:Jamesmonroe-npgallery.jpg|5.James Monroe1817–1825 Image:John Quincy Adams.jpg|6.John Quincy Adams1825–1829 Image:Andrew jackson head.gif|7.Andrew Jackson1829–1837 Image:Martin Van Buren.jpg|8.Martin Van Buren1837–1841 Image:William Henry Harrison.png|9.William Henry Harrison1841 Image:John Tyler.jpg|10.John Tyler1841–1845 Image:Polkpolk.jpg|11.James K. Polk1845–1849 Image:Zachary Taylor.jpg|12.Zachary Taylor1849–1850 Image:Millard Fillmore.jpg|13.Millard Fillmore1850–1853 Image:Franklin Pierce.jpg|14.Franklin Pierce1853–1857 Image:James Buchanan.jpg|15.James Buchanan1857–1861 Image:Abraham Lincoln head on shoulders photo portrait.jpg|16.Abraham Lincoln1861–1865 Image:Andrew Johnson.jpg|17.Andrew Johnson1865–1869 Image:Ulysses Grant 1870-1880.jpg|18.Ulysses S. Grant1869–1877 Image:President Rutherford Hayes 1870 - 1880.jpg|19.Rutherford B. Hayes1877–1881 Image:James a garfield illustration.3.jpg|20.James A. Garfield1881 Image:Chester Alan Arthur.jpg|21.Chester A. Arthur1881–1885 Image:Grover Cleveland.jpg|22.Grover Cleveland1885–1889 Image:Benjamin harrison.jpg|23.Benjamin Harrison1889–1893 Image:Grover Cleveland.jpg|24.Grover Cleveland1893–1897 Image:Mckinley.jpg|25.William McKinley1897–1901 Image:T Roosevelt.jpg|26.Theodore Roosevelt1901–1909 Image:William Howard Taft.jpg|27.William Howard Taft1909–1913 Image:Wilson.jpg|28.Woodrow Wilson1913–1921 Image:Warren G Harding portrait as senator June 1920.jpg|29.Warren G. Harding1921–1923 Image:Ccool.jpg|30.Calvin Coolidge1923–1929 Image:HerbertHoover.jpg|31.Herbert Hoover1929–1933 Image:FDR in 1933.jpg|32.Franklin Delano Roosevelt1933–1945 Image:Harry-truman.jpg|33.Harry S Truman1945–1953 Image:Eisenhower official.jpg|34.Dwight D. Eisenhower1953–1961 Image:JFKofficial.jpg|35.John F. Kennedy1961–1963 Image:Lbj2.jpg|36.Lyndon B. Johnson1963–1969 Image:Nixon.jpg|37.Richard Nixon1969–1974 Image:Jerryford.jpg|38.Gerald R. Ford1974–1977 Image:Presidentcarter.jpg|39.Jimmy Carter1977–1981 Image:Official Portrait of President Reagan 1981.jpg|40.Ronald Reagan1981–1989 Image:George H. W. Bush, President of the United States, 1989 official portrait.jpg|41.George H. W. Bush1989–1993 Image:Bill Clinton.jpg|42.Bill Clinton1993–2001 Image:George-W-Bush.jpeg|43.George W. Bush2001–present *Note that Cleveland was elected twice nonconsecutively, throwing off the numbers of all presidents after him, starting with McKinley. Thus, George W. Bush is the 43rd president although he is the 42nd person to hold the office.

Timeline of Presidential births

• William Henry Harrison, born February 9, 1773 in British colonial territory, was the last person to become President who was not a natural-born U.S. citizen.
• Martin Van Buren, born December 5, 1782, was the first President born after the Declaration of Independence and was thus arguably the first natural-born U.S. citizen (rather than a British subject) to become President. He is also the first President not of Anglo-Celtic origin.
• John Tyler, born March 29, 1790, was the first President born after the adoption of the U.S. Constitution. All Presidents born before him were eligible to be President because they were citizens at the time the Constitution was adopted. (Zachary Taylor was born on November 24, 1784, before the Constitution was adopted).
• Franklin Pierce, born November 23, 1804, was the first President born in the 19th century. (Millard Fillmore was born January 7, 1800, the last year of the 18th century.)
• Warren G. Harding, born November 2, 1865, was the first President born after the American Civil War. Robert E. Lee surrendered April 9, 1865.
• John F. Kennedy, born May 29, 1917, was the first person born in the 20th century to become President (1961).
• * Kennedy's successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, was born on August 27, 1908. Three other Presidents who followed Johnson in office were also born before Kennedy (in order of birth, Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, and Gerald Ford).
• Jimmy Carter, born October 1, 1924, was the first person born after World War I to become President. He was also the first President to be born in a hospital.
• William J Clinton, born August 19, 1946, was the first person born after World War II to serve as President.

Life after the presidency

Presidents continue to enjoy benefits after leaving office such as free mailing privileges, free office space, the right to hold a diplomatic passport and budgets for office help and staff assistance. However, it was not until after Harry S. Truman (1958) that Presidents received a pension after they left office. Additionally, since the presidency of Herbert Hoover, Presidents receive funding from the National Archives and Records Administration upon leaving office to establish their own presidential library. These are not traditional libraries but rather repositories for preserving and making available the papers, records, and other historical materials for each President since Herbert Hoover.

After a President leaves office, the title "President" continues to be applied to that person for the rest of his life. Former presidents continue to be important national figures, and in some cases go on to successful post-presidential careers. Notable examples have included William Howard Taft's tenure as Chief Justice of the United States, Herbert Hoover's work on government reorganization after World War II, Jimmy Carter's current career as a global human rights campaigner and best-selling writer, and most recently George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton's combined effort to appeal for donations from Americans after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Andrew Johnson was elected to the same Senate that tried his impeachment after his term was over. Furthermore, John Quincy Adams enjoyed a prosperous career in the House of Representatives after his term in the White House.

As of 2006, there are four living former presidents: Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton. The most recently deceased President is Ronald Reagan, who died June 5, 2004.

Trivia

Former Presidents

There have never been more than five former Presidents alive at any given time in American history. There have been three periods during which five former Presidents were alive:

• From March 4, 1861 to January 18, 1862, Martin Van Buren, John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, and James Buchanan were living (from the inauguration of Lincoln to the death of Tyler).
• From January 20, 1993 to April 22, 1994, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush were living (from the inauguration of Clinton to the death of Nixon).
• From January 20, 2001 to June 5, 2004, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton were living (from the inauguration of George W. Bush to the death of Reagan).

There have been six periods in American history during which no former Presidents were alive:

• April 30, 1789 – March 3, 1797: until the first President left office, there could be no former Presidents, alive or otherwise.
• December 14, 1799 – March 3, 1801: from the death of Washington to the end of John Adams's term (no former President died until John Adams and Jefferson on July 4, 1826).
• July 31, 1875 – March 3, 1877: from the death of Andrew Johnson to the end of Grant's term (no former President died until Grant in 1885, although incumbent President James Garfield was assassinated in 1881).
• June 24, 1908 – March 3, 1909: from the death of Cleveland until the end of Theodore Roosevelt's term (no former President died until Theodore Roosevelt in 1919).
• January 5, 1933 – March 3, 1933: from the death of Coolidge until the end of Hoover's term (no former President would die until Hoover in 1964 although incumbent President Franklin Roosevelt died in office in 1945 and incumbent President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963).
• January 22, 1973 – August 9, 1974: from the death of Lyndon Johnson until the resignation of Nixon (no former President died until Nixon in 1994).

Herbert Hoover had the longest post-presidency at 31 years. He left office in 1933 and died in 1964. Still alive today is Gerald Ford, who has been a former President for 29 years, as of 2006. James K. Polk had the shortest post-presidency. He died on June 15, 1849, three months after the end of his term.

• Four former Presidents went on to hold other major offices:
• *William Howard Taft was the Chief Justice of the United States
• *Andrew Johnson returned to the United States Senate
• *John Quincy Adams served in the United States House of Representatives
• *John Tyler served in the Confederate States Congress during the Civil War

Births

Between the birth of George Washington in 1732 and the birth of Bill Clinton in 1946, future Presidents have been born in every decade except two: the 1810s and the 1930s. Between the death of George Washington in 1799 and the present, Presidents or former Presidents have died in every decade except four: the 1800s, 1810s, 1950s, and 1980s.

Deaths

• Assassinations
• *Abraham Lincoln in 1865 by John Wilkes Booth
• *James Garfield in 1881 by Charles J. Guiteau (Guiteau shot him but Garfield arguably died because of subsequent inept medical care)
• *William McKinley in 1901 by Leon Czolgosz
• *John F. Kennedy in 1963, is generally thought to have been killed by Lee Harvey Oswald [link] although many theories suggest other or additional gunmen [link]

• Assassination attempts have been made on eight other U.S Presidents while in office:
• * Andrew Jackson in 1835 by Richard Lawrence
• * Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1933 by Giuseppe Zangara (Actually Roosevelt was President-elect at the time)
• * Harry S. Truman in 1950 by Griselio Torresola and Oscar Collazo
• * Richard Nixon, in 1974 by Samuel Byck
• * Gerald Ford in 1975 by Lynette Fromme and Sara Jane Moore
• * Ronald Reagan in 1981 by John Hinckley, Jr.
• * Bill Clinton in 1994 by Francisco Duran
• * George W. Bush in 2005 by Vladimir Arutinian

• Four others died in office of natural causes:
• *William Henry Harrison, died of pneumonia in 1841
• *Zachary Taylor, died of "acute indigestion" in 1850. Taylor's body was exhumed in 1991 to test if he had died of arsenic poisoning. It was determined he did not.
• *Warren G. Harding, died of heart attack in 1923
• *Franklin D. Roosevelt, died of cerebral hemorrhage in 1945
• Every U.S. President from William Henry Harrison to John F. Kennedy who was elected or re-elected in a year divisible by 20 died in office, many by assassination. Ronald Reagan (elected in 1980) survived an attempt on his life and George W. Bush (elected in 2000) had a soviet grenade thrown at him while in Georgia, which failed to explode. This string is commonly labeled Tecumseh's Curse.
• *1840: William Henry Harrison
• *1860: Abraham Lincoln
• *1880: James Garfield
• *1900: William McKinley
• **Theodore Roosevelt, who was McKinley's Vice President and succeeded him in 1901, was shot by John Shrank in an assassination attempt in 1912
• *1920: Warren G. Harding
• *1940: Franklin D. Roosevelt
• *1960: John F. Kennedy

Resignations and impeachments

• One President resigned from office:
• *Richard Nixon in 1974
• Two Presidents have been impeached, though neither was subsequently convicted:
• *Andrew Johnson impeached and tried in 1868
• *Bill Clinton impeached in 1998, tried in 1999

Elections

• Four Presidents have been elected without a plurality of popular votes:
• *John Quincy Adams—trailed Andrew Jackson by 44,804 votes in the 1824 election
• **However, in six of the then twenty-four states in 1824, the electors were chosen by the state legislature, with no popular vote.
• *Rutherford B. Hayes—trailed Samuel J. Tilden by 264,292 votes in the 1876 election
• *Benjamin Harrison—trailed Grover Cleveland 95,713 votes in the 1888 election
• *George W. Bush—trailed Al Gore by 543,895 votes in the 2000 election
• *A possible addition to this list is John F. Kennedy, who may have trailed Richard Nixon in the 1960 election. The precise gap in votes is difficult to determine because voters in Alabama were not given Kennedy as an option on their ballot - they could only vote "Democratic" without choosing a candidate. So, when the Democrats won Alabama, half of the state's electoral votes were pledged to Kennedy, and the other half were not pledged at all, and those votes all went to Harry F. Byrd. So it is impossible to know how many of those voters meant to vote for Kennedy, or for Byrd. The margin between Kennedy and Nixon was smaller than the number of Democratic votes in Alabama. The official figure from the U.S. government states includes the Alabama votes in Kennedy's total, giving Kennedy the popular plurality.
• Eleven Presidents have been elected without a majority of popular votes (but with a plurality of popular votes):
• *James K. Polk—49.3% of the popular vote in the 1844 election
• *Zachary Taylor—47.3% of the popular vote in the 1848 election
• *James Buchanan—45.3% of the popular vote in the 1856 election
• *Abraham Lincoln—39.9% of the popular vote in the 1860 election
• *James Garfield—48.3% of the popular vote in the 1880 election
• *Grover Cleveland—48.8% of the popular vote in the 1884 election
• *Grover Cleveland—46.0% of the popular vote in the 1892 election
• *Woodrow Wilson—41.8% of the popular vote in the 1912 election
• *Woodrow Wilson—49.3% of the popular vote in the 1916 election
• *Harry S. Truman—49.7% of the popular vote in the 1948 election
• *John F. Kennedy—49.7% of the popular vote in the 1960 election
• *Richard Nixon—43.2% of the popular vote in the 1968 election
• *Bill Clinton—42.9% of the popular vote in the 1992 election
• *Bill Clinton—49.2% of the popular vote in the 1996 election
• Two Presidents have been elected without a majority of electoral votes and were chosen by the House of Representatives:
• *Thomas Jefferson—finished with same number of electoral votes as Aaron Burr in the 1800 election
• *John Quincy Adams—trailed Andrew Jackson by 15 electoral votes in the 1824 election
• Three Presidents won the electoral vote but lost their resident state:
• *James Polk—lost Tennessee to Henry Clay but won the election in the 1844 election.
• *Woodrow Wilson—lost New Jersey to Charles Evan Hughes but won the election in the 1916 election.
• *Richard Nixon—lost New York to Hubert Humphrey but won the election in the 1968 election.
• Five Presidents won the electoral vote but lost their birth state:
• *William Henry Harrison lost Virginia to Martin Van Buren but won his resident state of Ohio and the 1840 election.
• *James Polk lost North Carolina to Henry Clay but won the 1844 election.
• *Abraham Lincoln lost Kentucky to John Bell but won his resident state of Illinois and the 1860 election. Lincoln also lost Kentucky to George Brinton McClellan, but won Illinois and the 1864 election.
• *George H. W. Bush lost Massachusetts to Michael Dukakis but won his resident state of Texas and the 1988 election.
• *George W. Bush lost Connecticut to Al Gore but won his resident state of Texas and the 2000 election. Bush also lost Connecticut to John Kerry but won his resident state of Texas and the 2004 election.
• Only James Polk has won the presidency while losing both his resident state and birth state.
• Eight Presidents took office without being elected to the presidency, having been elected as Vice Presidents and then promoted from that position:
• * Four of them did not run to succeed themselves and were never elected President.
• **John Tyler—assumed the presidency on the death of William Henry Harrison; did not run in the 1844 election
• **Millard Fillmore—succeeded Zachary Taylor; did not run in the 1852 election
• ***Fillmore did run for President in the 1856 election as a Know Nothing Party candidate and received 873,053 votes (21.6%), finishing third
• **Andrew Johnson—succeeded Abraham Lincoln; did not run in the 1868 election
• **Chester A. Arthur—succeeded James Garfield; did not run in the 1884 election
• * The other four later ran for President and were elected to succeed themselves as President:
• **Theodore Roosevelt—succeeded William McKinley; elected to succeed himself as President in the 1904 election
• **Calvin Coolidge—succeeded Warren G. Harding; elected to succeed himself as President in the 1924 election
• **Harry S. Truman—succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt; elected to succeed himself as president in the 1948 election but did not run again in the 1952 election, despite being eligible for a third term.
• **Lyndon B. Johnson—succeeded John F. Kennedy; elected to succeed himself as president in the 1964 election but did not run again in the 1968 election
• One President, Gerald Ford, was never elected; he was appointed Vice President by Richard Nixon (with approval from Congress) upon the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew. He succeeded to the presidency after Nixon's resignation and was defeated in the 1976 election by Jimmy Carter.

Terms of office

• There were four cases in which only one person served in a presidential term but that person did not serve for a full 1461 days.
• * Although the first presidential term was deemed to have started on March 4, 1789—the day that the United States Constitution became operational—the First Congress did not meet to count the electoral vote until April 6, and thus George Washington did not accede to the office until then, giving him 1427 days and some number of hours.
• * Franklin D. Roosevelt's first term began March 4, 1933, but the twentieth amendment changed the start of the next term to noon on January 20, 1937, giving Roosevelt a first term of 1418.5 days.
• * Because of the properties of the Gregorian calendar, 1800 and 1900 were not leap years, so John Adams' term and William McKinley's first term were shortened to 1460 days.
• An urban legend claims that David Rice Atchison was the 11½th president of the United States for one day on March 4, 1849, in between the terms of James K. Polk (whose term expired at noon on March 4) and Zachary Taylor (who chose not to be sworn in until March 5). However, the logic of this is contradictory. If one does not consider Taylor to have officially become President until the administration of his Oath of Office, then the same logic precludes any person from having automatically succeeded before likewise having taken the same oath. In fact, Taylor, as President-elect, automatically acceded to the Office of President upon the expiration of Polk's term, even if he did not yet enter into the execution of that office until the oath was administered. This fact was confirmed by Congress when it certified his election, as it defined the beginning of the administration as the instant Polk left office. Even if supposing, for the sake of argument, the rather odd interpretation that only Presidents-elect are required to take the oath before officially occupying the office, while officials in the Presidential Line of Succession occupy the Presidency ipso facto, then there would be a long list of dozens of additional "Presidents" who only held the office for a matter of hours or minutes.
• Grover Cleveland had two non-consecutive terms as President and is counted both as the 22nd and the 24th President. Consequently, all subsequent Presidents who are referred to as "the [n^] President of the United States" are actually the [(n-1)^] person to hold the office. So George W. Bush, the 43rd President, is actually the 42nd person to be President.

Other facts

• All Presidents have been white males and nominally Christian (mostly Protestant). Most presidents have been of substantially British descent, but there have been a few who came from a different background:
• *Predominantly Dutch: Martin Van Buren
• **Although Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt had Dutch names, neither was predominantly Dutch; each had only one Dutch grandfather. Theodore Roosevelt's other three grandparents were all British; Franklin Roosevelt's other three grandparents were of Puritan stock.
• *Predominantly German: Herbert Hoover and Dwight Eisenhower
• *Predominantly Irish: William McKinley, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton
• **Kennedy was also America's only Roman Catholic president.
• Only one President, James Buchanan, remained a bachelor. Bachelor Grover Cleveland married Frances Folsom while in office, while both John Tyler and Woodrow Wilson became widowers and remarried while in office.
• Franklin D. Roosevelt is the only President to have had a readily apparent physical disability.
• Historical rankings of United States Presidents by academic historians usually regard three Presidents — in chronological order, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt — to be the three most successful presidents by a wide margin.
• The Secret Service and some agencies in the government use acronyms as jargon. Since the Truman Administration the President of the United States has been called POTUS, pronounced /poʊtʊs/. The wife of the President, traditionally referred to as the First Lady is called FLOTUS, pronounced /floʊtʊs/. The Vice President of the United States is often abbreviated to VPOTUS, pronounced /vipoʊtʊs/.
• Military service: 26 out of the 42 U.S. presidents have served in the military
• Three out of the first five presidents died on July 4th (Independence Day): John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Monroe. The first two died within hours of each other 50 years, to the day, after signing the Declaration of Independence together.

See also

• List of Presidents of the United States
• President of the Continental Congress
• Presidential reputation
• Presidential Service Badge
• Presidential Management Fellowship
• Executive branch
• Executive privilege
• Air Force One
• Tecumseh's curse
• Fiction regarding United States presidential succession
• List of actors who played President of the United States

Further reading

Notes

External links

Official

• "[Executive Office of the President]." Accessed October 7, 2005.
• "[White House]." Accessed October 7, 2005.

Presidential histories

• - A collection of over 67,000 Presidential documents
• - Brief biographies, election results, cabinet members, notable events, and some points of interest on each of the presidents.
• - A companion website for the C-SPAN television series: American Presidents: Life Portraits

Speeches

• [President's Weekly Address]

Miscellaneous

• - Brief histories of the Masonic careers of Presidents who were members of the Freemasons.
• - A resource for educators teaching the American Presidency
• "[American Presidents Blog]." Accessed October 7, 2005. - The author of this blog posts links to sites relating to the American Presidency or specific American Presidents
• - Listing of the cabinet members for each Presidential Administration
• - Opinion poll of how great each President is believed to be.

Lists of Presidents and Vice Presidents of the United States [http://encycl.opentopia.com/ edit ]
Presidential lists of order	Order of service | Birth | Death | Age at accession | Longevity | Military rank | Post-presidency length | Term length | Height | Historical rankings
Presidential personal life lists	First names | Middle names | Last names | Nicknames | Genealogical relationship | College education | Military service | Pets | Place of birth | Place of primary affiliation | Previous occupation | Religious affiliation | Residences
Presidential professional life lists	Political affiliation | Political occupation | Inaugurations | Doctrines | Pardons | Vetoes | Control of Congress | Served one term or less | Served more than one term | Assassination attempts | Currency appearances | Libraries
Vice President lists	Term length | Order by birth | Tie-breaking votes
Succession	Line of succession | Designated survivor
Elections	Order by Electoral College margin | 2000 Electors | 2004 electors
Candidates	Democratic tickets | Republican tickets | Heights | Who lost their home state | Former presidents who ran again
Unsuccessful candidates	Military service | Who received at least one electoral vote
Fictional	Fictional Presidents | Fictional Vice Presidents | Fictional Presidential candidates | Fictional presidential succession

 

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From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
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