WHAT ARE THE QUALIFICATIONS OF A PRESIDENT?

To be president of the United States you have to be a natural-born citizen of the United States, you must have lived in the United States for fourteen years or more, and you must be at least thirty-five years old.

WHAT ARE THE PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY ELECTIONS?

A candidate that runs for president must win the right to represent a political party in that presidential election. More than one person may be interested in being a party's nominee. Therefore, the party needs to decide who will be the nominee for that party in each state; this is known as a primary election. The primaries help the parties narrow down the members that will end up in the actual election. Only the winning candidate in the National Convention will represent a party in the presidential election.

WHAT HAPPENS ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL?

Campaigns for Presidential elections have lasted as much as two years before the actual Presidential election. Professional campaign managers, advisors and speech writers are hired by candidates for the presidential election. Campaigns help viewers decide who to vote for. They have newspaper ads, television commercials and radio advertisements telling about issues and where they stand. They hold rallies, distribute bumper stickers, posters, and other campaign literature and phone potential supporters. The internet is also being used as a big part of the total campaign plan. Presidential campaigns spend huge amounts of money trying to gather public support. Candidates must find a way to pay for their campaign expenses. Each candidate holds fund raisers to earn money; they greet people with a smile and hang around the guests who have donated quite a large amount of money for the campaign fund. Many voters fear that the wealthiest candidate will become the presidential candidate and that this person may not be the better candidate for the job.

WHAT IS THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE?

The way of electing the president was created way back when the Constitution was written although it has been changed a bit since then. The process begins when a group of electors are chosen in each state for each of the different political parties. The representatives pick electors to represent the state, and they pick the same number of electors as they have representatives in Congress. When the the Twenty-third Amendment was passed in 1961 Washington, D.C. was given 3 electoral votes. The electors for each party must vote for the party's candidate. Each political party in the state nominates a group of electors for that state. The voters have to vote for the entire group of electors, which means he wins all or none of the state's electoral votes. If the candidate recieved more popular votes than his/her opponent, it is possible that they could lose the election. If the electoral college can't make a decision for one candidate, then Congress has to make the decision. The House of Representatives chooses the President from the top three candidates, and each state gets just one vote. The Senate has to choose the vice-president from the two highest candidates and both senators from every state get one vote.

HOW IS THE PRESIDENT SWORN INTO OFFICE? The Presidential Inauguration is the ceremony that starts a new president’s administration. During the Inauguration the president takes the oath of office or he is sworn in to office. When the president is sworn in he puts his left hand on the Bible and raises his right hand. The Chief Justice gives the oath of office to the new president. A new begining for the country starts with each Inauguration Day. The inauguration is always on January 20th of the following year after the elections have taken place. If the 20th happens to fall on a Sunday then they would still have the Inauguration on that date but it would be in private. When this happens there is a second ceremony for the public on the 21st. The Inauguration always happens at noon. Usually after the ceremony, a parade marches down Pennsylvainia Avenue. That evening there is an Inaugural Ball. Only invited guests go to these balls.

WHAT IS THE PRESIDENT'S JOB?

The United States president has to do a variety of duties that are described in the Constitution. The president heads the executive branch of the government. This branch is made up of many different departments and agencies that are in place to help the president execute the laws. The different departments that help are; the State, Treasury, Justice,and Labor Departments, the Health and Human Services, Energy and Education Departments, the Urban Development, the Commerce Department and the Agricultural Department.

The President meets with or addresses Congress at the beginning of ever Congessional session. In these meetings the President tells the group what has been accomplished by the different governmental groups and what they still hope to accomplish during the next period of time.

The President is the only person that has the power to grant a pardon for someone that has been charged with a crime agains't the nation.

The President is also responsible for nominating people to fill some very important areas such as Supreme Court justices and cabinet members. Once the President has nominated these people, they must still be approved by the Senate. The President is also responsible for selecting or appointing people who serve as ambassadors to foriegn countries.

The President has the power to veto laws that have been passed by Congress, but Congress can override the President's veto.

The President is also responsible for the federal budget, which means that he, along with several different offices, must come up with a yearly plan as to how the federal tax money will be distributed throughout the country to support different organizations, schools, and to pay federal employees, just to name a few.

Probably the most interesting part of the President's job is the opportunity and responsibility to meet with and work with people from different countries. The President is responsible for getting together with foriegn dignitatries to write treaties, present awards, entertain foreign leaders and to promote good relations.