Section 1
The
executive Power shall be vested in a
President of the
United States of America. He shall hold his
Office during the
Term of four
Years, and, together with the
Vice President, chosen for the same
Term, be
elected, as follows:
Each
State shall appoint, in such
Manner as the
Legislature thereof may direct, a
Number of Electors,
equal to the whole
Number of
Senators and
Representatives to which the
State may be entitled in the
Congress: but no
Senator or
Representative, or
Person holding an
Office of
Trust or
Profit under the
United States, shall be appointed an
Elector.
[The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the Presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a Majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like Manner chuse the President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote; A quorum for this purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President]Amendment XII.
The
Congress may determine the
Time of chusing the Electors, and the
Day on which they shall give their
Votes; which
Day shall be the same throughout the
United States.
No
Person except a
natural born Citizen, or a
Citizen of the
United States, at the
time of the
Adoption of this
Constitution, shall be
eligible to the
Office of
President; neither shall any
Person be
eligible to that
Office who shall not have attained to the
Age of thirty five
Years, and been fourteen
Years a Resident within the
United States.
[In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected]Amendment XXV.
The
President shall, at stated Times,
receive for his
Services, a
Compensation, which shall neither be
increased nor diminished during the
Period for which he shall have been
elected, and he shall not
receive within that
Period any other
Emolument from the
United States, or any of them.
Before he enter on the
Execution of his
Office, he shall take the following
Oath or Affirmation:--"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the
Office of
President of the
United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve,
protect and defend the
Constitution of the
United States."
Section 2
The
President shall be
Commander in
Chief of the
Army and
Navy of the
United States, and of the
Militia of the several
States, when called into the actual
Service of the
United States; he may require the
Opinion, in
writing, of the principal
Officer in each of the
executive Departments, upon any
Subject relating to the
Duties of their respective
Offices, and he shall have
Power to
grant Reprieves and Pardons for
Offences against the
United States, except in
Cases of
Impeachment.
He shall have
Power, by and with the
Advice and
Consent of the
Senate, to make
Treaties, provided two thirds of the
Senators present concur; and he shall
nominate, and by and with the
Advice and
Consent of the
Senate, shall appoint
Ambassadors, other
public Ministers and
Consuls,
Judges of the
supreme Court, and all other
Officers of the
United States, whose
Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be
established by
Law: but the
Congress may by
Law vest the
Appointment of such
inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the
President alone, in the
Courts of Law, or in the Heads of
Departments.
The
President shall have
Power to fill up all
Vacancies that may happen during the
Recess of the
Senate, by granting
Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next
Session.
Section 3
He shall from
time to
time give to the
Congress Information of the
State of the
Union, and recommend to their
Consideration such
Measures as he shall
judge necessary and
expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions,
convene both
Houses, or either of them, and in
Case of
Disagreement between them, with
Respect to the
Time of
Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such
Time as he shall think proper; he shall
receive Ambassadors and other
public Ministers; he shall take
Care that the
Laws be faithfully
executed, and shall
Commission all the
Officers of the
United States.
Section 4