U.S. Government and Civics / Unit 7: The Presidency and the Federal Bureaucracy
7.1 The Office of President
Notes
Article II creates the presidency. The president is both head of state (ceremonial leader) and head of government (chief executive).
- Qualifications: natural-born citizen, at least 35 years old, U.S. resident for 14 years.
- Term: 4 years. The 22nd Amendment (1951) limits a president to two elected terms, and no more than 10 years in office in all.
- The 25th Amendment (1967): if the president dies, resigns or is removed, the vice president becomes president; a vacancy in the vice presidency is filled by presidential nomination confirmed by both houses; it also sets rules for when a president is unable to serve.
- Presidential Succession Act of 1947: after the vice president come the Speaker of the House, the president pro tempore of the Senate, then Cabinet secretaries starting with the Secretary of State.
- The vice president's constitutional duties: preside over the Senate, break ties and take over if the president cannot serve.
Practice
A natural-born citizen who has lived in the U.S. all her life will be 34 years old on Inauguration Day. Can she serve as president?
The president must be at least 35.
If both the president and vice president die, who becomes president?
Under the 1947 law, the Speaker is next after the vice president.
The vice presidency becomes vacant. How is it filled under the 25th Amendment?
This happened in 1973 when Gerald Ford became vice president.
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