About The Presidency

At the Philadelphia Convention in 1787, the framers of the United States Constitution met to discuss how the country should be led. Some felt that the executive power should belong to a group, while others felt that the role should be held by an individual. Some feared that having a single person with an abundance of power could result in the abuse of that power.

In the end it was decided that the executive position would be held by one person, and that Congress would monitor the actions of the individual to be sure that excessive force and abuse of power was not being used.

The length of the term of President was also discussed. Originally, it was decided that the term would last for one seven period. The President could not serve a second term. It was also decided that the President could be impeached by the House, would have the ability to grant pardons and could veto legislation proposed by Congress.

As the Philadelphia drew to a close, some final changes were made. Among those were the removal of the rule only allowing one term be served and the implementation of a system that would provide the checks and balances that are still important to the United States government today.

Over time there have been changes made to the rules regarding the office of the President. Today, a President serves a four-year term and may only serve two terms. This change took place with the adoption of the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution in 1951. Below is a portion of the amendment.



Amendment 22: Section 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.



While the two-term presidency did not become law until the addition of the 22nd amendment, it was a tradition started by President George Washington and observed by every President until President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

As President Roosevelt’s second term drew to a close, he decided that he wanted to run for a third. While there was no law forbidding this, many of his peers were angry at his breach of tradition. He won the third term, and then he won a fourth. He died shortly after his fourth term began.

Many did not like the idea that a President could serve indefinitely and began work on the legislation that would become the 22nd amendment. President Roosevelt is the only United States President to serve more than two terms.

To be eligible to run for the office of President, one must be at least 35 years old, and a United States native.

While all United States citizens aged 18 and older are able to cast a vote for their choice of President, the selection of President is actually made by the Electoral College. For this reason, it is possible that a candidate can win the popular vote yet lose the election. This happened most recently in 2000 when Al Gore won the popular vote but George W. Bush won the Electoral College and, therefore, the election.

When President George W. Bush was sworn into office on January 20, 2001, he became the 43rd President of the United States. The United States is a relatively young nation, but its history is rich and the office of President holds fascination for many lovers of history and of this country.