The Presidency
This document looks to explore the executive’s role in the constitution and how it has
evolved through historical and modern presidents.
The Constitution and the Executive
Article II, Section 1,
“The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America…
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.”
This quotation from the Constitution highlights the criteria for being eligible to be President.
It highlights that a person must be a US citizen, over the age of 35 years old and have lived
in America for at least 14 years.
Article 2, Section 2
“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.”
These two quotations highlight the power. That the executive was supposed to have at the
beginning of its creation.
Article II, Section 3
“He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information on 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.”
