President Of USA
The position of being the president of the
United States is the most powerful
office in the world. The president is the
leader of a nation of wealth and great
military strength. Unlike most
governments around the world, our president is
the chief of state and a head
of government. Also each and every president has
played their own important
role in shaping our history. A person who would like
to run for president
must fit the qualifications. First of all he must be a
"natural born" citizen
of the United States. The person must be at
least 35 years of age and must
have lived in the United States for fourteen
years or more. After this the
person is then nominated by a national political
party convention. Then the
person is elected by the vote of the electoral
college which is held in
December following the election on the first Tuesday in
November every
four years. The inauguration is held January 20 after election.
The
president is elected for a four year term but he may not be elected for
more
than two terms. The president yearly receives a salary of two hundred
thousand
dollars. After leaving office he is eligible for a pension of ninety
nine
thousand five hundred dollars. The daily life of the president is filled
with
many tasks. Being the chief of state the president performs many public
and
ceremonial duties. He also must make sure federal laws are enforced.
The
president also acts as the commander in chief of the nations armed forces
and he
is in charge of the national defense. The president is in charge of
determining
United States relations with other countries. The executive
branch of the
federal government is run by the president. The branch consists
of thirteen
executive departments, and over one hundred independent agencies.
Almost three
million civilian employees and two million members of the armed
forces are
included in the executive branch. Over the years the presidents
responsibilities
have increased. Court decisions, customs, laws and other
developments have
expanded the presidents responsibilities and powers.
Different powers are used
by the president to carry out his administrative
duties. There are hundreds of
laws that give the president emergency powers.
This means that the president has
special authority to prevent or end a
national emergency. The president can also
give executive orders. Executive
orders have the force of a law that are issued
through directions,
proclamations or statements by the president. They require
no action by
congress. Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation
which was on
of the most famous executive orders ever. It declared freedom for
all slaves
in the areas under the confederate
control.