President of the United States

The presidential seal was first used in 1880 by President Rutherford B. Hayes and last modified in 1959 by adding the 50th star for Hawaii

The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The office of president was established upon the ratification of the United States Constitution in 1788 and the first president took office in 1789.

The president serves as the chief executive, leader of the executive branch of the United States government and the warmonger of this great nation. Article Two of the United States Constitution establishes the president as the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces and enumerates powers specifically granted to the president, including the power to sign into law bills passed by both houses of the Legislature, to create a Cabinet of advisors, to lie under oath, to grant pardons or reprieves, and, with the "advice and consent" of the United States Senate, to make treaties, death threats, and appoint federal officers, ambassadors, and federal judges (including Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States). Article Two also defines a presidential term at four years; subsequently, the Twelfth Amendment (1804) revised the procedure for electing the president and the Twenty-second Amendment (1951) established presidential term limits.

The United States was the first nation to create the office of president as the head of state in a modern Republic, and today the presidential system of government is used in many countries throughout the world, although the United States seems to be losing its touch, what with George W. Bush being elected to office. As of 2007, forty-two men have been President of the United States. George Washington was the first President of the United States, and George W. Bush, senior moron and warmonger, is the 43rd and current president. From the early 20th century, the United States' status as a superpower has led the American president to be one of the world's best-known public figures, as well as one of its worst (see George W. Bush for further details).

Main article: Articles of Confederation

The Treaty of Paris (1783) left the United States independent and at peace but with an unsettled governmental structure. The Second Continental Congress had drawn up Articles of Confederation in 1777, describing a permanent confederation but granting to the Congress—the only federal institution—little power to finance itself or to ensure that its resolutions were enforced. In part this reflected the anti-monarchy view of the Revolutionary period, and the new American system was explicitly designed to prevent the rise of an American tyrant to replace the British King.

However, during the economic depression that followed the Revolutionary War the viability of the American government was threatened by political unrest in several States, efforts by debtors to use popular government to erase their debts, and the apparent inability of the Continental Congress to redeem the public obligations incurred during the war. The Congress also appeared unable to become a forum for productive cooperation among the States encouraging commerce and economic development. In response a Constitutional Convention was convened, ostensibly to reform the Articles of Confederation but that subsequently began to draft a new system of government that would include greater executive power while retaining the checks and balances thought to be essential restraints on any imperial tendency in the office of the president.

Before the 1788 ratification of the Constitution, there was no comparable figure with executive authority. Individuals who presided over the Continental Congress during the Revolutionary period and under the Articles of Confederation had the title "President of the United States of America in Congress Assembled", often shortened to "President of the United States". They had no important executive power. The president's executive authority, tempered by the checks and balances of the Judicial and Legislative branches of the Federal Government, was designed to solve several political problems faced by the young nation and to anticipate future challenges, while still preventing the rise of an autocrat over a nation wary of royal authority.

General description

Article Two of the United States Constitution, coupled with several articles of amendment, establish the requirements one must meet in order to become president, as well as the term of office, method of election, and powers.

Requirements for holding office

The President must be a natural born citizen of the United States (or a citizen of the United States at the time the U.S. Constitution was adopted), at least 35 years of age, and a resident of the United States for at least fourteen years.

Term of office

President George W. Bush (second from left), walks with, from left, former Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter during the dedication of the William J. Clinton Presidential Center and Park in Little Rock, Arkansas, November 18, 2004.

The president and vice president serve a term of office of four years. The Twenty-second Amendment (which took effect in 1951) provides that no one may be elected to the office more than twice, and that no one may be elected president more than once who has held the office of (or acted as) president for more than two years of another's term. Prior to the ratification of this amendment, and following the precedent set by George Washington, an unofficial limit of two terms was generally observed, with the only exceptions being Theodore Roosevelt, who ran unsuccessfully for a third nonconsecutive term (although his first term was to finish the term of President William McKinley, who was assassinated—hence he was only elected once, for his second term), and Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was elected 4 times, served three full terms and died in his fourth after just over 12 years in office. Ulysses S. Grant also briefly sought a third nonconsecutive term, making an unsuccessful run for the Republican Party nomination in 1880. Since the amendment went into effect, three presidents have served two full terms: Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. Richard Nixon was elected to a second term but resigned before completing it. Current President George W. Bush will become the fourth should he complete his current term, on January 20, 2009. Lyndon B. Johnson was the only president since the ratification of the amendment to have been eligible to have served more than 2 terms, having served only 14 months of John F. Kennedy's term after becoming president following the latter's assassination. Harry S. Truman himself was not subject to term limits, as the 22nd specifically states that it both did not apply to the current term of the president in office upon its ratification (Truman) or "to any person holding the office of president when this Article was proposed by the Congress" (Truman). He briefly allowed his name on the ballot for the 1952 election (but did not campaign), and officially withdrew after losing the New Hampshire primary.

Election

Main article: United States Electoral College

Presidents and vice presidents of the United States are elected every four years indirectly through the United States Electoral College. They are the only nationally-elected offices in the United States, since executive officers and judges are appointed, United States Senators are elected at the state level, and United States Representatives are elected at the district level.

On election day, the voting citizens select their preferred candidate, usually by voting for a slate of electors put forward by the candidate's party. The ballots for each voting citizen typically has the names of the candidates for president and vice president (running together on a ticket), and votes for those individuals translate at the state level into votes for the electors chosen from their respective parties. Although State Legislatures have the constitutional power to appoint slates of electors, all fifty states have established popular election of presidential electors. In December, following the general election, Electors gather at their respective State capitals to cast their ballots, which are then transmitted to Congress under the care of the sitting Vice President of the United States. Originally, under Article II, the electors cast two votes for the office of president, the individual with the most votes becoming president, the runner up becoming vice president. This changed with the 12th amendment, with each elector casting one vote for president and one vote for vice president. The ballots are counted and certified in January before both houses of Congress. Should a candidate for either president or vice president fail to achieve a majority of votes, the United States House of Representatives (voting by state) chooses the next president from among the candidates while the United States Senate (voting normally) selects the vice president

Campaign

Main article: United States presidential election

The modern presidential campaign begins before the primary elections, which the two major political parties use to clear the field of candidates in advance of their national nominating conventions, where the most successful candidate is made the party's nominee for president. The party's presidential candidate chooses a vice presidential nominee and this choice is rubber-stamped by the convention. Also, the party establishes a platform on which to base its campaign. Although nominating conventions have a long history in the United States, their substantive importance in the political process has greatly diminished; however, they remain important as a way of energizing the parties for the general election and focusing the public's attention on the nominees.

Nominees participate in nationally televised debates, and while the debates are usually restricted to the Democratic and Republican nominees, third party candidates may be invited (such as Ross Perot in the 1992 debates). Nominees campaign across the country to explain their views, convince voters, and solicit contributions. Much of the modern electoral process is concerned with winning swing states through frequent visits and mass media advertising drives.

Salary

Presidential pay history
Date established	Salary	Salary in 2007 dollars
September 24, 1789	$25,000	$531,000 (1789)
March 3, 1873	$50,000	$811,000 (1873)
March 4, 1909	$75,000	$1,607,000 (1909)
January 19, 1949	$100,000	$820,000 (1949)
January 20, 1969	$200,000	$1,067,000 (1969)
January 20, 2001	$400,000	$441,000 (2001)

The First U.S. Congress voted to pay George Washington a salary of $25,000 a year (about $531,000 in 2005 terms) — a significant sum in 1789. Washington, already a wealthy man, refused to accept his salary. Theodore Roosevelt spent his entire $50,000 salary on entertaining guests at the White House. (Morris: The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt) Similarly, John F. Kennedy donated his salary to charities.

Traditionally, the president is the highest-paid government employee, though not in terms of traditional salary. His/her annual earnings total $150,000, though the president is given a $300,000 expense account. Consequently, the president's salary and total expense account serve as a traditional cap for all other federal officials, such as the Chief Justice. A raise for 2001 was approved by Congress and President Bill Clinton in 1999 because other officials who receive annual cost-of-living increases had salaries approaching the president's. Consequently, to raise the salaries of the other federal employees, the president's salary had to be raised as well. The President's monetary compensation is minuscule in comparison to the CEOs of most Fortune 500 companies and comparable to that of certain kinds of professionals e.g. attorneys and physicians in some parts of the United States. Overall the vast majority of U.S. presidents were very affluent upon entering office and thus were not dependent on the salary.

Allowances for Former Presidents
GSA Allowance FY,2007	Carter	Bush	Clinton
Pension	$188,000	$188,000	$188,000
Staff Salaries	96,000	96,000	96,000
Staff Benefits	2,000	63,000	64,000
Travel	2,000	55,000	64,000
Rental Payments	102,000	175,000	498,000
Telephone	10,000	16,000	77,000
Postage	15,000	13,000	15,000
Other Services	82,000	65,000	113,000
Printing	5,000	14,000	9,000
Supplies	5,000	15,000	16,000
Equipment	7,000	48,000	11,000
TOTAL	$514,000	$748,000	$1,160,000

Prior to passage by Congress of the Former Presidents Act (FPA) in 1958, retired presidents did not receive a pension. All living presidents in 1959 began to receive a pension of $25,000 per year, an office, and a staff. The pension has increased numerous times with Congressional approval. Retired presidents now receive a pension based on the salary of the current administration's cabinet secretaries (Executive Level I), which is $183,500 as of 2007.

The FPA, as amended, also provides former presidents with travel funds and mailing privileges. Secret Service protection for former presidents is also authorized by statute.

Privileges of office

Presidential authority, past and present: Air Force One flying over Mount Rushmore

The president is entitled to use the White House as his/her living and working quarters, and its entire staff and facilities, including medical care, kitchen, housekeeping and security staff. While traveling, the president is able to conduct the functions of the office from one of two custom-built Boeing 747 aircraft popularly known as "Air Force One." The president also utilizes a United States Marine Corps helicopter, designated "Marine One" when the president is aboard. Similarly, "Navy One," "Army One," and "Coast Guard One" are the call signs used if the president is aboard a craft belonging to these services. For ground travel, the president uses an armored presidential limousine, currently a heavily modified Cadillac DTS which uses the call sign "Cadillac One".

Secret Service

The sitting president and his/her family will be under constant protection by a United States Secret Service detail. Until 1997, all former presidents and their families were protected by the Secret Service until the president's death. The last president to have lifetime Secret Service protection is Bill Clinton; George W. Bush and all subsequent presidents will be protected by the Secret Service for a maximum of ten years after leaving office. However, debates in Congress have been raised concerning this decision. Following the increase in terrorism and threats to the president in general since 1997, lifetime protection is being reconsidered.

Succession

Main article: United States presidential line of succession

Article II of the Constitution provides that the vice president takes the place of president if the office were to become vacant. More detail is prescribed in the 20th and 25th amendments, and other laws extend the line of succession further.

The only president to be elected neither to the office of president nor vice president was Gerald Ford who was appointed by Richard Nixon and confirmed after his vice president, Spiro Agnew, resigned in 1973. Nixon later resigned and Ford succeeded to the presidency. Ford was never subsequently elected.

Resignation

By Act of Congress, the president may resign only if his written resignation is delivered to the Secretary of State. The only president to resign was Richard Nixon, on August 9, 1974.

Office-holders

Main article: List of Presidents of the United States

See also: President of the Continental Congress

Life after the presidency

Former presidents are referred to as "Mr. President." Since 1994 presidents have been entitled to Secret Service protection for 10 years after finishing their terms of office (previously they were protected for life, which continues to be the case for presidents who served before 1997). Since Harry S. Truman (1953), presidents have received a pension after leaving office, and since the presidency of Herbert Hoover (1933), former presidents have received a repository for preserving and making available their papers, records, and other historical materials (The National Archives does not provide the initial funding for a Presidential Library. The National Archives only runs the completed facility).

Notable examples of significant post-presidential careers include William Howard Taft's tenure as Chief Justice of the United States, Herbert Hoover's work on government reorganization after World War II, Jimmy Carter's career as a global human rights campaigner and best-selling writer, and most recently George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton's combined effort to appeal for donations from Americans after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Other former presidents have served in elected office after leaving the White House; Andrew Johnson was elected to the Senate after his term was over, and John Quincy Adams served in the House of Representatives. Grover Cleveland, whose bid for reelection failed in 1888, was elected president again four years later in 1892. John Tyler served in the provisional Confederate States Congress during the Civil War, and was elected to the official Confederate Congress but died before it convened.

Presidential statistics

See also: Category:United States presidential history and Category:Lists relating to the United States presidency

Births

• Martin Van Buren, born December 5, 1782, was the first president born after the Declaration of Independence and was thus arguably the first natural-born U.S. citizen (rather than a British subject) to become president. A Dutch-American, he was also the first president not of Anglo-Celtic origin. John Tyler (b. March 29, 1790) was the first president born after the adoption of the U.S. Constitution: all previous presidents were eligible to serve because they were citizens at the time the Constitution was adopted.
• Franklin Pierce, born November 23, 1804, was the first president born in the 19th century. Theodore Roosevelt, born October 27, 1858, was the youngest man to become president, at age 42. (He was not the youngest to be elected president.) Warren G. Harding, born November 2, 1865, was the first president born after the American Civil War. Herbert Hoover, born August 10, 1874, in West Branch, Iowa, was the first president born west of the Mississippi River. John F. Kennedy, born May 29, 1917, was the youngest president elected, and the first person born in the 20th century to serve as president. Lyndon B. Johnson (b. August 27, 1908) was the American president born earliest in the 20th century. Jimmy Carter, born October 1, 1924, was the first person born after World War I to become president and the first president to be born in a hospital. Ronald Reagan was the oldest president elected. Bill Clinton, born August 19, 1946, was the first person born after World War II to serve as president.
• Between the birth of George Washington (1732) and the birth of Bill Clinton (1946), future presidents have been born in every decade except two: the 1810s and the 1930s. With the inauguration of George H. W. Bush in 1989, there has been at least one presidential birthday in every month. The most presidents born in any one month is six, in October. The least is one, shared by June and September.

Deaths

• Since George Washington's death in the 1790s, presidents or former presidents have died in every decade except four: the 1800s, 1810s, 1950s, and 1980s. No president or former president has died in the month of May.
• Another odd coincidence occured among the second and third Presidents, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Bitter rivals throughout much of their lives, they both died on the same day. It has been rumored that Adams last words were "Jefferson lives," not knowing that the former president had died just hours before.

Deaths in office and assassination attempts

See also: List of United States Presidential assassination attempts

• Four presidents have been assassinated: Abraham Lincoln (1865) by John Wilkes Booth, James Garfield (1881) by Charles J. Guiteau, William McKinley (1901) by Leon Czolgosz, and John F. Kennedy (1963) by Lee Harvey Oswald.
• Four others died in office of natural causes: William Henry Harrison died of pneumonia in 1841, Zachary Taylor died of "acute indigestion" in 1850, Warren G. Harding died of a heart attack in 1923, and Franklin D. Roosevelt died of cerebral hemorrhage in 1945.
• There have been 9 attempts on the life of a sitting President, as well as 2 on former Presidents (Theodore Roosevelt and George H.W. Bush) and 1 on a President-elect:

1. Andrew Jackson (1835) by Richard Lawrence
2. Former President Theodore Roosevelt (1912) by John Schrank
3. President-elect Franklin Delano Roosevelt (1933) by Giuseppe Zangara
4. Harry S. Truman (1950) by Griselio Torresola and Oscar Collazo
5. Richard M. Nixon (1974) by Samuel Byck
6. Gerald R. Ford (1975) by Lynette Fromme and Sara Jane Moore (two separate, independent attempts)
7. James E. Carter(1979) by Raymond Lee Harvey
8. Ronald W. Reagan (1981) by John Hinckley, Jr. (Main article: Reagan assassination attempt)
9. George H. W. Bush (1993) by sixteen suspected terrorists, in the employ of Saddam Hussein's Iraq
10. William J. Clinton (1994) by Francisco Duran
11. George W. Bush (2005) by Vladimir Arutinian

• "Curse of Tippecanoe" refers to the fact that between William Henry Harrison and John F. Kennedy, each president elected or re-elected in a year evenly divisible by twenty died in office: William Henry Harrison (1840), Abraham Lincoln (1860), James Garfield (1880), William McKinley (1900), Warren G. Harding (1920), Franklin D. Roosevelt (1940), John F. Kennedy (1960). Ronald Reagan (1980) survived an attempt on his life and George W. Bush (2000) had a Soviet grenade thrown at him while in the country of Georgia, which failed to explode.
• John Tyler is considered by some to be the only president who died outside of the United States, as he died in 1862 in the State of Virginia, which at the time considered itself part of the Confederate States of America.

Longevity of former presidents

File:Pres38-42.jpg

Former Presidents Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, and Gerald Ford, and their wives, at the funeral of Richard Nixon on April 27, 1994

As many as five former presidents have been alive at three periods of American History:

1. March 4, 1861–January 18, 1862 (from the inauguration of Lincoln to the death of Tyler): Martin Van Buren, John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, and James Buchanan.
2. January 20, 1993–April 22, 1994 (from the inauguration of Clinton to the death of Nixon): Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush
3. January 20, 2001–June 5, 2004 (from the inauguration of George W. Bush to the death of Reagan): Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton.

There have been six periods in American history during which no former presidents were alive:

1. April 30, 1789 – March 4, 1797: There were no former presidents.
2. December 14, 1799 – March 4, 1801: from the death of Washington to the end of John Adams's term.
3. July 31, 1875 – March 4, 1877: from the death of Andrew Johnson to the end of Grant's term.
4. June 24, 1908 – March 4, 1909: from the death of Cleveland until the end of Theodore Roosevelt's term.
5. January 5, 1933 – March 4, 1933: from the death of Coolidge until the end of Hoover's term.
6. January 22, 1973 – August 9, 1974: from the death of Lyndon Johnson until the resignation of Nixon.

Herbert Hoover lived the longest time as a former president at 31 years, 7 months and 16 days (11,553 days). James K. Polk had the shortest life as a former president, dying on June 15, 1849, three months (103 days) after his term ended (March 4, 1849).

As of April 2007, there are three living former presidents: Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton. The most recently deceased president is Gerald Ford, who died December 26, 2006. George H.W. Bush is currently the oldest living U.S. president.

Elections

Four presidents have been elected by a majority of the Electoral College without a plurality of popular votes:

1. John Quincy Adams trailed Andrew Jackson by 44,804 votes in the 1824 election
2. Rutherford B. Hayes trailed Samuel J. Tilden by 264,292 votes in the 1876 election
3. Benjamin Harrison trailed Grover Cleveland by 95,713 votes in the 1888 election
4. George W. Bush trailed Al Gore by 543,895 votes in the 2000 election.

• Eleven presidents have been elected with a plurality of popular votes, without a majority of popular votes:
  • James K. Polk—49.3% of the popular vote in the 1844 election
  • Zachary Taylor—47.3% of the popular vote in the 1848 election
  • James Buchanan—45.3% of the popular vote in the 1856 election
  • Abraham Lincoln—39.9% of the popular vote in the 1860 election
  • James Garfield—48.3% of the popular vote in the 1880 election
  • Grover Cleveland—48.8% of the popular vote in the 1884 election
  • Grover Cleveland—46.0% of the popular vote in the 1892 election
  • Woodrow Wilson—41.8% of the popular vote in the 1912 election
  • Woodrow Wilson—49.3% of the popular vote in the 1916 election
  • Harry S. Truman—49.7% of the popular vote in the 1948 election
  • John F. Kennedy—49.7% of the popular vote in the 1960 election
  • Richard Nixon—43.2% of the popular vote in the 1968 election
  • Bill Clinton—42.9% of the popular vote in the 1992 election
  • Bill Clinton—49.2% of the popular vote in the 1996 election

• Two presidents have been elected by the House of Representatives when no candidate achieved a majority of electoral votes:

Thomas Jefferson had the same number of electoral votes as Aaron Burr in the 1800 election, and John Quincy Adams trailed Andrew Jackson by 15 electoral votes in the 1824 election, but Jackson did not have a majority.

• Two presidents won the electoral vote but lost their resident state:
  • James Polk—lost Tennessee to Henry Clay but won the election in the 1844 election.
  • Woodrow Wilson—lost New Jersey to Charles Evan Hughes but won the election in the 1916 election.
• Six presidents won the electoral vote but lost their birth state:
  • William Henry Harrison lost Virginia to Martin Van Buren but won his resident state of Ohio and the 1840 election.
  • James Polk lost North Carolina to Henry Clay but won the 1844 election.
  • Zachary Taylor lost Virginia to Lewis Cass but won the 1848 election.
  • Abraham Lincoln lost Kentucky to John Bell but won his resident state of Illinois and the 1860 election. Lincoln also lost Kentucky to George Brinton McClellan, but won Illinois and the 1864 election.
  • George H. W. Bush lost Massachusetts to Michael Dukakis but won his resident state of Texas and the 1988 election.
  • George W. Bush lost Connecticut to Al Gore but won his resident state of Texas and the 2000 election. Bush also lost Connecticut to John Kerry but won his resident state of Texas and the 2004 election.
• Only James Polk has won the presidency while losing both his resident state and birth state.

Unelected presidents

• Nine presidents have taken office without being elected to the presidency. Of those nine, eight had been elected as vice presidents and then succeeded to the presidency.
  • Of the eight who were elected vice president, four did not run for the following presidency.
    • John Tyler—assumed the presidency on the death of William Henry Harrison; did not run in the 1844 election
    • Millard Fillmore—succeeded Zachary Taylor; did not run in the 1852 election
      • Fillmore did run for president in the 1856 election as a Know Nothing Party candidate and received 873,053 votes (21.6%), finishing third
    • Andrew Johnson—succeeded Abraham Lincoln; did not run in the 1868 election
    • Chester A. Arthur—succeeded James Garfield; did not run in the 1884 election
  • The other four later ran for president and were elected:
    • Theodore Roosevelt—succeeded William McKinley; elected president in the 1904 election
    • Calvin Coolidge—succeeded Warren G. Harding; elected president in the 1924 election
    • Harry S. Truman—succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt; elected president in the 1948 election but did not run again in the 1952 election, despite being eligible for a second term.
    • Lyndon B. Johnson—succeeded John F. Kennedy; elected president in the 1964 election but did not run again in the 1968 election
  • One president, Gerald Ford, was never elected as either vice president or president; he was appointed vice president by Richard Nixon (with approval from Congress) upon the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew. He succeeded to the presidency after Nixon's resignation and was defeated in the 1976 election by Jimmy Carter.

Resignations and impeachments

Richard M. Nixon is the only president to have resigned. He did so because he faced almost certain impeachment, leaving office in 1974 (the House Judiciary committee reported favorably articles of impeachment to the House in his case). Two presidents have been impeached, although neither were convicted. Andrew Johnson was impeached in 1868, then tried and acquitted by one vote by the Senate (the vote was 35-19, 1 short of the 36-18 required). Bill Clinton was impeached in 1998, then tried and acquitted by the Senate the following year. No U.S. President has ever been removed from office.

Terms of office

• There were four cases in which only one person served in a presidential term but that person did not serve for a full 1461 days.
  • Although the first presidential term was deemed to have started on March 4, 1789—the day that the United States Constitution became operational—the First Congress did not meet to count the electoral vote until April 6, and thus George Washington did not accede to the office until then, giving him 1427 days and some number of hours.
  • Franklin D. Roosevelt's first term began at noon EST March 4, 1933, but the twentieth amendment changed the start of the next term to Noon EST on January 20, 1937, giving Roosevelt a first term of 1419 days.
  • Because of the properties of the Gregorian calendar, 1800 and 1900 were not leap years, so John Adams' term and William McKinley's first term were shortened to 1460 days.
• An urban legend claims that David Rice Atchison was the 11½th president of the United States for one day on March 4, 1849, in between the terms of James K. Polk (whose term expired at the first moment (noon EST) of March 4) and Zachary Taylor (who chose not to be sworn in until March 5 as March 4 was a Sunday). However, the logic of this is contradictory. If one does not consider Taylor to have officially become president until the administration of his Oath of Office, then the same logic precludes any person from having automatically succeeded before likewise having taken the same oath. In fact, Taylor, as president-elect, automatically acceded to the Office of President upon the expiration of Polk's term, even if he did not yet enter into the execution of that office until the oath was administered. This fact was confirmed by Congress when it certified his election, as it defined the beginning of the administration as the instant Polk left office. Even if supposing, for the sake of argument, the rather odd interpretation that only Presidents-elect are required to take the oath before officially occupying the office, while officials in the Presidential Line of Succession occupy the presidency ipso facto, then there would be a long list of dozens of additional "presidents" who only held the office for a matter of hours or minutes.
• Grover Cleveland had two non-consecutive terms as president and is counted both as the 22nd and the 24th president. Consequently, all subsequent presidents who are referred to as "the $n^{th}$ President of the United States" are actually the $(n-1)^{th}$ person to hold the office. So George W. Bush, the 43rd president, is actually the 42nd person to be president.

Other facts

• The President, upon election, must make an oath to the best of his or her ability to "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
• All presidents have been white Christian men between the ages of 42 and 77 years.
• William Howard Taft is the only president to serve as both the head of the executive branch as president and the judicial branch as Chief Justice of the United States after his term as president.
• Except for John F. Kennedy who was Catholic, all presidents have been either Protestant or Unitarian.
• Most presidents have been of substantially English descent, but there have been a few who came from a different background:
  • Predominantly Dutch: Martin Van Buren [5]
    • Although Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt had Dutch names, neither was predominantly Dutch; each had only one Dutch grandfather. Theodore Roosevelt's other three grandparents were all British; Franklin Roosevelt's other three grandparents were of Puritan stock.
  • Predominantly German: Herbert Hoover and Dwight Eisenhower[6]
  • Predominantly of Irish or Scottish descent: William McKinley, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton
    • More than one third of all U.S. presidents have ancestral roots in Ulster.
• John Tyler's grandmother was Huguenot.
• Only one president was the son of two immigrant parents: Andrew Jackson. Five presidents (Jefferson, Buchanan, Arthur, Wilson, Hoover) had just one immigrant parent each.
• No president has been an only child.
• Only one president, James Buchanan, remained a bachelor. Bachelor Grover Cleveland married Frances Folsom while in office, while both John Tyler and Woodrow Wilson became widowers and remarried while in office.
• Franklin D. Roosevelt is the only president to have had a readily apparent physical disability.
• Four presidents were father-son duos: John Adams and John Quincy Adams; George H. W. Bush and George W. Bush.
• One pair of presidents were grandfather and grandson, William Henry Harrison and Benjamin Harrison.
• Historical rankings of United States Presidents by academic historians usually regard three presidents — in chronological order, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Franklin D. Roosevelt — to be the three most successful presidents by a wide margin.
• The Secret Service and some agencies in the government use acronyms as jargon. Since the Truman Administration the President of the United States has been called POTUS, pronounced /poʊtʊs/. The wife of the president, traditionally referred to as the First Lady is called FLOTUS, pronounced /floʊtʊs/. The Vice President of the United States is often abbreviated to VPOTUS, pronounced /vipoʊtʊs/.
• Military service: 31 out of the 42 U.S. presidents have served in the military.
• Three out of the first five presidents died on July 4 (Independence Day): John Adams (1826), Thomas Jefferson (1826), and James Monroe (1831). The first two died within hours of each other, 50 years to the day after adopting the Declaration of Independence together.[7]
• Only one president, Calvin Coolidge, was born on July 4.
• Two presidents died on March 8: Millard Fillmore (1874) and William Taft (1930).
• Two presidents died on December 26: Harry S Truman (1972) and Gerald Ford (2006).
• Six presidents graduated and one got his Master's degree from Harvard University: The six were both Adamses, Hayes, both Roosevelts and Kennedy. George W. Bush received his Master of Business Administration degree there; four graduated and one earned his law degree from Yale University: The four were Taft, Ford, and both Bushes. Bill Clinton received his law degree there; three graduated from the College of William and Mary: Jefferson, Monroe, and Tyler; two graduated from Princeton University: Madison and Wilson; two attended Columbia University : Theodore and Franklin Roosevelt; two graduated from the United States Military Academy: Ulysses S. Grant and Dwight D. Eisenhower; and one graduated from the United States Naval Academy: Jimmy Carter.
• Since 1947, almost every president has pardoned a Thanksgiving turkey, in a ceremony informally called the National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation.
• Fifteen presidents were Freemasons: George Washington, James Monroe, Andrew Jackson, James Polk, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, James Garfield, William McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Warren G. Harding, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Lyndon Johnson and Gerald Ford.
• All but seven presidents had prior executive experience as Governors, Generals, or vice-presidents of prior administrations. [8]

See also

• Vice President of the United States
• President of the Continental Congress
• Historical rankings of United States Presidents
• Presidential Service Badge
• Presidential Management Fellowship
• Executive branch
• Executive privilege
• Air Force One
• Curse of Tippecanoe
• United States presidential line of succession
• Fiction regarding United States presidential succession
• List of actors who played President of the United States
• Leader of the Free World
• Presidential $1 Coin Program

Further reading

• Leonard Leo, James Taranto, and William J. Bennett. Presidential Leadership: Rating the Best and the Worst in the White House. Simon and Schuster, June, 2004, hardcover, 304 pages, ISBN 0-7432-5433-3
• Waldman, Michael, and George Stephanopoulos, My Fellow Americans: The Most Important Speeches of America's Presidents, from George Washington to George W. Bush. Sourcebooks Trade. September 2003. ISBN 1-4022-0027-7
• Couch, Ernie, Presidential Trivia. Rutledge Hill Press. 1 March 1996. ISBN 1-55853-412-1
• Lang, J. Stephen, The Complete Book of Presidential Trivia. Pelican Publishing. September 2001. ISBN 1-56554-877-
• Presidential Studies Quarterly, published by Blackwell Synergy is a quarterly academic journal on the President.

External links

Official

• "Executive Office of the President". Retrieved 2005-10-7. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
• "White House". Retrieved 2005-10-7. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)

Presidential histories

• "The American Presidency Project". UC Santa Barbara. Retrieved October 7. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help) - A collection of over 67,000 Presidential documents
• "Presidential Documents from the National Archives". Retrieved March 21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help) - A collection of letters, portraits, photos, and other documents from the National Archives
• "POTUS". Internet Public Library. Retrieved October 7. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help) - Brief biographies, election results, cabinet members, notable events, and some points of interest on each of the presidents.
• "Life Portraits of the American Presidents". C-SPAN. Retrieved October 7. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help) - A companion website for the C-SPAN television series: American Presidents: Life Portraits
• "United States of America". Archontology.org. Retrieved October 7. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

Speeches

• "Presidential Inaugural Addresses". Re-QUEST dot Net. Retrieved October 25. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
• "State of the Union Addresses of the American Presidents". USA-Presidents.info. Retrieved October 7. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)

• President's Weekly Address

Miscellaneous

• "The Presidents". American Experience. Retrieved March 4. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help) - A PBS site on the American presidency.
• An Interactive Guide to the Presidents of the United States
• "Allpresidents.org". Hauenstein Center for Presidential Studies. Retrieved October 18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help) - An educational site on the American presidency.
• "All the President's Roles". Ask Gleaves. Retrieved October 20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help) - An article analyzing the president's many hats.
• "The Masonic Presidents Tour". The Masonic Library and Museum of Pennsylvania. Retrieved October 7. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help) - Brief histories of the Masonic careers of Presidents who were members of the Freemasons.
• "Teaching about the U.S. Presidency". ERICDigests.org. Retrieved October 7. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help) - A resource for educators teaching the American Presidency
• "American Presidents Blog". Retrieved 2005-10-7. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help) - The author of this blog posts links to sites relating to the American Presidency or specific American Presidents
• "Presidential Administrations: Presidents, Vice Presidents, and Cabinet Members". A People and a Nation. Retrieved October 7. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help) - Listing of the cabinet members for each Presidential Administration
• "Presidential Rankings". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved October 7. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help) - Opinion poll of how great each President is believed to be.
• PresidentialDoodles.com, two centuries of scribbles, scratches, squiggles, and scrawls from the Oval Office
• Archive of Pictures of U.S. Presidents