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President Of The United States

President of the United States

The President of the United States (unofficially abbreviated "POTUS") is the head of state of the United States. Under the U.S. Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces. The full title is President of the United States of America. Because of the superpower status of the United States, the American President is widely considered to be the most powerful person on Earth, and is usually one of the world's best-known public figures. During the Cold War, the President was sometimes referred to as "the leader of the free world," a phrase that is still invoked today. The United States was the first nation to create the office of President as the head of state in a modern republic. Today the office is widely emulated all over the world in nations with a presidential system of government. Many countries with a parliamentary system also have an office named "president", but the roles of this office vary widely, and the President in such systems usually has far more limited powers than the Prime Minister. The 43rd and current President of the United States is George W. Bush. His first term ran from January 20, 2001 to January 20, 2005; his second term began on January 20, 2005 and ends on January 20, 2009; and President Bush is constitutionally barred from a third term.

Requirements to hold office

Section One of Article II of the U.S. Constitution establishes the requirements one must meet in order to become President. 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), be at least 35 years old, and have been a resident of the United States for 14 years. The natural-born citizenship requirement has been the subject of controversy. Critics argue that this requirement arbitrarily excludes some highly qualified candidates for the Presidency. They also charge that supporters fail to appreciate the contributions made by immigrants to American society. Proponents of the requirement argue that the requirement helps to ensure that the President fully understands and is a part of the American people and their outlook. Proponents also argue that the clause helps protect the country from foreign interference—another country could send an emigrant to the United States and through subterfuge get them elected. Many prominent public officials, such as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA; born in Austria) and Governor Jennifer Granholm (D-MI; born in Canada), are barred from the presidency because they were not natural-born citizens. Constitutional amendments are occasionally proposed to remove or modify this requirement, but none have been successful.

Election

Presidential elections are held every four years. Presidents are elected indirectly, through the Electoral College. The President and the Vice President are the only two nationally elected officials in the United States. (Legislators are elected on a state-by-state basis; other executive officers and judges are appointed.)

Old system

Originally, each elector voted for two people for President. The votes were tallied and the person receiving the greatest number of votes (provided that such a number was a majority of electors) became President, while the individual who was in second place became Vice President.

Current system

The Amendment XII in 1804 changed the electoral process by directing the electors to use separate ballots to vote for the President and Vice President. To be elected, a candidate must receive a majority of electoral votes, or if no candidate receives a majority, the President and Vice President are chosen by the House of Representatives and Senate, respectively, as necessary.

Campaign

The modern Presidential election process begins with the primary elections, during which the major parties (currently the Democrats and the Republicans) each select a nominee to unite behind; the nominee in turn selects a running mate to join him on the ticket as the Vice Presidential candidate. The two major candidates then face off in the general election, usually participating in nationally televised debates before Election Day and campaigning across the country to explain their views and plans to the voters. Much of the modern electoral process is concerned with winning swing states, through frequent visits and mass media advertising drives.

Inauguration and oath of office

mass media Since 1933, with the ratification of Amendment XX, a newly elected President, or a re-elected incumbent, is sworn into office on January 20 of the year following the election, an event called Inauguration Day. Although the Chief Justice of the United States usually administers the presidential oath of office, the Constitution does not specify any requirements; thus, anyone with the legal authority to administer oaths can perform the duty. In accordance with Article II, Section 1, Paragraph 8 of the Constitution, upon entering office, the President must take the following oath or affirmation: "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States." Only presidents Franklin Pierce and Herbert Hoover have chosen to affirm rather than swear. The oath is traditionally ended with, "So help me God," although for religious reasons some Presidents have said, "So help me", or "and thus I swear." On Inauguration Day, following the oath of office, the President customarily delivers an inaugural address which sets the tone for his administration. These addresses can reach the level of high oratory, from such stand-alone lines as Kennedy's "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country," to entire speeches, such as Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address.

Term(s) of office

Under the Constitution, the President serves a four-year term. Amendment XXII (which took effect in 1951 and was first applied to Dwight D. Eisenhower starting in 1953) limits the president to either two four-year terms or a maximum of ten years in office should he have succeeded to the Presidency previously and served two years at most completing his predecessor's term. Since then, three presidents have served two full terms: Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, and Bill Clinton. Incumbent President George W. Bush would become the fourth if he completes his current (and second) term in 2009. (Richard Nixon was elected to a second term but resigned before completing it.)

Succession

The United States presidential line of succession is a detailed list of government officials to serve or act as President upon a vacancy in the office due to death, resignation, or removal from office (by impeachment and conviction). impeachment, following the assassination of John F. Kennedy]] The line of 17 begins with the Vice President and ends with the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Legislation to add the Secretary of Homeland Security to the line of succession is pending in Congress. The Constitution provided that, if a President were to die, resign, or be removed from office, the "powers and duties" of the office would devolve upon the Vice President, Article II, Section 1 (which seems to imply the position of acting president), and that he [Vice President] shall "exercise the office of President of the United States," Article I, Section 2 (which seems to imply actual assumption of the presidency itself). People did not agree as to the exact meaning and intention of the text, and whether the Vice President would succeed to the office of President or merely act as President. After the death of William Henry Harrison, however, Vice President John Tyler asserted that he had become the President, not merely Acting President, and this precedent was followed in all subsequent cases. The 25th amendment eliminated this ambiguity by confirming that the Vice President fully becomes President, not Acting President, if the presidency becomes vacant. It sets the Vice President first in the line of succession and spells out a process for him to serve as Acting President should the President become temporarily disabled. A provision of the United States Code () establishes the rest of the succession line. To date, no officer other than the Vice President has been called upon to act as President.

Powers

The President, according to the Constitution, must "take care that the laws be faithfully executed." To carry out this responsibility, the president presides over the executive branch of the federal government; a vast organization of about 4 million people, including 1 million active-duty military personnel. A President-elect will make as many as 6,000 appointments to government positions, including appointments to the federal judiciary. The Senate must consent to all judicial appointments as well as the appointments of all principal officers. The President may veto laws made by the United States Congress but cannot personally initiate laws. Congress can overturn the veto with a two-thirds majority in both houses. He is commander-in-chief of the armed forces. The President may make treaties, but the Senate must ratify them by a two-thirds supermajority. The political scientist Richard Neustadt said, "Presidential power is the power to persuade and the power to persuade is the ability to bargain". He was commenting on the fact that the President's domestically constitutional power is limited, despite the modern expectation of Presidents to have a legislative program, and successful bargaining with Congress is usually essential to Presidential success.

Presidential salary and benefits

Salary

The First U.S. Congress voted to pay George Washington a salary of $25,000 a year—a significant sum in 1789. (Washington, already a successful man, refused to accept his salary.) Traditionally, the President is the highest-paid government employee. Consequently, the President's salary serves 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. While far higher than the median wage in the United States, in modern times the President's salary is paltry compared to the Chief Executive Officers of many publicly-listed companies, and indeed modern Presidents have typically earned far more in the corporate world after the end of their term than they did as President.

Residences

Chief Executive Officer Among the many non-salary benefits are living and working in the White House mansion in Washington, DC The President's principal workplace and official residence is the White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW in Washington, DC. His official vacation or weekend residence is Camp David in Maryland. Many presidents have also had their own homes.

Travelling

While travelling, the President is able to conduct all the functions of the office aboard several specially built Boeing 747s, known as Air Force One. The President travels around Washington in an armored Cadillac limousine, often referred to informally as "Cadillac One," equipped with bullet-proof windows and tires and a self-contained ventilation system in the event of a biological or chemical attack. When traveling longer distances around the Washington area or on presidential trips, the President travels aboard the presidential helicopter, Marine One. The President also has the use of: Army One, Coast Guard One, Executive One, and Navy One. Additionally, the President has full use of Camp David in Maryland, a retreat which is occasionally used as a casual setting for hosting foreign dignitaries.

Secret Service

The President and his family are always protected by a 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 10 years after leaving office.

Benefits after Presidency

Presidents continue to enjoy other benefits after leaving office such as free mailing privileges, free office space, the right to hold a diplomatic passport and budgets for office help and staff assistance. However, it was not until after Harry S. Truman (1958) that Presidents received a pension after they left office. Additionally, since the presidency of Herbert Hoover, Presidents receive funding from the National Archives and Records Administration upon leaving office to establish their own presidential library. These are not traditional libraries, but rather repositories for preserving and making available the papers, records, and other historical materials for each President since Herbert Hoover.

Officeholders

: See: List of Presidents of the United States.

Timeline

- Martin Van Buren, born December 5, 1782, was the first president born after the Declaration of Independence and was thus arguably the first president who was not born a British subject. Interestingly, he is also the first president not of Anglo-Celtic origin.
- John Tyler, born March 29, 1790, was the first president born after the adoption of the U.S. Constitution. All presidents born before him were eligible to be president because they were citizens at the time the Constitution was adopted. (Zachary Taylor was born on November 24, 1784, before the Constitution was adopted).
- Franklin Pierce, born November 23, 1804, was the first president born in the 19th century. (Millard Fillmore was born January 7, 1800, the last year of the 18th century.)
- Warren Harding, born November 2, 1865, was the first president born after the American Civil War. Robert E. Lee surrendered April 9, 1865.
- John F. Kennedy, born May 29, 1917, was the first person born in the 20th century to become president (1961).
- Kennedy's successor, Lyndon Johnson, was born on August 27, 1908. Three other Presidents who followed Johnson in office were also born before Kennedy (in order of birth, Reagan, Nixon, and Ford).
- Jimmy Carter, born October 1, 1924, was the first person born after World War I to become president.
- George H. W. Bush, who succeeded Carter's successor, was born on June 12, 1924.
- Bill Clinton, born August 19, 1946, was the first person born after World War II to become president.
- Clinton's successor, George W. Bush, was born July 6, 1946.

Life after the Presidency

1946, Ronald Reagan, Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford, and their wives at the funeral of President Richard Nixon on April 27, 1994.]] After a president of the U.S. leaves office, the title "President" continues to be applied to that person the rest of his life. Former presidents continue to be important national figures, and in some cases go on to successful post-presidential careers:
- John Quincy Adams enjoyed a prosperous career in the House of Representatives after his term in the White House.
- Andrew Johnson was elected to the same Senate that tried his impeachment, although he died before he could take office.
- Theodore Roosevelt wrote many books, went on safari, toured Europe, ran again for President in 1912, went on an expedition into the Brazilian jungle where he discovered the Rio Roosevelt, and was widely believed to be the front-runner for the 1920 presidential elecion when he died in 1919.
- William Howard Taft became Chief Justice of the United States.
- Jimmy Carter has been a global human rights campaigner and best-selling writer.
- George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton teamed together to appeal for donations from Americans after the Asian tsunami of 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. As of 2005, there are four living former presidents: Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton. The most recently deceased President is Ronald Reagan, who died in June 2004. There have never been more than five former presidents alive at any given time in American history. There have been three periods during which five former presidents were alive:
- From March 4, 1861 to January 18, 1862, Martin Van Buren, John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, and James Buchanan were living (during the Lincoln Administration, until the death of Tyler).
- From January 20, 1993 to April 22, 1994, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush were living (during the Clinton Administration, until the death of Nixon).
- From January 20, 2001 to June 5, 2004, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton were living (during the G.W. Bush Administration, until the death of Reagan). There have been six periods in American history during which no former presidents were alive:
- (beginning of time) – March 3, 1797: until the first President left office, there could be no former presidents, alive or otherwise.
- December 14, 1799 – March 3, 1801: from the death of former President George Washington until incumbent President John Adams left office (no former president would die until Adams and his successor, Thomas Jefferson, both did so on July 4 1826).
- July 31, 1875 – March 3, 1877: from the death of former President Andrew Johnson until incumbent President Ulysses Grant left office (no former president would die until Grant did so in 1885 although incumbent President James Garfield was assassinated in 1881).
- June 24, 1908 – March 3, 1909: from the death of former President Grover Cleveland until incumbent President Theodore Roosevelt left office (no former president would die until Roosevelt did so in 1919).
- January 5, 1933 – March 3, 1933: from the death of former President Calvin Coolidge until incumbent President Herbert Hoover left office (no former president would die until Hoover did so in 1964 although incumbent President Franklin Roosevelt died in office in 1945 and incumbent President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963).
- January 22, 1973 – August 9, 1974: from the death of former President Lyndon Johnson until incumbent President Richard Nixon resigned (no former president would die until Nixon did so in 1994). Herbert Hoover had the longest post-presidency, 31 years. He left office in 1933 and died in 1964. Still alive today is Gerald Ford, who has been an ex-president for 28 years, as of 2005. James K. Polk had the shortest post-presidency. He died on June 15, 1849, a mere three months after the expiration of his term. Between the birth of George Washington in 1732 and the birth of Bill Clinton in 1946, future presidents have been born in every decade except two: the 1810s and the 1930s. Between the death of George Washington in 1799 and the present, presidents or ex-presidents have died in every decade except four: the 1800s, 1810s, 1950s, and 1980s.

Presidential facts

Transition events

- Four U.S. Presidents have been assassinated while in office:
- Abraham Lincoln in 1865 by John Wilkes Booth
- James Garfield in 1881 by Charles J. Guiteau (Guiteau shot him but Garfield arguably died due to subsequent incorrect medical care)
- William McKinley in 1901 by Leon Czolgosz
- John F. Kennedy in 1963, officially by Lee Harvey Oswald alone[http://www.archives.gov/research_room/jfk/warren_commission/warren_commission_report_chapter1.html] although many theories suggest additional gunmen or a different person altogether. [http://www.archives.gov/research_room/jfk/house_select_committee/committee_report_gunmen.html]
- Four others died in office of natural causes:
- William Henry Harrison, died of pneumonia in 1841
- Zachary Taylor, died of "acute indigestion" in 1850. Taylor's body was exhumed in 1991 to test if he had died of arsenic poisoning. It was determined he did not.
- Warren G. Harding, died of heart attack in 1923. There has been speculation that [http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1374.html Harding was poisoned]—in particular, Gaston Means had a book ghost-written that spread that notion—but that theory appears to be baseless.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt, died of cerebral hemorrhage in 1945
- One President resigned from office:
- Richard Nixon in 1974
- Two Presidents have been impeached, though neither was subsequently convicted:
- Andrew Johnson in 1868
- Bill Clinton in 1999
- Four Presidents have been elected without a plurality of popular votes:
- John Quincy Adams - trailed Andrew Jackson by 44,804 votes in the 1824 election
- However, in six of the then twenty-four states in 1824, the electors were chosen by the state legislature, with no popular vote.
- Rutherford B. Hayes - trailed Samuel J. Tilden by 264,292 votes in the 1876 election
- Benjamin Harrison - trailed Grover Cleveland 95,713 votes in the 1888 election
- George W. Bush - trailed Al Gore by 543,895 votes in the 2000 election (http://www.fec.gov/pubrec/2000presgeresults.htm)
- A possible addition to this list is John F. Kennedy, who may have trailed Richard Nixon in the 1960 election. The precise gap in votes is difficult to determine because voters in Alabama were not given Kennedy as an option on their ballot - they could only vote "Democratic", without choosing a candidate. So, when the Democrats won Alabama, half of the state's electoral votes were pledged to Kennedy, and the other half were not pledged at all, and those votes all went to Harry F. Byrd. So it is impossible to know how many of those voters meant to vote for Kennedy, or for Byrd. The margin between Kennedy and Nixon was smaller than the number of Democratic votes in Alabama. The official figure from the U.S. government states includes the Alabama votes in Kennedy's total, giving Kennedy the popular plurality.
- Eleven Presidents have been elected fourteen times without a majority of popular votes (but with a plurality 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 A. 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 without a majority of electoral votes, and were chosen by the House of Representatives:
- Thomas Jefferson - finished with same number of electoral votes as Aaron Burr in the 1800 election
- John Quincy Adams - trailed Andrew Jackson by 15 electoral votes in the 1824 election
- Eight Presidents took office without being elected to the Presidency, having been elected as Vice President and then promoted from that position. In all eight cases, they succeeded to the Presidency upon the death of the incumbent:
- Four of them were never elected in their own right:
- John Tyler - Succeeded William Henry Harrison
- Millard Fillmore - Succeeded Zachary Taylor
- 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
- Chester A. Arthur - Succeeded James Garfield
- The other four were all elected in their own right for the immediately succeeding presidential term:
- Theodore Roosevelt - Succeeded William McKinley, elected as president in the 1904 election
- Calvin Coolidge - Succeeded Warren G. Harding, elected as president in the 1924 election
- Harry S. Truman - Succeeded Franklin D. Roosevelt, elected as president in the 1948 election
- Lyndon B. Johnson - Succeeded John F. Kennedy, elected as president in the 1964 election
- One President, Gerald Ford, was appointed Vice President by Richard Nixon (with approval from Congress) upon the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew, succeeded to the Presidency after Nixon's resignation, and was defeated in the 1976 election by Jimmy Carter. He remains the only President who was not elected as either President or Vice President.
- 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 noon on March 4) and Zachary Taylor (who chose not to be sworn in until March 5). 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, whilst 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.
- There were seven presidents whose oaths of office were administered by someone other than the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court :
- Robert Livingston, as Chancellor of the State of New York, administered the oath of office to George Washington at his first inauguration; William Cushing, an associate justice of the Supreme Court, administered the second
- Calvin Coolidge's father, a notary public, administered the oath to his son after the death of Warren Harding
- United States District Court Judge Sarah T. Hughes administered the oath to Lyndon Johnson after the assassination of John F. Kennedy
- John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Chester Arthur, and Theodore Roosevelt's initial oaths reflected the unexpected nature of their taking office.

Other facts

Theodore Roosevelt]]
- Grover Cleveland had two non-consecutive terms as President, and is counted twice, both as the 22nd and the 24th President. Consequently, the "25th President" is actually the 24th person to be President, the "26th President" is actually the 25th person to be President, and so on—e.g., George W. Bush, 43rd President, is actually the 42nd person to be President.
- Since the federal government started operations under the Constitution on March 4, 1789, there has been only one period of time in which the office was vacant. The First Congress did not meet to count the electoral vote until April 6, 1789 and thus George Washington did not accede to the office until then.
- A presidential term is normally 1461 days. There have been three presidential terms which were shorter:
- Franklin D. Roosevelt's first term began March 4, 1933, but the twentieth amendment changed the start of the next term to noon on January 20, 1937, giving Roosevelt a first term of 1418.5 days.
- Due to the vagaries 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.
- Five Presidents had never held any prior elected office:
- Zachary Taylor
- Ulysses S. Grant
- Herbert Hoover
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
- William Howard Taft
- All presidents have been white males and nominally Christian (mostly Protestant). Most presidents have been of substantially British descent, but there have been a few who came from a different background:
- Predominantly Dutch: Martin Van Buren
- Although Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin D. Roosevelt had Dutch names, neither was predominantly Dutch; each had only one Dutch grandfather. Theodore's other three grandparents were all British; Franklin's other three grandparents were of Puritan stock.
- Predominantly German: Herbert Hoover and Dwight Eisenhower
- Predominantly Irish:William McKinley, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton
- Kennedy was also America's only Roman Catholic president.
- 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.
- Historical rankings of U.S. 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 "poh-tuss". The wife of the President, traditionally referred to as the First Lady is called FLOTUS, pronounced "flo-tuss". The Vice President of the United States is often abbreviated to VPOTUS, pronounced "vee-poh-tuss".
- The President is known to be able to affect trends in popular culture. An endorsement of a book or a movie by a president can easily launch the career of a author or a filmmaker. For example, Ronald Reagan's admiration of The Hunt For Red October may have helped to cause Tom Clancy to become a nationally acclaimed bestselling author, something that may never have happened had it not been for Reagan's endorsement.

Lists

Notes

# Kamen, Al. "[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55411-2004Nov16.html If You're Available Jan. 20 . . .]" Washington Post, 17 November 2004. # Library of Congress. "[http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/pihtml/pioaths.html Presidential Inaugrations: Presidential Oaths of Office.]" # [http://www.historicvermont.org/coolidge/oathrm.html Excerpt from Coolidge's autobiography.]

External links

Official

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Presidential histories

- - A collection of over 52,000 Presidential documents
- - Brief biographies, election results, cabinet members, notable events, and some points of interest on each of the presidents.
- - A companion website for the C-SPAN television series: American Presidents: Life Portraits
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Speeches

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Miscellaneous

- - Brief histories of the Masonic careers of Presidents who were members of the Freemasons.
- - A resource for educators teaching the American Presidency
- - The author of this blog posts links to sites relating to the American Presidency or specific American Presidents
- [http://www.quotesandpoem.com/quotes/listquotes/subject/American_Presidential_Quotes Collection of Quotes by American Presidents]
- - Listing of the cabinet members for each Presidential Administration
- - Opinion poll of how great each President is believed to be. Category:Executive Branch of the United States Government Category:Executive heads of state United States, President Category:Presidency of the United States ko:미국의 대통령 ja:アメリカ合衆国大統領 simple:President (United States) th:ประธานาธิบดีแห่งสหรัฐอเมริกา

Head of state

. When two heads of state meet it is known as a state visit.]] Head of state or chief of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office which serves as the chief public representative of monarchic or republican nation-state, federation, commonwealth or any other political state. His or her role generally includes personifying the continuity and legitimacy of the state and exercising the political powers, functions and duties granted to the head of state in the country's constitution. Charles de Gaulle described the role he envisaged for the French president when he wrote the modern French constitution, a head of state should embody "the spirit of the nation" to the nation itself and to the world: une certaine idée de la France (a certain idea about what France is). Today many countries expect their Head of State to embody national values in a similar fashion.

Constitutional models

Different countries have different executive systems but in essence four major, generalizing categories can be distinguished: the presidential (or imperial) system in which the head of state is also the head of government and actively exercises executive power, the semi-presidential system in which the head of state shares exercise of executive power with a head of government, the parliamentary system in which the head of state possesses theoretical executive power but the exercise of this power is delegated to a head of government, and the non-executive head of state system in which the head of state does not hold any executive power and mainly plays a symbolic role on behalf of the state.

Presidential system

Note: 'presidential' in this context does not automatically imply a president but any head of state –elected, hereditary, or dictatorial– who 'presides'. It is sometimes called the Imperial model, without regard for the monarchic title Emperor, rather referring to the luster. president Some constitutions or fundamental laws provide for a head of state who is not just in theory but in practice chief executive, operating separately from, and independent from, the legislature. This system is sometimes known as a presidential system because the government is answerable solely and exclusively to a 'presiding' activist head of state, and is selected by and on occasion dismissed by the head of state without reference to the legislature. It is notable that some presidential systems, while not providing for collective executive answerability to the legislature, may require legislative approval for individuals prior to their assumption of cabinet office and empower the legislature to remove a president from office (for example, in the United States). In this case the debate centres on the suitability of the individual for office, not a judgment on them when appointed, and does not involve the power to reject or approve proposed cabinet members en bloc so it is not answerability in the sense understood in a parliamentary system. Some presidential systems may also include a prime minister but as with the other ministers they are responsible to the President, not the legislature. In many such instances the office is of minimal political importance, sometimes even held by some administrative technocrat rather than a politician. A prime minister in a presidential system lacks the constitutional and political dominance of a prime minister in a parliamentary system and is often seen as simply a politically junior figure who may run the mechanics of government while allowing the President to set the broad national agenda. One could say that, whereas in parliamentary systems a prime minister may be master of his or her party and the government, prime ministers in presidential systems are usually the servants, with the head of state the master of the government who can hire and fire anyone, including the prime minister, at will. Presidential Systems of Governments are a notable feature of constitutions in the Americas, notably the United States. Though most presidents in the system are selected by democratic means (popular direct or indirect election, etc) the system also encompasses people who become head of state by other means, notably through military dictatorship or coup d'état. Some of the characteristics of a presidential system (i. e, a strong dominant political figure with an executive answerable to them, not the legislature) can also be found among absolute monarchies. It is worth noting that modern presidential systems, most notably the United States, owe their origins to the contemporary eighteenth century British constitutional model in existence at the time of the enactment of the Constitution of the United States, in which the British monarch was still the dominant force and their government was not in a modern sense answerable to the legislature. Thus modern presidential systems are the lineal successors of the Ancien régime governmental systems of eighteenth century Europe, whereas in Europe many states have evolved from a head of state-centred executive system (a presidential system) to a legislature-oriented one (a parliamentary system). In the 1870s in the United States in the aftermath of the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson and his near removal from office it was speculated that the United States too would move from a presidential system to a semi-presidential or even parliamentary one, with the Speaker of the House of Representatives becoming the real centre of government as a quasi-prime minister. This did not happen and the presidency, having been damaged by two late nineteenth century assassinations (Lincoln and Garfield) and one impeachment (Johnson), reasserted its political dominance by the early twentieth century through such figures as Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson.

Semi-presidential systems

Woodrow Wilson Semi-presidential systems combine features of Presidential and Parliamentary systems, notably a requirement that the government be answerable to both the President and the legislature. The Constitution of the current French Fifth Republic provides for a prime minister who is chosen by the President but who nevertheless must be able to gain support in the Chamber of Deputies. Where in France a president is of one side of the political spectrum and the opposition is in control of the legislature, s/he often is forced to select someone from the opposition to become prime minister, a process known as Cohabitation. President François Mitterrand, a socialist, for example was forced to co-habit with the neo-gaullist (right wing) Jacques Chirac, who became his prime minister for a time in the 1980s. In the French system, in the event of co-habitation, the President is often allowed to set the policy agenda in foreign affairs and the Prime Minister run the domestic agenda. Other countries evolve into something akin to a semi-presidential system or indeed a full presidential system. Weimar Germany, for example, in its constitution provided for a popularly elected president with theoretically dominant emergency powers that were only intended to be exercised in emergencies and a cabinet appointed by him from the Reichstag which was expected in normal circumstances to be answerable to the Reichstag. Initially the President was merely a symbolic figure with the Reichstag dominant. However long-term political instability (where governments were collapsing every couple of months) led to a change in the power structure of the Republic, with the President's emergency powers called increasingly into use to prop up governments challenged by critical or even hostile Reichstag votes. By 1932, power had shifted to such an extent that the German President, Paul von Hindenburg was able to dismiss a chancellor and select his own person for the job even though the outgoing chancellor possessed the confidence in the Reichstag while the new chancellor did not. Subsequently President von Hindenburg used his power to appoint Adolf Hitler as Reich chancellor without consulting the Reichstag.

Parliamentary system

Adolf Hitler In parliamentary systems the head of state may be merely the nominal chief executive officer of the state, possessing theoretical executive power (hence the description of the United Kingdom monarch's government as Her Majesty's Government, a term indicating that the government is theoretically hers, not parliament's). In reality however, due to a process of constitutional evolution, powers are usually exercised by a cabinet, presided over by a prime minister or President of the Government who is answerable to parliament. This answerability requires that someone be chosen from parliament who has parliament's support (or at least not parliament's opposition - a subtle but important difference). It also gives parliament the right to vote down the government, forcing it either to resign or seek a parliamentary dissolution. Governments are thus said to be responsible (ie, answerable) to parliament, with the government in turn accepting constitutional responsibility for offering constitutional Advice to the head of state. In reality, numerous variants exist to the position of a head of state within a parliamentary system. The older the constitution, the more constitutional leeway may exist for a head of state to exercise greater powers over government, as many older parliamentary system constitutions in fact give heads of state powers and functions akin to presidential or semi-presidential systems, in some cases without containing reference to modern democratic principles of accountability to parliament or even to modern governmental offices. For example, the 1848 constitution of the Kingdom of Italy was sufficiently ambiguous and outdated to give King Victor Emmanuel III leeway to appoint Benito Mussolini to power in controversial circumstances. Some Commonwealth parliamentary systems combine a body of written constitutional law, unwritten constitutional precedent, Orders-in-Council, letters patent, etc that may give a head of state or their representative additional powers in unexpected circumstances (eg, the dismissal of the Australian prime minister, Gough Whitlam by Governor-General Sir John Kerr.) Other examples of heads of state in parliamentary systems using greater powers than normal due either to ambiguous constitutions or unprecedented national emergencies, such as King Léopold III of the Belgians's decision to surrender on behalf of his state to the invading German army in 1940, against the will of His Government. Judging that his responsibility to the nation by virtue of his coronation oath required him to act, he believed that His Government's decision to fight rather than surrender was mistaken and would damage Belgium. (Leopold's decision proved highly controversial. After World War II, Belgium voted on whether to allow him back on the throne. It did so, but because of the ongoing controversy he ultimately abdicated the throne.)

Non-executive heads of state

World War II, an example of a non-executive head of state.]] A final category of head of state which could be loosely called the non-executive head of state model also exists. Its holders are excluded completely from the executive. In other words they do not possess even theoretical executive powers or any role, even formal, within the government. Hence their states' governments are not referred to by the traditional parliamentary model head of state styles of His/Her Majesty's Government or His/Her Excellency's Government. Within this general category, variants in terms of powers and functions may exist. The King of Sweden, since the passage of the modern Swedish constitution, the Instrument of Government in the mid 1970s, no longer has any of the parliamentary system head of state functions that had previously belonged to Swedish kings. But he still receives formal cabinet briefings monthly in the Royal Palace. In contrast the only contact the Irish president has with the Irish government is through a formal briefing session given by the Taoiseach (prime minister) to the President. However she has no access to documentation and all access to ministers goes through the Department of An Taoiseach (prime minister's office). Examples of this category invariably date from the twentieth century. The most notable examples of this category are the
- President of Ireland
- King of Sweden (since 1975)
- President of the Federal Republic of Germany.
- Emperor of Japan (since 1947)

Complications with categorisation

While clear categories do exist, it is sometimes difficult to choose which category some individual heads of state belong to. Constitutional change in Liechtenstein in 2003 gave its head of state, the Prince, unprecedented constitutional powers including a veto over legislation and power in theory to dismiss the cabinet. It could be argued that the strengthening of the Prince's powers vis-a-vis the legislature has moved Liechtenstein in the semi-presidential category. Similarly the original powers given to the Greek President of the Republic under the 1974 Hellenic Republic constitution made Greece more akin to the French semi-presidential model. And the theoretical power of the British monarch to dismiss their government at will would suggest that the United Kingdom should belong to the semi-presidential category also. In reality the category to which each head of state-ship belongs is assessed not by theory but by practice. In practice no British monarch has forced a government from office since the early nineteenth century, while the Greek Republic in reality even before the powers of the President of the Republic were curtailed operated as a standard parliamentary system. Unless and until a Prince of Liechtenstein exercises the theoretical powers they now possess, the principality would still remain categorised as a parliamentary system.

Roles of the head of state

Often depending on which constitutional category (above) a head of state belongs to, they may have some or all of the roles listed below, and various other ones.

Symbolic role

Greek President of the Republic, developed a personality cult.]] As the above quote by Charles de Gaulle indicates, one of the most important roles of the modern head of state is being a living national symbol of the nation. In many states an official portraits of the head of state can be found in government offices, courts of law, even airports, libraries, and other public buildings. The idea, sometimes regulated by law, is to use these portraits to make the public aware of the symbolic connection to the government, a practice that dates back to mediaeval times. Sometimes this practice is taken to excess, and the head of state begins to believe that he is the only symbol of the nation. A personality cult thus ensues, where the image of the head of state is the only visual representation of the country, surpassing other symbols such as the flag, constitution, founding fathers, etc. Other common iconic presences, especially of monarchs, are on coins, stamps, banknotes. More discrete variations see them represented by a mention and/or signature. In general the active duties amount to a ceremonial role. Thus in diplomatic affairs, heads of state are often the first person to greet an important foreign visitor. They may also assume a sort of informal "host" role during the VIP's visit, inviting the visitor to a state dinner at his or her mansion or palace, or some other equally hospitable affair. At home, they are expected to render luster to various occasions by their presence, such as assisting to artistic or sports performances or competitions, expositions, celebrations, military parades and remembrances, prominent funerals, visiting parts of the country, enterprises, care facilities etcetera (often in a theatrical honour box, on a platform, on the front row, at the honours table etc.), sometimes performing a symbolic act such as cutting a ribbon or pushing a button at an opening, christening something with champagne, laying the first stone, and so on. Some parts of national life receive their regular attention, often on an annual basis, or even in the form of official patronage. As the potential for such invitations is enormous, such duties are often in part delegated: to a spouse, other members of the dynasty, vice-president etcetera, for whom this is often the core of their public role, or in other cases (possibly as a message, e.g. to distance themselves without giving utter protocollary offence) just a military or other aid.

Chief diplomatic officer

founding fathers from the French ambassador.]]
- The head of state accredits his or her country's ambassadors, through sending formal Letters of Credence to other heads of state. Without that accreditation, ipso facto an ambassador does not take up a role and receive the highest diplomatic status. However there are provisions in international law to perform the same diplomatic functions, or at least part of them, such as accrediting with a lower title with the government, or functioning within
- He or she receives Letters of Credence, sent by other heads of state accrediting his/her ambassador to the state.
- He or she signs international treaties on behalf of the state, or has them signed in his/her name by ministers (government members or diplomats); subsequent ratification, when necessary, usually rests with the legislature. ::Example 1: Article 59 (1) of the Basic Law of the Federal Republic of Germany states - :::The Federal President shall represent the Federation in its international relations. He shall conclude treaties with foreign states on behalf of the Federation. He shall accredit and receive envoys. ::Example 2: Section 2, Article 81 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of China states - :::The President of the People's Republic of China receives foreign diplomatic representatives on behalf of the People's Republic of China and, in pursuance of decisions of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, appoints and recalls plenipotentiary representatives abroad, and ratifies and abrogates treaties and important agreements concluded with foreign states.

Chief executive officer

In the vast majority of states, whether republics or monarchies, executive authority is vested, at least notionally, in the head of state. In presidential systems the head of state is the actual, de facto chief executive officer. Under parliamentary systems the executive authority is theoretically exercised by the head of state but in practice exercised on the advice of the prime minister or cabinet. This produces such terms as Her Majesty's Government and His Excellency's Government. Examples of parliamentary systems in which the head of state is notional chief executive include Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, France, Italy and the United Kingdom. The few exceptions include the Republic of Ireland, where executive authority is explicitly vested in the cabinet, and Sweden. The head of state may also be described, although, again, in parliamentary systems this is only a notional designation, as commander-in-chief of the armed forces. ::Example 1 (presidential system): Article 2, Section 1 of the United States Constitution states: :::The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. ::Example 2 (Victorian era constitutional monarchy): Under Chapter II, Section 61 of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, 1900: :::The executive power of the Commonwealth is vested in the Queen and is exercisable by the Governor-General as the Queen's representative, and extends to the execution and maintenance of this Constitution, and of the laws of the Commonwealth. ::Example 3 (mid-20th century constitutional monarchy): According to Section 12 of the Constitution of Denmark 1953: :::Subject to the limitations laid down in this Constitution Act the King shall have the supreme authority in all the affairs of the Realm, and he shall exercise such supreme authority through the Ministers. ::Example 4 (modern republican parliamentary system): According to Article 26 (2) of the 1975 Constitution of Greece: :::The executive power shall be exercised by the President of the Republic and by the government.

Chief appointments officer

- He or she appoints most or all the key officials in the state, including members of the cabinet, the prime minister (if there is one), key judicial figures and all major office holders. In most parliamentary systems the prime minister is appointed with the consent of the legislature, and other figures are appointed on the prime minister's advice. Some countries have exceptions - under Article 4 of the Instrument of Government 1974, the constitution of Sweden grants to the parliamentary speaker the role of formally appointing the prime minister. In practice, this decision is often a formality. The last time a United Kingdom monarch actually had a choice over who to pick to be prime minister occurred in 1963, when Queen Elizabeth II chose Alec Douglas-Home to succeed Harold Macmillan. In presidential systems such as that of the United States, appointments are nominated by the president's sole discretion, and this nomination if often subject to parliamentary confirmation (in the case of the U.S., the U.S. Senate has to approve cabinet nominees and judicial appointments by simple majority).
- He or she may dismiss office-holders. In parliamentary systems, this is only done on the binding advice of another office-holder; for example, members of the Irish cabinet are dismissed by the President of Ireland on the advice of the Taoiseach (prime minister). In some instances, the head of state may be able to dismiss an office holder themselves. Many heads of state or their representatives have the theoretical power to dismiss any office-holder while it is exceptionally rarely used. Its use is sometimes controversial, such as when the Australian Governor-General dismissed the prime minister during the 1975 Australian Constitutional Crisis. In France, while the president cannot force the prime minister to tender the resignation of his government, he in practice can request it if the prime minister is from his own majority. In presidential systems, the president often has the power to fire ministers at his sole discretion. In the U.S., convention calls for cabinet secretaries to resign on their own initiative when called to do so. ::Example 1 (semi-presidential system): Chapter 4, Section 2 of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea states: :::The Prime Minister is appointed by the President with the consent of the National Assembly. ::Example 2 (parliamentary system): Article 13.1.1 of the Constitution of Ireland: :::The President shall, on the nomination of Dáil Éireann [the lower house], appoint the Taoiseach [prime minister].

Legislative roles

Constitution of Ireland can override it.]] Most states require that all bills passed by the house or houses of the legislature are signed into law by the head of state. In some states, such as the United Kingdom, Belgium and the Republic of Ireland, the head of state is in fact formally considered a tier of parliament. In presidential systems the head of state often has power to veto a bill. In most parliamentary systems, however, the head of state cannot refuse to sign a bill, but may, in granting a bill their assent, nevertheless indicate that it was passed in accordance with the correct procedures. The signing of a bill into law is formally known as promulgation. Some Commonwealth of Nations states call this procedure granting the Royal Assent. ::Example 1 (presidential system): Article 1, Section 7 of the United States Constitution states: :::Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States. ::Example 2 (parliamentary system): Section 11.a.1. of the Basic Laws of Israel states: :::The President of the State shall sign every Law, other than a Law relating to its powers. In some parliamentary systems the head of state retains certain powers, in relation to bills, to be exercised at their discretion. They may have authority to:
- Veto a bill until the houses of the legislature have reconsidered it, and approved it a second time.
- Reserve a bill to be signed later, or suspend it indefinitely (generally in states with the Royal Prerogative; this power is rarely is used).
- Refer a bill to the courts to test its constitutionality (e.g. the President of Ireland)
- Refer a bill to the people in a referendum (e.g. the President of Ireland may do so in certain circumstances). If he is also chief executive, he can thus politically control the necesseray executive measures without which a proclaimed law can remain dead letter, sometimes for years or even forever.

Supreme commander of the military

- A head of state is generally the notional or literal commander-in-chief of a state's armed forces, holding the highest office in all military chains of command. chains of command as Colonel-in-Chief of the Coldstream Guards, is nominally Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces in each of her realms.]] Example: Article II, Section 2 of the United States Constitution states: :::The 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.
- In military dictatorships, or governments which have arisen from coups-de-état, this position is obvious, as all authority in such a government derives from the application of military force; occasionally a power vacuum created by war is filled by a head of state stepping beyond its normal constitutional role, as Belgian King Albert I did during World War I.

Summoning and dissolving the legislature

- A head of state is often empowered to summon and dissolve the legislature. In most parliamentary systems, this is done on the advice of the prime minister or cabinet. In some parliamentary systems, and in some presidential systems, the head of state may on their own initiative do so. Some states, however, have fixed term parliaments, with no option of bringing forward elections (e.g. Article II, Section 3, of the U.S. Constitution). In other systems there are fixed terms, but the head of state retains authority to dissolve the legislature in certain circumstances. Where a prime minister has lost the confidence of parliament, some states allow the head of state to refuse a parliamentary dissolution, where one is requested, forcing the prime minister's resignation. ::Example: Article 13.2.2. of the Constitution of Ireland states: :::The President may in absolute discretion refuse to dissolve Dáil Éireann on the advice of a Taoiseach [prime minister] who has ceased to retain the support of a majority in Dáil Éireann

Other prerogatives

- Right of pardon
- Granting nobility, knighthood, various honours

Selection and various types and styles of Heads of state

Various Heads of State use(d) a multitude of different styles and titles, often with many variations in content under diverse constitutions, even in a given state. In numerous cases, two or more of the following peculiar types apply, not counting the primary duo monarchy-republic. In a monarchy, the monarch is the head of state. This is a relatively recent phenomenon; until the last few decades a sovereign was seen as the personal embodiment of the state, and therefore could not be head of themselves (hence many constitutions from the 19th Century and earlier make no mention of a "head of state"). Though some still maintain that calling a monarch head of state is incorrect, it has now become a widespread political convention to attach the label to monarchs. The Emperor (Tennō) of Japan is defined as a symbol, not head, of state by the post-war constitution but is treated as a head of state under diplomatic protocol, in fact second only to the Pope. For the plethora of styles in monarchies, often rendered as King or Emperor, but also many other, see Prince, Princely state and Monarchy. In a republic, the head of state is nowadays usually styled president, but many have or had other titles and even specific constitutional positions (see below), and some have simply used 'Head of State' as their only formal title.

Legitimacy & Accession

- Force is often the trough origin of power, but to keep the victor’s right, formal legitimacy must be found, even if by ficticious claim of continuity such as forged descent or legacy from a previous dynasty
- There have also been true cases of granting sovereignty, e.g. dynastic splits (not just by laws of succession, also by deliberate acts); this is usually in fact forced, such as self-determination granted after nationalist revolts, or the last Attalid king of hellenistic Pergamon by testament leaving his realm to Rome (to avoid a desastrous conquest)
- Under theocracy, divine status (as the Pharaoh's; compare divus) or 'heavenly mandate' (as in imperial China) can render earthly authority under divine law, i.e. theoretically unchallengable; on the other hand, it can take the form of supreme divine authority above the state's, giving the priesthood that voices and interpretes it a tool for political influence, control or even dominance (thus Pharaoh Echnaton's reforms were undone by the Amun-priesthood after his death, possibly even elimination); often there is no clear model, so over time power can be disputed, as between Pope and Emperor in the Investiture conflict, as the temporal power seeks to guarantee its legitimation, including a formal ceremony during the coronation (such as unction; often crucial for popular support), by controling key nominations in the clergy
- The notion of a social contract holds that the nation (the whole people, or just the electorate...) gives a mandate, as trough acclamation or election Individual Heads of state may acquire their position in a number of constitutional ways:
- The position of a monarch is usually hereditary, but often with constitutional restrictions, or even considerable liberty for the incumbent or some body convening after his demise to chose from eligable members of the ruling house, often limited to legal descendents of the state religion or even parliamentary permission. There are rare exceptions to this, such as the Popes, who nominate the cardinals which constitute the electors for every new absolute head of the Catholic church and of its Vatican City State.
- Election usually is the constitutional way to choose the head of state of a republic, and somemonarchies, either:
- Directly: through popular election; this can be made a fiction under the formula of popular acclamation; the electorate can be very selective, such as the patrician families and/or the professional corporations of a city state, or by the warriors in the case of a 'tribal' type war chief or a Roman general proclaimed by his legions.
- Indirectly: by members of the legislature or of a special college of electors, either as an expression of general suffrage (as in the USA) or an exclusive prerogative (as the heads of states of constitutive monarchies in two modern federations: the UAE and Malaysia).
- the a head of states can be entitled to designate his successor, such as Lord Protector of the Commonwealth Oliver Cromwell (succeeded by his son Richard ) A head of state may however seize power by force or revolution. This is not to be confused with the notion of an authoritarian or other totalitarian ruler, which rather concerns the oppressive nature of power once aquired, and therefore only applies if he is the true chief executive. Dictators often use democratic titles, though some proclaim themselves monarchs. Examples of the latter include Emperor Napoleon III of France and King Zog of Albania. Francisco Franco, who adopted the formal title Jefe del Estado, or Chief of State, and established himself as regent for a vacant monarchy. Idi Amin was one of several which made themself President for Life. Another type of extraconstitutional imposition, often also changing the constitution, is by a foreign power (state or alliance), either benign or, more often, rather for its own interest, such as establishing a branch of the own or a friendly dynasty.

Absent and Substitute heads of state

Interim

Whenever a head of state is not available for any reason, constitutional provisions may allow the role to fall temporarily to an assigned person or collective body. In a monarchy this is usually a regent or collegial regency, in a republic rather a vice-president, the legislature or its presiding officer, the chief of government.

Delegation

regent, hanging in a Canadian courthouse. Every British Monarch is a multiple head of state of the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, Australia, Canada, Jamaica, New Zealand, eleven other states and all the colonies and crown territories]]. In some cases, where one person is head of state of multiple sovereign countries, they may be need to be permanently represented (except at home) by a governor-general. Examples are Canada, Australia and New Zealand, where the British Monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, resides in another of the crown's kingdoms, the United Kingdom, and so is represented in the others by a governor-general. The presently 16 member-states of the Commonwealth of Nations which share the Sovereign from the house of Windsor, including the United Kingdom, are known as Commonwealth Realms. The Governor-General may fulfill many of the roles of a head of state, but is not legally the head of state, rather an appointed representative of the head of state that may act in her place in her absence from the state. Some governors-general are considered de facto heads of state because, though not the de jure (juridical or legal) head of state, they function – i.e., in actuality – like a head of state in most or all jurisdictions. In diplomatic situations, governors-general, if treated as de facto heads of state, are sometimes accorded a status akin to a head of state, but that is by tradition and on a case by case and person by person basis, not automatic. At state banquets, for example, toasts are made to the head of state, (eg, "Her Majesty the Queen of Australia"), never a governor-general, except in so far as a personal toast may be proposed subsequently to "Governor-General and Mrs Smith" as hosts of, or guests at, the banquet. Similarly, Letters of Credence contain the name of the head of state, not the governor-general, even if it is the latter who signs and receives them. In 2005, Canada changed its policy and now all Letters of Credence are directed to the Governor General of Canada herself, not Queen Elizabeth II. This caused controversy but is now the accepted pratice.
- As a colony or other dependent state or territory lacks the authority to vest in a true head of state of its own, it either has no comparable office, simply receiving those roles exercised by the paramount power's (in person or, most of the time, trough an appointed representative, often styled (lieutenant-)governor, but also various other titles, on the Cook islands even simply KIng/Queen's Representative) or has one, such as a formerly sovereign dynasty, but under a form of metropolitan guardianship, such as protection, vassal or tributary status.

Extraordinary arrangements

In exceptional situations, such as war, occupation, revolution or a coup d'état, constitutional institutions, including the symbolically crucial head of state, may be reduced to a lesser role (legitimating the power taken over behind the throne) or be suspended in favor of an emergency office (such as the original Roman Dictator) or eliminated by of new 'provisionary' regime (sincere or clinging to power), often a collective of the junta type, with endlessly varying names and composition, or simply find itself under military authority as imposed by an occupying force, such as a military governor (an early example being the Spartan Harmost)

Theocratic, Ecclesiastic and other Religious states

In Roman Catholicism, and in some cases continued when become protestant:
- The Pope as Sovereign Pontiff, first of the politically important Papal States, after the Italian reunification ultimately just over Vatican City
- various lower clerics qualified as prince of the church (see there, e.g. prince-bishop); one case of a grand master of a sovereign order remains, but it has been vested ex officio in the pope The ancient (now orthodox) monastic state known as Athonian republic doesn't have a Head of state In Islam
- Caliphs were the spiritual and temporal, absolute successors of the Prophet, but lost political power
- Imam of rare theocratic states known as imamates
- Sheikh
- e.g. of the Sunni Sanusi order in Cyrenaica since 1843, styled Emir since 25 Oct 1920
- in Iran the Supreme Leader (at present Ali Khamenei ) and a council of guardians, all shiah clerics, hold perhaps the highest offices, but the only formal head of state is the elected president. In Buddhism
- the Dalai lama was the god-king of Tibet before its annexation by the PR of China
- Mongolia, the former homeland of the imperial Genghis Khan-dynasty, was another lamaist theocracy since 1585, sing various styles in several languages, see Khutughtu, replaced 20 May 1924 by a communist republic (which asigned the head of state role to chairmanships)

City states and crowned republics

- Both the polis in Antiquity (actual Greek and many parallels, e.g. Italic) and the equivalent city states in the feudal era (many in Italy, the rest of the Holy Roman Empire, the Moorish taifa, essentially tribal-type but urbanized regions troughout the world in in the Mayan civilization etc.), and in some cases even much later, offer a wide spectrum of styles, either monarchic (mostly identical to homonyms in larger states) or republican, see Chief magistrate
- Doges were elected by their Italian aristocratic republics from a patrician nobility, but 'reigned' as sovereign dukes The paradoxical term crowned republic (see there) refers to various state arrangements that combine 'republican' and 'monarchic' characteristics
- The Netherlands historical had officials called stadholders, stadholders-general

Multiple or collective Heads of State

stadholders-general, far right in gray)]]
- in republics (internal complexity): e.g. nominal triumvirates, Directoire, and even to date Switzerland (seven-member Federal Council, each acting in turn as ceremonial chief of state); Bosnia and Herzegovina (three member presidium, from three different nations); San Marino (two "Captains-regent");
- condominium (external shared sovereignty): monarchic as in Andorra (president of France and bishop of Urgell, Spain, co-princes), mixed as the former Anglo-French New Hebrides (each's Head of state represented by a High Commissioner).

Curiosa and residual cases

In some nationalistic regimes (usually republics), the leader adopts, formally or de facto, a unique style simply meaning "leader" in the national language, such as nazi Germany's single party chief and Head of state and government Adolf Hitler Führer (see that article for equivalents). When former crown colony Singapore ceased in 1959 to have the British crown as Monarch, represented by a Governor, it adopted the Malay style yang di-pertuan negara, compare the Malaysian paramount ruler Yang Dipertuan Agong; the second and last incumbent kept the style at the 31 Aug 1963 first independence and after the 18 Sep 1963 accession to federal Malaysia (so now as a constitutive part of the federation, a non-sovereign level); after withdrawing from Malaysia 22 Dec 1965, it became a republic within the Commonwealth, this time independent for good, and installed the same person as its first President. There are also a few nations in which the exact title and definition of the office of Head of State is vague. Following the downfall of Liu Shaoqi, who was Chairman of the People's Republic of China, no successor was named, so the duties of the head of state were transferred collectively to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress. In North Korea, Kim Il-sung was named "eternal president" following his death and the presidency was abolished. As a result, the duties of the head of state are constitutionally delegated to the Supreme People's Assembly whose chairman is "head of state for foreign affairs" and performs some of the roles of a head of state, such as accrediting foreign ambassadors. However, the symbolic role of a head of state is generally performed by Kim Jong-il, who as the leader of the party and military, is the most powerful person in North Korea. In some states the office of head of state is not expressed in a specific title reflecting that role, but constitutionally awarded to a post of another formal nature. Thus in March 1979 colonel Muammar al-Qaddafi, who kept absolute power (still known as "Guide of the Revolution"), after ten years as combined Head of state and - of government of the Libyan Jamahiriya ("state of the masses"), styled Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council, formally transferred both qualities, to the General secretaries of the General People's Congress (comparable to a Speaker) respectvely to a Prime Minister, in political reality both his creatures. In certain cases a special style is needed to accomodate the imperfect statehood, e.g. the long de facto embodiment of Palestianian aspiration to independent statehood, PLO leader Yasser was styled 5 Jul 1994 the first "President of the Palestinian National Authority" after an agreement with the military occupying power Israel allowed a Palestinian National Authority as a transitional status including Palestinian interim self-governing and a phased transfer of powers and territories (towns and areas of the West Bank), still awaiting the outcome of bumpy negotiations -he was repeatedly put under a form of Israeli arrest while in office- on its permanent status, which could end in a Palestinian State. Some statistics
- World's longest serving current Head of State: King Rama IX of Thailand (since June 9, 1946)
- World's longest serving current republican Head of State: President Omar Bongo of Gabon (since November 28, 1967)
- Oldest head of state elected in a popular election: Éamon de Valera, re-elected President of Ireland aged 84 in 1966.

Former heads of state

1966, abdicated from the throne in 1912, but was allowed to keep his titles and palace until 1924. He worked as a gardener in his later life as an ordinary Chinese citizen in Communist China.]] A monarch may retain his style and certain prergatives after abdication, as King Leopold III of Belgium who left the throne to his son after winning (but not in both lingustic commonities of the country) a referendum retained a full royal household but no constitutional or representative role at all. In the case of Napoleon I Bonaparte, the Italian principality of Elba, chosen for his luxurious emprisonment after the survivors of his Grande Armée after the disastrous Russian campaign had finally been defeated in 1814, was transformed into a miniature version of his First Empire, with most trappings of a sovereign monarchy, until his Cent Jours ('100 days' escape and reseizure of power in France) convinced the allies, reconvening the Vienna Congress, in 1815 to revoke those gratious privileges and send him to die on barren St.Helena. By tradition a deposed monarch who has not freely abdicated, though no longer head of state, is allowed to use their monarchical title as a courtesy title for their lifetime. Hence, though he ceased to be Greek king in 1973 (in a disputed referendum during the Regime of the Colonels), or in 1974 (in a referendum after the reestablishment of democracy), it is still standard to refer to the deposed king as Constantine II of Greece. However none of his descendants will be entitled to be called King of the Hellenes (not King of Greece) after his death. Some states dispute the international acceptance of the right of their deposed monarchs to be referred to by their former title. It remains however the generally accepted formula, with most states declining to get involved in disputes between governments and deposed monarchs and simply stating that they are doing no more than recognising tradition, not supporting claims to a defunct throne. Other states have no problem with deposed monarchs being so referred to by former title, and even allow them to travel internationally on the state's diplomatic passport. See also political pensioners

Sources, References and External links

- Pauly-Wissowa in German, on Antiquity
- [http://www.rulers.org/ Rulers.org] List of rulers throughout time and places
- [http://4dw.net/royalark/ RoyalArk] quite elaborate on many non-European monarchies
- [http://www.worldstatesmen.org/ WorldStatesmen] History and incumbents of states and minor polities worldwide
- Westermann, Großer Atlas zur Weltgeschichte in German

United States Constitution

The Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It was completed on September 17, 1787, with its adoption by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was later ratified by special conventions in each of the original thirteen states. It created a federal union of sovereign states, and a federal government to operate that union. It replaced the less defined union that had existed under the Articles of Confederation. It took effect in 1789 and has served as a model for the constitutions of numerous other nations. nations] nations nations nations

History

During the Revolutionary War, the thirteen states first formed a very weak central government—with the Congress being its only component—under the Articles of Confederation. Congress lacked any power to impose taxes, and, because there was no national