Section 1.
The executive power shall be vested
in a President of the United States
of America. He shall hold his office
during the term of four years, and,
together with the Vice President,
chosen for the same term, be
elected, as follows:
Each
state shall appoint, in such manner
as the Legislature thereof may
direct, a number of electors, equal
to the whole number of Senators and
Representatives to which the State
may be entitled in the Congress: but
no Senator or Representative, or
person holding an office of trust or
profit under the United States,
shall be appointed an elector.
The electors shall meet in their
respective states, and vote by
ballot for two persons, of whom one
at least shall not be an inhabitant
of the same state with themselves.
And they shall make a list of all
the persons voted for, and of the
number of votes for each; which list
they shall sign and certify, and
transmit sealed to the seat of the
government of the United States,
directed to the President of the
Senate. The President of the Senate
shall, in the presence of the Senate
and House of Representatives, open
all the certificates, and the votes
shall then be counted. The person
having the greatest number of votes
shall be the President, if such
number be a majority of the whole
number of electors appointed; and if
there be more than one who have such
majority, and have an equal number
of votes, then the House of
Representatives shall immediately
choose by ballot one of them for
President; and if no person have a
majority, then from the five highest
on the list the said House shall in
like manner choose the President.
But in choosing the President, the
votes shall be taken by States, the
representation from each state
having one vote; A quorum for this
purpose shall consist of a member or
members from two thirds of the
states, and a majority of all the
states shall be necessary to a
choice. In every case, after the
choice of the President, the person
having the greatest number of votes
of the electors shall be the Vice
President. But if there should
remain two or more who have equal
votes, the Senate shall choose from
them by ballot the Vice President.
The
Congress may determine the time of
choosing the electors, and the day
on which they shall give their
votes; which day shall be the same
throughout the United States.
No
person except a natural born
citizen, or a citizen of the United
States, at the time of the adoption
of this Constitution, shall be
eligible to the office of President;
neither shall any person be eligible
to that office who shall not have
attained to the age of thirty five
years, and been fourteen Years a
resident within the United States.
In case of the removal of the
President from office, or of his
death, resignation, or inability to
discharge the powers and duties of
the said office, the same shall
devolve on the Vice President, and
the Congress may by law provide for
the case of removal, death,
resignation or inability, both of
the President and Vice President,
declaring what officer shall then
act as President, and such officer
shall act accordingly, until the
disability be removed, or a
President shall be elected.
The
President shall, at stated times,
receive for his services, a
compensation, which shall neither be
increased nor diminished during the
period for which he shall have been
elected, and he shall not receive
within that period any other
emolument from the United States, or
any of them.
Before he enter on the execution of
his office, he shall 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."
Section 2.
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; he may require the opinion,
in writing, of the principal officer
in each of the executive
departments, upon any subject
relating to the duties of their
respective offices, and he shall
have power to grant reprieves and
pardons for offenses against the
United States, except in cases of
impeachment.
He
shall have power, by and with the
advice and consent of the Senate, to
make treaties, provided two thirds
of the Senators present concur; and
he shall nominate, and by and with
the advice and consent of the
Senate, shall appoint ambassadors,
other public ministers and consuls,
judges of the Supreme Court, and all
other officers of the United States,
whose appointments are not herein
otherwise provided for, and which
shall be established by law: but the
Congress may by law vest the
appointment of such inferior
officers, as they think proper, in
the President alone, in the courts
of law, or in the heads of
departments.
The
President shall have power to fill
up all vacancies that may happen
during the recess of the Senate, by
granting commissions which shall
expire at the end of their next
session.
Section 3.
He shall from time to time give to
the Congress information of the
state of the union, and recommend to
their consideration such measures as
he shall judge necessary and
expedient; he may, on extraordinary
occasions, convene both Houses, or
either of them, and in case of
disagreement between them, with
respect to the time of adjournment,
he may adjourn them to such time as
he shall think proper; he shall
receive ambassadors and other public
ministers; he shall take care that
the laws be faithfully executed, and
shall commission all the officers of
the United States.
Section 4.
The President, Vice President and
all civil officers of the United
States, shall be removed from office
on impeachment for, and conviction
of, treason, bribery, or other high
crimes and misdemeanors.
Table of
Contents - The Constitution
