Article II
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.]
[1]
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 Offences against
the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.
He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of
the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two-thirds of the Senators
present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice
and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other
public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and
all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are
not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established
by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such
inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone,
in the Courts of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.
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.
[1]
This clause is superseded by Article XII,
Amendments. See page 396.