The Presidency Chapter 6.1

The Presidency The Constitution lists only three qualifications Be a native born citizen Be at least 35 Have been a resident of the US for 14 years The Constitution also states that the President is to be elected every 4 years It did not specify though how many terms the President could serve

The Presidency George Washington set the precedent for a two term limit No President broke this two term tradition until FDR was elected to a third term in 1940 In 1944 he won a 4th term The passage of the 22nd Amendment in 1951 set a two term limit The President is paid 400,000$, plus a 50,000 non taxable allowance as well as travel costs

The Presidency Inventing the American Presidency

The Vice President For much of the history of the US the VP had very little to do The Role of the VP To serve as President if they die, or cannot fulfill their duty The VP serves a 4 year term and meet the same requirements as the President The VP only has one other job and that is to preside over the Senate In recent years the Presidents have given their VP’s more responsibilities

The Rules of Succession If the President dies or resigns they will be succeeded by the VP The 25th Amendment provides that the new President nominates the new VP It must be approved by a majority from both houses of Congress If both the President and the VP die or leave office the 25th Amendment gives Congress the power of succession The Speaker of the House is first in line followed by the President Protempore