
Section 1 [Election, Removal]
Section 2 [Presidential Powers]
Section 3 [Presidential Rights and Duties]
Section 4 [Impeachment]
(1) The executive Power
shall be vested in a President
(2) 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.
(3) 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
chuse 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 chuse the President. But in chusing
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 greater 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
chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President.
(4) The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the
Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes;
which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.
(5) 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.
(6) 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.
(7) 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.
(8) 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."
(1) 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.
(2) 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.
(3) 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.
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.
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.
© 1994 - 3 Nov. 1997 /
For details and corrections contact
A. Tschentscher.