BELLRINGER:
NAME THE PRESIDENTS:
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Chapter 7 / Section 1:
The President and Vice President
PRESIDENTIAL FACTS:
• DID YOU KNOW? The election of
John F. Kennedy was dramatic evidence
that the presidency was changing. He was
not only the first Catholic but also the youngest
person to be elected president. In his Inaugural
Address, Kennedy declared that leadership had
passed “to a new generation of Americans.” He
challenged Americans to be active citizens:
“Ask not what your country can do for you-ask
what you can do for your country.”
GROUP WORK:
• YOU AND A PARTNER LIST
PERSONAL TRAITS YOU CONSIDER A
PRESIDENTAL CANDIDATE SHOULD HAVE.
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U.S. CONSTITUTION
• ARTICLE II of the United States Constitution
creates the EXECUTIVE BRANCH of the
government, consisting of the President, the
Vice President, and other executive officers
chosen by the President.
I. Qualifications for President
• A. The president heads the EXECUTIVE
BRANCH – the top political job in the country
and possibly the world. George Washington
was the first to hold the office.
• B. To become president, a person must be:
(1) at least 35, (2) a native-born American
citizen, and (3) a resident of the United
States for at least 14 years.
WHAT IS THIS FAMOUS
MONUMENT?
CAN YOU NAME THE PRESIDENTS FEATURED?
• C. So far, every U.S. president has been a
male. All but one has been Protestant
Christian. Most have had a college
education. Many were lawyers.
Most came from states
with large populations.
HOW IMPORTANT ARE A CANDIDATES
RELIGIOUS BELIEFS? SHOULD IT MATTER?
QUESTION & ANSWER
DISCUSSION QUESTION:
• The president of the United States is
generally considered to hold the
most important job in the world.
Why?
ANSWER:
• The job of the U.S. president is generally
considered the most important in the world
because of the power and global influence of
the United States.
II. Electing a President
• A. Presidential elections take place every four
years in years evenly divisible by 4.
• B. The Constitution set up an indirect method
of election called the Electoral College. By
marking their ballots for a particular
candidate, voters are actually selecting their
state’s electors. The electors are
pledged to vote for the chosen
candidate.
• C. Each state has as many electoral votes as
the total of its members in Congress.
This means that states with larger
populations have more electoral votes.
• D. In almost all states, the winning candidate
receives all the electoral votes, even if the
person wins by only a small majority. As a
result, candidates focus their campaigns on
states with the most electoral
votes. It takes 270 of the 538
electoral votes to win.
• E. The media announces the winner the evening
of the election. However, the outcome is not
official until the Electoral College casts ballots
and Congress counts them.
HOW MANY PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORAL
COLLEGE VOTES DOES ALABAMA HAVE?
QUESTION & ANSWER
DISCUSSION QUESTION:
• Your ballot for president will show the
names of all the candidates. When you
select one, are you voting directly for
that person? Explain.
ANSWER:
• No. When you vote for a candidate,
you are actually voting for a list of
presidential electors
pledged to that
candidate.
III. Term of Office
• A. Presidents serve four-year terms. The
Twenty-second Amendment limits each
president to two elected terms, or a maximum
of 10 years if the
president took office
during another
president’s term.
PRESIDENTIAL FACTS:
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt
is the only president elected to
4 consecutive terms.
• He was also paralyzed by a
childhood illness known
as polio.
• B. The president receives a yearly salary of
$400,000, plus expenses. The president lives
and works at the White House. A staff tends
to the needs of the president’s family.
• C. Camp David, a beautiful estate in
Maryland, serves as the president’s retreat
and a place to host foreign leaders. Presidents
travel in special cars, helicopters, and
airplanes, such as Air Force One.
QUESTION & ANSWER
DISCUSSION QUESTION:
• Before the Twenty-second Amendment,
did most presidents serve more than
two terms? Explain.
ANSWER:
• No. Originally the Constitution placed no
limits on how many terms a president could
serve. George Washington, however, chose
to serve only two terms.
All other presidents except
one followed Washington’s
example.
DO YOU REMEMBER WHO
THAT WAS?
IV. The Vice President
• A. The VICE PRESIDENT is elected with the
president, and the qualifications are the same
for both jobs.
• B. The vice president votes in the Senate in case
of a tie, but otherwise has little authority. Yet if
the president dies, is removed from
office, becomes seriously ill,
or resigns, the vice president
becomes president.
QUESTION & ANSWER
DISCUSSION QUESTION:
• A vice president’s activities rarely make
headlines. Under what circumstances
would a vice president suddenly
become the focus of attention?
ANSWER:
• The rarely visible vice president would
suddenly become the focus of attention
if the president became ill, died, or left
office. The vice president
would then become
president.
PRESIDENTIAL FACTS:
• At 12:30 pm Central Standard Time on November 22,
John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas
while riding with his wife, Jacqueline, in the
presidential motorcade. Johnson was riding in a car
behind the president with his wife, Lady Bird
Johnson, and Texas Senator Ralph Yarborough.
• Johnson was sworn in to office
aboard the presidential plane
AIR FORCE ONE.
V. Presidential Succession
• A. The Constitution was not clear about whether the
vice president would become president or just take
over the president’s duties if the president could no
longer serve. Vice President John Tyler settled the
question. He took the oath as president when
William Henry Harrison died in office.
• B. The Presidential Succession Act of 1947
established the line of succession. If both the
president and Vice President die or leave office,
the Speaker of the House would be next,
followed by the President pro tempore, and then
the Secretary of State.
• C. Later the Twenty-fifth Amendment further
established that the vice president, after
becoming president, would choose another vice
president. Both houses of Congress must
approve the choice.
• D. The amendment gives the vice president a
role in determining whether a president is
disabled and unable to do the job. The vice
president would then act as president until
the president is able to go back to work.
CHECK YOUR NOTES…
ACCORDING TO WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED,
WHO SUCCEEDS THE PRESIDENT
ACCORDING TO THE
PRESIDENTIAL SUCCESSION ACT OF 1947?
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QUESTION & ANSWER
DISCUSSION QUESTION:
• If both the president and
vice president die or
leave office, who would be
the next three people in
the order of
presidential succession?
ANSWER:
• The next three would be the
Speaker of the House John Boehner, followed
by the President pro tempore Daniel Inouye
of the Senate, and then the
Secretary of State Hilary Clinton.
EXIT STRATEGY:
TRACE THE STEPS TO BECOME THE PRESIDENT…