Social Studies Class- Phoenix
Name: ______________________ Date: ________________ Core: _______
ARTICLE 2 OF THE US CONSTITUTION
The Executive Branch
Directions: Complete the following outline of Article 2 of the U.S. Constitution by filling in the missing information using the
text below or a textbook in class.
Article 2: The Executive Branch
SECTION 1: Executive Elections

The president is responsible for _________________________, or carrying out the laws passed
by Congress.
Clause 2: Electors
 Directs each state to choose _____________________, or delegates to the
____________________ to vote for ___________________
Clause 3-4: Electoral College
 The candidate for President who wins the __________________________ vote in each state
typically wins that state’s _____________________________ votes.

The President must have at least __________________________ electoral votes in order to win
the election.

Can a presidential candidate get the most number of votes in the country but still lose the
election? __________ (Hint: see the * at end of this packet)

How many total members are there in the Electoral College? _________________ (Hint: the
number of electors is equal to the number of representatives PLUS the number of senators in our
Legislature).
Clause 5: Qualifications
 The President must be a citizen of the United States from ______________, at least _________
years old, and a _______________ of the country for ________ years.
Clause 6: Removal
 The powers of the President pass to the ___________________________ if the President
leaves office or cannot discharge his or her duties.
Social Studies Class- Phoenix
Clause 7: Compensation
 The President’s salary cannot be _________________ or _________________ during his or her
term of office.
Clause 8: Oath
 The President must promise to _____________________ and _________________ the
Constitution.
SECTION 2: Powers of the Executive
Clause 1: Military

The president is the head of the ____________________________ and the state militias.

The president has the power to grant a ____________________ or a ___________________
Clause 2-3: Treaties and Appointments of Officials

The president has the power to make __________________________ with other nations.

If the _________________________ is in recess the president can fill vacant posts by making
___________________________ appointments.
SECTION 3: The Executive and Congress
 Every year the President must give Congress a report on how the nation is doing, now called the
__________________________________
SECTION 4: ______________________________
 The President, Vice President, and others can be forced out of office if
_____________________ and found guilty of certain crimes like _____________________ and
_____________________.
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.
Social Studies Class- Phoenix
Mrs. Mackey cut out a confusing part and offered this description of how a president is elected by
the “Electoral College” (http://www.annenbergclassroom.org/page/article-ii-section-1):
Rather than being elected directly by the people, the president is elected by members of the Electoral College, which is created by
Article II, Section 1. It is not really a “college,” but a group of people who are elected by the states. Each state is entitled to the
number of electors equal to the combined number of their representatives and senators in Congress. So, Vermont has 3 electors
because it has 2 senators and 1 representative, while California has 55 because it has 2 senators and 53 representatives.
Neither members of Congress nor other federal officials can be electors. Each state legislature (states have their own law-making
houses) decides how members of the Electoral College are to be selected and how they are to vote. In most states, electors vote for
the presidential candidate who won the popular vote in their state. The two exceptions are Maine and Nebraska, where a
presidential candidate wins one electoral vote for each congressional district that he or she wins and two electoral votes if he or she
wins the overall popular vote in the state. The creation of the Electoral College gives more power to the smaller states, rather than
letting the people in the most populous states control who becomes president.
Additional rules were added in 1804, when Amendment XII was adopted. For example, the amendment creates the way a
president is selected when neither candidate obtains a majority of votes in the Electoral College (The House of Representatives gets
to vote on who becomes president if this happens). A candidate needs at least 270 electoral votes to win an election.
Now, back to the real Article 2:
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 (cancel or postpone punishment) and pardons
for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.
Social Studies Class- Phoenix
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 (people who represent the US while living in other countries), 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 (the period when
Congress is not working) 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.
____________________________________________
*Example of how a president can win the popular vote (total number of votes in the country) and
lose the presidential election: A difference or misalignment of the popular and electoral vote generally
results from one candidate winning a number of states with a majority of the electoral votes, while losing
badly in other states. Consider the following model of a country with 5 states, each with 100 voters and 1
electoral vote:
State
New Hampshire
Ohio
Alaska
Texas
Vermont
Total Votes
Votes for Donald
Trump
100
100
40
40
40
320
Votes for Bernie
Sanders
0
0
60
60
60
180
While Donald Trump receives more votes than Bernie, Bernie wins 3 of the 5 states, and therefore, Bernie
wins the presidency in this imaginary situation.