President of the United States - wikipedia President of the United States `` POTUS '' redirects here. For the political talk radio channel, see P.O.T.U.S. ( Sirius XM ). For other uses, see President of the United States ( disambiguation ). For a list, see List of Presidents of the United States. It has been suggested that Commander - in - Chief of the United States Armed Forces be merged into this article. ( Discuss ) Proposed since June 2018. President of the United States Presidential Seal Presidential Standard Incumbent Donald Trump since January 20, 2017 Executive branch of the U.S. Government Executive Office of the President Style Mr. President ( informal ) The Honorable ( formal ) His Excellency ( international correspondence ) Status Head of State Head of Government Member of Cabinet Domestic Policy Council National Economic Council National Security Council Residence White House Seat Washington, D.C. Nominator Political parties or self - nomination Appointer Electoral College of the United States Term length Four years, renewable once Constituting instrument United States Constitution Formation March 4, 1789 ( 229 years ago ) ( 1789 - 03 - 04 ) First holder George Washington April 30, 1789 Salary $400,000 annually Website www.whitehouse.gov This article is part of a series on the Politics of the United States of America Federal Government Constitution of the United States Law Taxation Legislature United States Congress House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan ( R ) Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy ( R ) Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi ( D ) Congressional districts Senate President Mike Pence ( R ) President Pro Tempore Orrin Hatch ( R ) President Pro Tempore Emeritus Patrick Leahy ( D ) Majority Leader Mitch McConnell ( R ) Minority Leader Chuck Schumer ( D ) Executive President of the United States Donald Trump ( R ) Vice President of the United States Mike Pence ( R ) Cabinet Federal agencies Executive Office Judiciary Supreme Court of the United States Chief Justice John Roberts Kennedy Thomas Ginsburg Breyer Alito Sotomayor Kagan Gorsuch Courts of Appeals District Courts ( list ) Other tribunals Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Off - year elections Political parties Democratic Republican Third parties Federalism State Government Governors Legislatures ( List ) State courts Local government Other countries Atlas The President of the United States ( POTUS ) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander - in - chief of the United States Armed Forces. In contemporary times, the president is looked upon as one of the world 's most powerful political figures and as the leader of the only remaining global superpower. The role includes responsibility for the world 's most expensive military that has the second largest nuclear arsenal. The president also leads the nation with the largest economy by nominal GDP. The president possesses significant domestic and international hard and soft power. Article II of the Constitution establishes the executive branch of the federal government. It vests the executive power of the United States in the president. The power includes the execution and enforcement of federal law, alongside the responsibility of appointing federal executive, diplomatic, regulatory and judicial officers, and concluding treaties with foreign powers with the advice and consent of the Senate. The president is further empowered to grant federal pardons and reprieves, and to convene and adjourn either or both houses of Congress under extraordinary circumstances. The president directs the foreign and domestic policies of the United States, and takes an active role in promoting his policy priorities to members of Congress. In addition, as part of the system of checks and balances, Article One of the United States Constitution gives the president the power to sign or veto federal legislation. Since the office of president was established in 1789, its power has grown substantially, as has the power of the federal government as a whole. Through the Electoral College, the registered voters indirectly elect the president and vice president to a four - year term. This is the only federal election in the United States which is not decided by popular vote. Nine vice presidents became president by virtue of a president 's intra-term death or resignation. The Twenty - second Amendment precludes any United States citizen from being elected president for a third term. It also prohibits a person from being elected to the presidency more than once if that person previously had served as president, or acting president, for more than two years of another person 's term as president. In all, 44 individuals have served 45 presidencies spanning 57 full four - year terms. Grover Cleveland served two non-consecutive terms, so he is counted twice ; as the 22nd and 24th presidents. Donald Trump of New York is the 45th and current president. He assumed office on January 20, 2017. Contents 1 Origin 2 Powers and duties 2.1 Article I legislative role 2.2 Article II executive powers 2.2. 1 War and foreign affairs powers 2.2. 2 Administrative powers 2.2. 3 Juridical powers 2.2. 4 Legislative facilitator 2.3 Ceremonial roles 2.4 Critics of presidency 's evolution 3 Selection process 3.1 Eligibility 3.2 Campaigns and nomination 3.3 Election 4 Tenure 4.1 Inauguration 4.2 Term limit 4.3 Impeachment 5 Succession and disability 6 Political affiliation 7 Compensation 8 Residence 9 Travel 10 Protection 11 Post-presidency 11.1 Presidential libraries 12 Timeline of presidents 13 See also 14 Notes 15 References 16 Further reading 16.1 Primary sources 17 External links Origin During the American Revolution in 1776, the Thirteen Colonies, acting through the Second Continental Congress, declared political independence from Great Britain. The new states were independent of each other as nation states and recognized the necessity of closely coordinating their efforts against the British. Congress desired to avoid anything that remotely resembled a monarchy and negotiated the Articles of Confederation to establish an alliance between the states. Under the Articles, Congress was a central authority without any legislative power. It could make its own resolutions, determinations, and regulations, but not any laws, and could not impose any taxes or enforce local commercial regulations upon its citizens. This institutional design reflected how Americans believed the deposed British system of Crown and Parliament ought to have functioned with respect to the royal dominion : a superintending body for matters that concerned the entire empire. The states were out from under any monarchy and assigned some formerly royal prerogatives ( e.g., making war, receiving ambassadors, etc. ) to Congress ; the remaining prerogatives were lodged within their own respective state governments. The states agreed to a resolution that settled competing western land claims. The Articles took effect on March 1, 1781, when Maryland became the final state to ratify them. In 1783, the Treaty of Paris secured independence for each of the former colonies. With peace at hand, the states each turned toward their own internal affairs. By 1786, Americans found their continental borders besieged and weak and their respective economies in crises as neighboring states agitated trade rivalries with one another. They witnessed their hard currency pouring into foreign markets to pay for imports, their Mediterranean commerce preyed upon by North African pirates, and their foreign - financed Revolutionary War debts unpaid and accruing interest. Civil and political unrest loomed. Following the successful resolution of commercial and fishing disputes between Virginia and Maryland at the Mount Vernon Conference in 1785, Virginia called for a trade conference between all the states, set for September 1786 in Annapolis, Maryland, with an aim toward resolving further - reaching interstate commercial antagonisms. When the convention failed for lack of attendance due to suspicions among most of the other states, Alexander Hamilton led the Annapolis delegates in a call for a convention to offer revisions to the Articles, to be held the next spring in Philadelphia. Prospects for the next convention appeared bleak until James Madison and Edmund Randolph succeeded in securing George Washington 's attendance to Philadelphia as a delegate for Virginia. When the Constitutional Convention convened in May 1787, the 12 state delegations in attendance ( Rhode Island did not send delegates ) brought with them an accumulated experience over a diverse set of institutional arrangements between legislative and executive branches from within their respective state governments. Most states maintained a weak executive without veto or appointment powers, elected annually by the legislature to a single term only, sharing power with an executive council, and countered by a strong legislature. New York offered the greatest exception, having a strong, unitary governor with veto and appointment power elected to a three - year term, and eligible for reelection to an indefinite number of terms thereafter. It was through the closed - door negotiations at Philadelphia that the presidency framed in the U.S. Constitution emerged. Powers and duties Article I legislative role President Ronald Reagan signs the Martin Luther King bill, 1983. The Presentment Clause requires that any bill passed by Congress must be presented to the president before it can become law. Once the legislation has been presented, the president has three options : Sign the legislation within ten days, excluding Sundays -- the bill becomes law. Veto the legislation within the above timeframe and return it to the house of Congress from which it originated, expressing any objections -- the bill does not become law, unless both houses of Congress vote to override the veto by a two - thirds vote. Take no action on the legislation within the above timeframe -- the bill becomes law, as if the president had signed it, unless Congress is adjourned at the time, in which case it does not become law ( a pocket veto ). In 1996, Congress attempted to enhance the president 's veto power with the Line Item Veto Act. The legislation empowered the president to sign any spending bill into law while simultaneously striking certain spending items within the bill, particularly any new spending, any amount of discretionary spending, or any new limited tax benefit. Congress could then repass that particular item. If the president then vetoed the new legislation, Congress could override the veto by its ordinary means, a two - thirds vote in both houses. In Clinton v. City of New York, 524 U.S. 417 ( 1998 ), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled such a legislative alteration of the veto power to be unconstitutional. Article II executive powers War and foreign Affairs powers Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States, successfully preserved the Union during the American Civil War. One of the most important of all executive powers is the president 's role as Commander - in - Chief of the United States Armed Forces. The power to declare war is constitutionally vested in Congress, but the president has ultimate responsibility for the direction and disposition of the military. The present - day operational command of the Armed Forces is delegated to the Department of Defense and is normally exercised through the Secretary of Defense. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Combatant Commands assist with the operation as outlined in the presidentially approved Unified Command Plan ( UCP ). The framers of the Constitution took care to limit the president 's powers regarding the military ; Alexander Hamilton explained this in Federalist No. 69 : The President is to be commander - in - chief of the army and navy of the United States... It would amount to nothing more than the supreme command and direction of the military and naval forces... while that ( the power ) of the British king extends to the DECLARING of war and to the RAISING and REGULATING of fleets and armies, all ( of ) which... would appertain to the legislature. ( Emphasis in the original. ) Pursuant to the War Powers Resolution, Congress must authorize any troop deployments longer than 60 days, although that process relies on triggering mechanisms that have never been employed, rendering it ineffectual. Additionally, Congress provides a check to presidential military power through its control over military spending and regulation. Presidents have historically initiated the process for going to war, but critics have charged that there have been several conflicts in which presidents did not get official declarations, including Theodore Roosevelt 's military move into Panama in 1903, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the invasions of Grenada in 1983 and Panama in 1989. The constitution also empowers the President to propose and chiefly negotiate agreements between the United States and other countries, which, upon receiving the advice and consent of a two - thirds supermajority vote of the United States Senate, become binding with the force of federal law. Administrative powers Suffice it to say that the President is made the sole repository of the executive powers of the United States, and the powers entrusted to him as well as the duties imposed upon him are awesome indeed. Nixon v. General Services Administration, 433 U.S. 425 ( 1977 ) ( Rehnquist, J., dissenting ) The president is the head of the executive branch of the federal government and is constitutionally obligated to `` take care that the laws be faithfully executed ''. The executive branch has over four million employees, including members of the military. Presidents make numerous executive branch appointments : an incoming president may make up to 6,000 before taking office and 8,000 more while serving. Ambassadors, members of the Cabinet, and other federal officers, are all appointed by a president with the `` advice and consent '' of a majority of the Senate. When the Senate is in recess for at least ten days, the president may make recess appointments. Recess appointments are temporary and expire at the end of the next session of the Senate. The power of a president to fire executive officials has long been a contentious political issue. Generally, a president may remove executive officials purely at will. However, Congress can curtail and constrain a president 's authority to fire commissioners of independent regulatory agencies and certain inferior executive officers by statute. To manage the growing federal bureaucracy, presidents have gradually surrounded themselves with many layers of staff, who were eventually organized into the Executive Office of the President of the United States. Within the Executive Office, the president 's innermost layer of aides ( and their assistants ) are located in the White House Office. Additionally, the president possesses the power to manage operations of the federal government through issuing various types of directives, such as presidential proclamation and executive orders. When the president is lawfully exercising one of his constitutionally conferred responsibilities, the scope of this power is broad. Even so, these directives are subject to judicial review by U.S. federal courts, which can find them to be unconstitutional. Moreover, Congress can overturn an executive order though legislation ( e.g., Congressional Review Act ). Juridical powers The president also has the power to nominate federal judges, including members of the United States courts of appeals and the Supreme Court of the United States. However, these nominations require Senate confirmation. Securing Senate approval can provide a major obstacle for presidents who wish to orient the federal judiciary toward a particular ideological stance. When nominating judges to U.S. district courts, presidents often respect the long - standing tradition of senatorial courtesy. Presidents may also grant pardons and reprieves. Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon a month after taking office. Bill Clinton pardoned Patty Hearst on his last day in office, as is often done just before the end of a second presidential term, but not without controversy. For further information, see List of people pardoned or granted clemency by the President of the United States. Historically, two doctrines concerning executive power have developed that enable the president to exercise executive power with a degree of autonomy. The first is executive privilege, which allows the president to withhold from disclosure any communications made directly to the president in the performance of executive duties. George Washington first claimed the privilege when Congress requested to see Chief Justice John Jay 's notes from an unpopular treaty negotiation with Great Britain. While not enshrined in the Constitution, or any other law, Washington 's action created the precedent for the privilege. When Nixon tried to use executive privilege as a reason for not turning over subpoenaed evidence to Congress during the Watergate scandal, the Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683 ( 1974 ), that executive privilege did not apply in cases where a president was attempting to avoid criminal prosecution. When President Clinton attempted to use executive privilege regarding the Lewinsky scandal, the Supreme Court ruled in Clinton v. Jones, 520 U.S. 681 ( 1997 ), that the privilege also could not be used in civil suits. These cases established the legal precedent that executive privilege is valid, although the exact extent of the privilege has yet to be clearly defined. Additionally, federal courts have allowed this privilege to radiate outward and protect other executive branch employees, but have weakened that protection for those executive branch communications that do not involve the president. President George W. Bush delivers the 2007 State of the Union Address, with Vice President Dick Cheney and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. The state secrets privilege allows the president and the executive branch to withhold information or documents from discovery in legal proceedings if such release would harm national security. Precedent for the privilege arose early in the 19th century when Thomas Jefferson refused to release military documents in the treason trial of Aaron Burr and again in Totten v. United States 92 U.S. 105 ( 1876 ), when the Supreme Court dismissed a case brought by a former Union spy. However, the privilege was not formally recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court until United States v. Reynolds 345 U.S. 1 ( 1953 ), where it was held to be a common law evidentiary privilege. Before the September 11 attacks, use of the privilege had been rare, but increasing in frequency. Since 2001, the government has asserted the privilege in more cases and at earlier stages of the litigation, thus in some instances causing dismissal of the suits before reaching the merits of the claims, as in the Ninth Circuit 's ruling in Mohamed v. Jeppesen Dataplan, Inc. Critics of the privilege claim its use has become a tool for the government to cover up illegal or embarrassing government actions. Legislative facilitator The Constitution 's Ineligibility Clause prevents the president ( and all other executive officers ) from simultaneously being a member of Congress. Therefore, the president can not directly introduce legislative proposals for consideration in Congress. However, the president can take an indirect role in shaping legislation, especially if the president 's political party has a majority in one or both houses of Congress. For example, the president or other officials of the executive branch may draft legislation and then ask senators or representatives to introduce these drafts into Congress. The president can further influence the legislative branch through constitutionally or statutorily mandated, periodic reports to Congress. These reports may be either written or oral, but today the greatest in importance are given as the oral State of the Union addresses, which often outline the president 's legislative proposals for the coming year. Additionally, the president may attempt to have Congress alter proposed legislation by threatening to veto that legislation unless requested changes are made. In the 20th century, critics charged that too many legislative and budgetary powers that should have belonged to Congress had slid into the hands of presidents. As the head of the executive branch, presidents control a vast array of agencies that can issue regulations with little oversight from Congress. One critic charged that presidents could appoint a `` virtual army of ' czars ' -- each wholly unaccountable to Congress yet tasked with spearheading major policy efforts for the White House ''. Presidents have been criticized for making signing statements when signing congressional legislation about how they understand a bill or plan to execute it. This practice has been criticized by the American Bar Association as unconstitutional. Conservative commentator George Will wrote of an `` increasingly swollen executive branch '' and `` the eclipse of Congress ''. According to Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution, the president may convene either or both houses of Congress. If both houses can not agree on a date of adjournment, the president may appoint a date for Congress to adjourn. For example, Franklin Delano Roosevelt convened a special session of Congress immediately after the December 7, 1941, Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor and asked for a declaration of war. Ceremonial roles President Woodrow Wilson throws out the ceremonial first ball on Opening Day, 1916 As head of state, the president can fulfill traditions established by previous presidents. William Howard Taft started the tradition of throwing out the ceremonial first pitch in 1910 at Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C., on the Washington Senators ' Opening Day. Every president since Taft, except for Jimmy Carter, threw out at least one ceremonial first ball or pitch for Opening Day, the All - Star Game, or the World Series, usually with much fanfare. The President of the United States has served as the honorary president of the Boy Scouts of America since the founding of the organization. Other presidential traditions are associated with American holidays. Rutherford B. Hayes began in 1878 the first White House egg rolling for local children. Beginning in 1947, during the Harry S. Truman administration, every Thanksgiving the president is presented with a live domestic turkey during the annual National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation held at the White House. Since 1989, when the custom of `` pardoning '' the turkey was formalized by George H.W. Bush, the turkey has been taken to a farm where it will live out the rest of its natural life. Presidential traditions also involve the president 's role as head of government. Many outgoing presidents since James Buchanan traditionally give advice to their successor during the presidential transition. Ronald Reagan and his successors have also left a private message on the desk of the Oval Office on Inauguration Day for the incoming president. Four ruffles and flourishes and ' Hail to the Chief ' ( long version ) Problems playing this file ? See media help. During a state visit by a foreign head of state, the president typically hosts a State Arrival Ceremony held on the South Lawn, a custom begun by John F. Kennedy in 1961. This is followed by a state dinner given by the president which is held in the State Dining Room later in the evening. The modern presidency holds the president as one of the nation 's premier celebrities. Some argue that images of the presidency have a tendency to be manipulated by administration public relations officials as well as by presidents themselves. One critic described the presidency as `` propagandized leadership '' which has a `` mesmerizing power surrounding the office ''. Administration public relations managers staged carefully crafted photo - ops of smiling presidents with smiling crowds for television cameras. One critic wrote the image of John F. Kennedy was described as carefully framed `` in rich detail '' which `` drew on the power of myth '' regarding the incident of PT 109 and wrote that Kennedy understood how to use images to further his presidential ambitions. As a result, some political commentators have opined that American voters have unrealistic expectations of presidents : voters expect a president to `` drive the economy, vanquish enemies, lead the free world, comfort tornado victims, heal the national soul and protect borrowers from hidden credit - card fees ''. Critics of presidency 's evolution Main articles : Imperial Presidency and Imperiled Presidency The nation 's Founding Fathers expected the Congress -- which was the first branch of government described in the Constitution -- to be the dominant branch of government ; they did not expect a strong executive department. However, presidential power has shifted over time, which has resulted in claims that the modern presidency has become too powerful, unchecked, unbalanced, and `` monarchist '' in nature. Professor Dana D. Nelson believes presidents over the past thirty years have worked towards `` undivided presidential control of the executive branch and its agencies ''. She criticizes proponents of the unitary executive for expanding `` the many existing uncheckable executive powers -- such as executive orders, decrees, memorandums, proclamations, national security directives and legislative signing statements -- that already allow presidents to enact a good deal of foreign and domestic policy without aid, interference or consent from Congress ''. Bill Wilson, board member of Americans for Limited Government, opined that the expanded presidency was `` the greatest threat ever to individual freedom and democratic rule ''. Selection process George Washington, the first president of the United States Eligibility Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the Constitution sets three qualifications for holding the presidency. To serve as president, one must : be a natural - born U.S. citizen of the United States ; be at least thirty - five years old ; be a resident in the United States for at least fourteen years. A person who meets the above qualifications would, however, still be disqualified from holding the office of president under any of the following conditions : Under the Twenty - second Amendment, no person can be elected president more than twice. The amendment also specifies that if any eligible person serves as president or acting president for more than two years of a term for which some other eligible person was elected president, the former can only be elected president once. Under Article I, Section 3, Clause 7, upon conviction in impeachment cases, the Senate has the option of disqualifying convicted individuals from holding federal office, including that of president. Under Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment, no person who swore an oath to support the Constitution, and later rebelled against the United States, can become president. However, this disqualification can be lifted by a two - thirds vote of each house of Congress. Campaigns and nomination Main articles : United States presidential primary, United States presidential nominating convention, United States presidential election debates, and United States presidential election The modern presidential campaign begins before the primary elections, which the two major political parties use to clear the field of candidates before their national nominating conventions, where the most successful candidate is made the party 's nominee for president. Typically, the party 's presidential candidate chooses a vice presidential nominee, and this choice is rubber - stamped by the convention. The most common previous profession of U.S. presidents is lawyer. Nominees participate in nationally televised debates, and while the debates are usually restricted to the Democratic and Republican nominees, third party candidates may be invited, such as Ross Perot in the 1992 debates. Nominees campaign across the country to explain their views, convince voters and solicit contributions. Much of the modern electoral process is concerned with winning swing states through frequent visits and mass media advertising drives. Election Map of the United States showing the number of electoral votes allocated following the 2010 census to each state and the District of Columbia for the 2012, 2016 and 2020 presidential elections ; it also notes that Maine and Nebraska distribute electors by way of the Congressional District Method. 270 electoral votes are required for a majority out of 538 votes possible. Main article : Electoral College ( United States ) The president is elected indirectly by the voters of each state and the District of Columbia through the Electoral College, a body of electors formed every four years for the sole purpose of electing the president and vice president to concurrent four - year terms. As prescribed by the Twelfth Amendment, each state is entitled to a number of electors equal to the size of its total delegation in both houses of Congress. Additionally, the Twenty - third Amendment provides that the District of Columbia is entitled to the number it would have if it were a state, but in no case more than that of the least populous state. Currently, all states and D.C. select their electors based on a popular election held on Election Day. In all but two states, the party whose presidential - vice presidential ticket receives a plurality of popular votes in the state has its entire slate of elector nominees chosen as the state 's electors. Maine and Nebraska deviate from this winner - take - all practice, awarding two electors to the statewide winner and one to the winner in each congressional district. On the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, about six weeks after the election, the electors convene in their respective state capitals ( and in Washington D.C. ) to vote for president and, on a separate ballot, for vice president. They typically vote for the candidates of the party that nominated them. While there is no constitutional mandate or federal law requiring them to do so, the District of Columbia and 30 states have laws requiring that their electors vote for the candidates to whom they are pledged. Following the vote, each state then sends a certified record of their electoral votes to Congress. The votes of the electors are opened and counted during a joint session of Congress, held in the first week of January. If a candidate has received an absolute majority of electoral votes for president ( currently 270 of 538 ), that person is declared the winner. Otherwise, the House of Representatives must meet to elect a president using a contingent election procedure in which representatives, voting by state delegation, with each state casting a single vote, choose between the top electoral vote - getters for president. For a candidate to win, he or she must receive the votes of an absolute majority of states ( currently 26 of 50 ). There have been two contingent presidential elections in the nation 's history. A 73 -- 73 electoral vote tie between Thomas Jefferson and fellow Democratic - Republican Aaron Burr in the election of 1800 necessitated the first. Conducted under the original procedure established by Article II, Section 1, Clause 3 of the Constitution, which stipulates that if two or three persons received a majority vote and an equal vote, the House of Representatives would choose one of them for president ; the runner up would become Vice President. On February 17, 1801, Jefferson was elected president on the 36th ballot, and Burr became vice president. Afterward, the system was overhauled through the Twelfth Amendment in time to be used in the 1804 election. A quarter - century later, the choice for president again devolved to the House when no candidate won an absolute majority of electoral votes ( 131 of 261 ) in the election of 1824. Under the Twelfth Amendment, the House was required to choose a president from among the top three electoral vote recipients : Andrew Jackson, John Quincy Adams, and William H. Crawford. Held February 9, 1825, this second and most recent contingent election resulted in John Quincy Adams being elected president on the first ballot. Tenure Inauguration Main article : United States presidential inauguration Pursuant to the Twentieth Amendment, the four - year term of office for both the president and vice president begins at noon on January 20. The first presidential and vice presidential terms to begin on this date, known as Inauguration Day, were the second terms of President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Vice President John Nance Garner in 1937. Previously, Inauguration Day was on March 4. As a result of the date change, the first term ( 1933 -- 37 ) of both men had been shortened by 43 days. Before executing the powers of the office, a president is required to recite the presidential oath of office, found in Article II, Section 1, Clause 8. This is the only component in the inauguration ceremony mandated by the Constitution : 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. Presidents have traditionally placed one hand upon a Bible while taking the oath, and have added `` So help me God '' to the end of the oath. Although the oath may be administered by any person authorized by law to administer oaths, presidents are traditionally sworn in by the Chief Justice of the United States. Term limit Franklin D. Roosevelt won a record four presidential elections ( spanning 1932 -- 1944 ). When the first president, George Washington, announced in his Farewell Address that he was not running for a third term, he established a `` two - terms then out '' precedent. Precedent became tradition after Thomas Jefferson publicly embraced the principle a decade later during his second term, as did his two immediate successors, James Madison and James Monroe. In spite of the strong two - term tradition, Ulysses S. Grant sought a non-consecutive third term in 1880, as did Theodore Roosevelt in 1912 ( though it would have been only his second full term ). Both were unsuccessful. In 1940, after leading the nation through the Great Depression, Franklin Roosevelt was elected to a third term, breaking the self - imposed precedent. Four years later, with the U.S. engaged in World War II, he was re-elected again despite his declining physical health ; he died 82 days into his fourth term on April 12, 1945. In response to the unprecedented length of Roosevelt 's presidency, the Twenty - second Amendment was adopted in 1951. The amendment bars anyone from being elected president more than twice, or once if that person served more than two years ( 24 months ) of another president 's four - year term. Harry S. Truman, president when this term limit came into force, was exempted from its limitations, and briefly sought a second full term -- to which he would have otherwise been inelegible for election to, as he had been president for more than two years of Roosevelt 's fourth term -- before he withdrew from the 1952 election. Since the amendment 's adoption, five presidents have served two full terms : Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama. Both Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush sought a second term, but were defeated. Richard Nixon was elected to a second term, but resigned before completing it. Lyndon B. Johnson, having held the presidency for one full term in addition to only 14 months of John F. Kennedy 's unexpired term, was eligible for a second full term in 1968, but withdrew from Democratic Primary. Additionally, Gerald Ford, who served out the last two years and five months of Nixon 's second term, sought a full term, but was defeated by Jimmy Carter in the 1976 election. Impeachment Further information : Impeachment in the United States Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution allows for the removal of high federal officials, including the president, from office for `` treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. '' Article I, Section 2, Clause 5 authorizes the House of Representatives to serve as a `` grand jury '' with the power to impeach said officials by a majority vote. Article I, Section 3, Clause 6 authorizes the Senate to serve as a court with the power to remove impeached officials from office, by a two - thirds vote to convict. Two presidents have been impeached by the House of Representatives : Andrew Johnson in 1868, and Bill Clinton in 1998. Both were acquitted by the senate : Johnson by one vote, and Clinton by 17 votes. Additionally, the House Judiciary Committee commenced impeachment proceedings against Richard Nixon in 1974 ; however, he resigned from office before the full House voted on the articles of impeachment. Succession and disability Succession to or vacancies in the office of president may arise under several possible circumstances : death, resignation, and removal from office. Deaths have occurred a number of times, resignation has occurred only once, and removal from office has never occurred. Under Section 3 of the Twenty - fifth Amendment, the president may transfer the presidential powers and duties to the vice president, who then becomes acting president, by transmitting a statement to the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate stating the reasons for the transfer. The president resumes the discharge of the presidential powers and duties upon transmitting, to those two officials, a written declaration stating that resumption. Such a transfer of power has occurred on three occasions : Ronald Reagan to George H.W. Bush once, on July 13, 1985, and George W. Bush to Dick Cheney twice, on June 29, 2002, and on July 21, 2007. Under Section 4 of the Twenty - fifth Amendment, the vice president, in conjunction with a majority of the Cabinet, may transfer the presidential powers and duties from the president to the vice president by transmitting a written declaration to the Speaker of the House and the president pro tempore of the Senate that the president is incapacitated -- unable to discharge their presidential powers and duties. If this occurs, then the vice president will assume the presidential powers and duties as acting president ; however, the president can declare that no such inability exists and resume the discharge of the presidential powers and duties. If the vice president and Cabinet contest this claim, it is up to Congress, which must meet within two days if not already in session, to decide the merit of the claim. Section 1 of the Twenty - fifth Amendment states that the vice president becomes president upon the removal from office, death, or resignation of the preceding president. Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 authorizes Congress to declare who shall become acting president in the `` Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President. '' The Presidential Succession Act of 1947, ( codified as 3 U.S.C. § 19 ) provides that if both the president and vice president have left office or are both otherwise unavailable to serve during their terms of office, the presidential line of succession follows the order of : Speaker of the House, then, if necessary, the President pro tempore of the Senate, and then if necessary, the eligible heads of federal executive departments who form the president 's Cabinet. The Cabinet currently has 15 members, of which the Secretary of State is first in line ; the other Cabinet secretaries follow in the order in which their department ( or the department of which their department is the successor ) was created. Those department heads who are constitutionally ineligible to be elected to the presidency are also disqualified from assuming the powers and duties of the presidency through succession. No statutory successor has yet been called upon to act as president. Political affiliation Throughout most of its history, politics of the United States have been dominated by political parties. Political parties had not been anticipated when the U.S. Constitution was drafted in 1787, nor did they exist at the time of the first presidential election in 1788 -- 1789. Organized political parties developed in the U.S. in the mid -- 1790s, but political factions, from which organized parties evolved, began to appear almost immediately after the Federal government came into existence. Those who supported the Washington administration were referred to as `` pro-administration '' and would eventually form the Federalist Party, while those in opposition joined the emerging Democratic - Republican Party. Greatly concerned about the very real capacity of political parties to destroy the fragile unity holding the nation together, Washington remained unaffiliated with any political faction or party throughout his eight - year presidency. He was, and remains, the only U.S. president never to be affiliated with a political party. Since George Washington, 43 persons have been sworn into the office of president, and each has been affiliated with a political party at the time of assuming office. The number of presidents per political party ( at the time of entry into office ) are : 19 with the Republican Party : Chester A. Arthur, George H.W. Bush, George W. Bush, Calvin Coolidge, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Gerald Ford, James A. Garfield, Ulysses S. Grant, Warren G. Harding, Benjamin Harrison, Rutherford B. Hayes, Herbert Hoover, Abraham Lincoln, William McKinley, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and Donald Trump 14 with the Democratic Party : James Buchanan, Jimmy Carter, Grover Cleveland, Bill Clinton, Andrew Jackson, Lyndon B. Johnson, John F. Kennedy, Barack Obama, Franklin Pierce, James K. Polk, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Martin Van Buren, and Woodrow Wilson Four with the Democratic - Republican Party : John Quincy Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe Four with the Whig Party : Millard Fillmore, William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, and John Tyler One with the Federalist Party : John Adams One with the National Union Party : Andrew Johnson Compensation Since 2001, the president 's annual salary has been $400,000 annual salary, along with a : $50,000 expense allowance ; $100,000 nontaxable travel account, and $19,000 entertainment account. The president 's salary is set by Congress, and under Article II, Section 1, Clause 7 of the Constitution, may not be increased or reduced during his or her current term of office. Presidential pay history Year established Salary Salary in 2017 USD 1789 $25,000 $718,000 1873 $50,000 $1,060,000 1909 $75,000 $2,080,000 1949 $100,000 $1,030,000 1969 $200,000 $1,340,000 2001 $400,000 $554,000 Residence Main article : List of residences of Presidents of the United States Lawn in front of the White House The White House in Washington, D.C. serves as the official residence of the president. The site was selected by George Washington, and the cornerstone was laid in 1792. Every president since John Adams ( in 1800 ) has lived there. At various times in U.S. history, it has been known as the `` President 's Palace, '' the `` President 's House, '' and the `` Executive Mansion. '' Theodore Roosevelt officially gave the White House its current name in 1901. Facilities that are available to the president include access to the White House staff, medical care, recreation, housekeeping, and security services. The federal government pays for state dinners and other official functions, but the president pays for personal, family, and guest dry cleaning and food. Camp David, officially titled Naval Support Facility Thurmont, a mountain - based military camp in Frederick County, Maryland, is the president 's country residence. A place of solitude and tranquility, the site has been used extensively to host foreign dignitaries since the 1940s. Blair House, located next to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House Complex and Lafayette Park, serves as the president 's official guest house and as a secondary residence for the president if needed. Four interconnected, 19th century houses -- Blair House, Lee House, and 700 and 704 Jackson Place -- with a combined floor space exceeding 70,000 square feet ( 6,500 m ) comprise the property. Travel Main article : Transportation of the President of the United States The primary means of long distance air travel for the president is one of two identical Boeing VC - 25 aircraft, which are extensively modified Boeing 747 airliners and are referred to as Air Force One while the president is on board ( although any U.S. Air Force aircraft the president is aboard is designated as `` Air Force One '' for the duration of the flight ). In - country trips are typically handled with just one of the two planes, while overseas trips are handled with both, one primary and one backup. The president also has access to smaller Air Force aircraft, most notably the Boeing C - 32, which are used when the president must travel to airports that can not support a jumbo jet. Any civilian aircraft the president is aboard is designated Executive One for the flight. For short distance air travel, the president has access to a fleet of U.S. Marine Corps helicopters of varying models, designated Marine One when the president is aboard any particular one in the fleet. Flights are typically handled with as many as five helicopters all flying together and frequently swapping positions as to disguise which helicopter the president is actually aboard to any would - be threats. For ground travel, the president uses the presidential state car, which is an armored limousine designed to look like a Cadillac sedan, but built on a truck chassis. The US Secret Service operates and maintains the fleet of several limousines. The president also has access to two armored motorcoaches, which are primarily used for touring trips. Presidential transportation The presidential limousine The presidential plane, called Air Force One when the president is inside. Marine One helicopter, when the president is aboard Protection The U.S. Secret Service is charged with protecting the president and the first family. As part of their protection, presidents, first ladies, their children and other immediate family members, and other prominent persons and locations are assigned Secret Service codenames. The use of such names was originally for security purposes and dates to a time when sensitive electronic communications were not routinely encrypted ; today, the names simply serve for purposes of brevity, clarity, and tradition. Post-presidency Five presidents : George H.W. Bush, Barack Obama, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Jimmy Carter. Photo taken in the Oval Office on January 7, 2009. Under the Former Presidents Act, all living former presidents are granted a pension, an office, and a staff. The pension has increased numerous times with Congressional approval. Retired presidents now receive a pension based on the salary of the current administration 's cabinet secretaries, which was $199,700 each year in 2012. Former presidents who served in Congress may also collect congressional pensions. The act also provides former presidents with travel funds and franking privileges. Prior to 1997, all former presidents, their spouses, and their children until age 16 were protected by the Secret Service until the president 's death. In 1997, Congress passed legislation limiting secret service protection to no more than 10 years from the date a president leaves office. On January 10, 2013, President Obama signed legislation reinstating lifetime secret service protection for him, George W. Bush, and all subsequent presidents. A spouse who remarries is no longer eligible for secret service protection. Some presidents have had significant careers after leaving office. Prominent examples include William Howard Taft 's tenure as Chief Justice of the United States and Herbert Hoover 's work on government reorganization after World War II. Grover Cleveland, whose bid for reelection failed in 1888, was elected president again four years later in 1892. Two former presidents served in Congress after leaving the White House : John Quincy Adams was elected to the House of Representatives, serving there for seventeen years, and Andrew Johnson returned to the Senate in 1875. John Tyler served in the provisional Congress of the Confederate States during the Civil War and was elected to the Confederate House of Representatives, but died before that body first met. Presidents may use their predecessors as emissaries to deliver private messages to other nations or as official representatives of the United States to state funerals and other important foreign events. Richard Nixon made multiple foreign trips to countries including China and Russia and was lauded as an elder statesman. Jimmy Carter has become a global human rights campaigner, international arbiter, and election monitor, as well as a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Bill Clinton has also worked as an informal ambassador, most recently in the negotiations that led to the release of two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, from North Korea. Clinton has also been active politically since his presidential term ended, working with his wife Hillary on her 2008 and 2016 presidential bids and President Obama on his 2012 reelection campaign. There are currently ( since January 20, 2017 ) five living former presidents. In order of office they are : Jimmy Carter ( age 93 ) since 1981 George H.W. Bush ( age 94 ) since 1993 Bill Clinton ( age 72 ) since 2001 George W. Bush ( age 72 ) since 2009 Barack Obama ( age 57 ) since 2017 Presidential libraries Main article : Presidential library Every president since Herbert Hoover has created a repository known as a presidential library for preserving and making available his papers, records, and other documents and materials. Completed libraries are deeded to and maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration ( NARA ) ; the initial funding for building and equipping each library must come from private, non-federal sources. There are currently thirteen presidential libraries in the NARA system. There are also presidential libraries maintained by state governments and private foundations and Universities of Higher Education, such as the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, which is run by the State of Illinois, the George W. Bush Presidential library and Museum, which is run by Southern Methodist University, the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, which is run by Texas A&M University, and the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum, which is run by the University of Texas at Austin. A number of presidents have lived for many years after leaving office, and several of them have personally overseen the building and opening of their own presidential libraries. Some have even made arrangements for their own burial at the site. Several presidential libraries contain the graves of the president they document, including the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home in Abilene, Kansas, Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda, California, and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California. These gravesites are open to the general public. Timeline of presidents Main article : List of Presidents of the United States § Presidents See also Government of the United States portal Curse of Tippecanoe List of United States presidential trips Mr. President ( title ) President of the Continental Congress Presidential $1 Coin Program Presidential M&M 's Second - term curse White House Office Notes Jump up ^ Donald Trump has announced he will take a salary of only 1 dollar per annum. Jump up ^ The informal term POTUS originated in the Phillips Code, a shorthand method created in 1879 by Walter P. Phillips for the rapid transmission of press reports by telegraph. Jump up ^ The nine vice presidents who succeeded to the presidency upon their predecessor 's death or resignation and finished - out that unexpired term are John Tyler ( 1841 ) ; Millard Fillmore ( 1850 ) ; Andrew Johnson ( 1865 ) ; Chester A. Arthur ( 1881 ) ; Theodore Roosevelt ( 1901 ) ; Calvin Coolidge ( 1923 ) ; Harry S. Truman ( 1945 ) ; Lyndon B. Johnson ( 1963 ) ; and Gerald Ford ( 1974 ). References Jump up ^ `` How To Address The President ; He Is Not Your Excellency Or Your Honor, But Mr. President ''. The New York Times. August 2, 1891. Jump up ^ `` USGS Correspondence Handbook -- Chapter 4 ''. Usgs.gov. July 18, 2007. Archived from the original on September 26, 2012. Retrieved November 15, 2012. Jump up ^ `` Models of Address and Salutation ''. Ita.doc.gov. Retrieved September 4, 2010. Jump up ^ Heads of State, Heads of Government, Ministers for Foreign Affairs, Protocol and Liaison Service, United Nations. Retrieved November 1, 2012. Jump up ^ The White House Office of the Press Secretary ( September 1, 2010 ). `` Remarks by President Obama, President Mubarak, His Majesty King Abdullah, Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas Before Working Dinner ''. obamawhitehouse.archives.gov. Retrieved July 19, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Exchanges of Letters ''. Jimmy Carter Library. September 1978. Retrieved November 9, 2017. Jump up ^ Maier, Pauline ( 2010 ). Ratification : The People Debate the Constitution, 1787 -- 1788. New York, New York : Simon & Schuster. p. 433. ISBN 978 - 0 - 684 - 86854 - 7. Jump up ^ `` March 4 : A forgotten huge day in American history ''. Philadelphia : National Constitution Center. March 4, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2018. Jump up ^ `` Presidential Election of 1789 ''. Digital Encyclopedia. Mount Vernon, Virginia : Mount Vernon Ladies ' Association, George Washington 's Mount Vernon. Retrieved July 29, 2018. Jump up ^ `` How common is Trump 's $1 salary ? ''. BBC World Service. November 14, 2016. Retrieved January 22, 2017. Jump up ^ Safire, William ( 2008 ). Safire 's Political Dictionary. Oxford University Press. p. 564. ISBN 9780195340617. Jump up ^ Von Drehle, David ( February 2, 2017 ). `` Is Steve Bannon the Second Most Powerful Man in the World ? ''. Time. Jump up ^ `` Who should be the world 's most powerful person ? ''. The Guardian. London. January 3, 2008. Jump up ^ Meacham, Jon ( December 20, 2008 ). `` Meacham : The History of Power ''. Newsweek. Retrieved September 4, 2010. Jump up ^ Zakaria, Fareed ( December 20, 2008 ). `` The NEWSWEEK 50 : Barack Obama ''. Newsweek. Retrieved September 4, 2010. Jump up ^ `` Transcript of the Constitution of the United States -- Official ''. Archives.gov. Retrieved September 4, 2010. Jump up ^ Pfiffner, J.P. ( 1988 ). `` The President 's Legislative Agenda ''. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science. 499 : 22 -- 35. doi : 10.1177 / 0002716288499001002. Jump up ^ The Influence of State Politics in Expanding Federal Power, ' Henry Jones Ford, Proceedings of the American Political Science Association, Vol. 5, Fifth Annual Meeting ( 1908 ). Retrieved March 17, 2010. Jump up ^ `` Executive Branch ''. obamawhitehouse.archives.gov., The White House. Jump up ^ name = `` the presidency '' > `` Executive Branch ''. obamawhitehouse.archives.gov... Jump up ^ `` Grover Cleveland - 24 ''. White House... ^ Jump up to : Milkis, Sidney M. ; Nelson, Michael ( 2008 ). The American Presidency : Origins and Development ( 5th ed. ). Washington, D.C. : CQ Press. pp. 1 -- 25. ISBN 978 - 0 - 87289 - 336 - 8. ^ Jump up to : Kelly, Alfred H. ; Harbison, Winfred A. ; Belz, Herman ( 1991 ). The American Constitution : Its Origins and Development. I ( 7th ed. ). New York : W.W. Norton & Co. pp. 76 -- 81. ISBN 978 - 0 - 393 - 96056 - 3. Jump up ^ Beeman, Richard ( 2009 ). Plain, Honest Men : The Making of the American Constitution. New York : Random House. ISBN 978 - 0 - 8129 - 7684 - 7. Jump up ^ `` DOD Releases Unified Command Plan 2011 ''. United States Department of Defense. April 8, 2011. Archived from the original on May 13, 2011. Retrieved February 25, 2013. Jump up ^ 10 U.S.C. § 164 Jump up ^ Joint Chiefs of Staff. About the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Retrieved February 25, 2013. Jump up ^ Hamilton, Alexander. The Federalist # 69 ( reposting ). Retrieved June 15, 2007. Jump up ^ Christopher, James A. ; Baker, III ( July 8, 2008 ). `` The National War Powers Commission Report ''. The Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on November 26, 2010. Retrieved December 15, 2010. No clear mechanism or requirement exists today for the president and Congress to consult. The War Powers Resolution of 1973 contains only vague consultation requirements. Instead, it relies on reporting requirements that, if triggered, begin the clock running for Congress to approve the particular armed conflict. By the terms of the 1973 Resolution, however, Congress need not act to disapprove the conflict ; the cessation of all hostilities is required in 60 to 90 days merely if Congress fails to act. Many have criticized this aspect of the Resolution as unwise and unconstitutional, and no president in the past 35 years has filed a report `` pursuant '' to these triggering provisions. ^ Jump up to : `` The Law : The President 's War Powers ''. Time. June 1, 1970. Retrieved September 28, 2009. Jump up ^ Mitchell, Alison ( May 2, 1999 ). `` The World ; Only Congress Can Declare War. Really. It 's True ''. The New York Times. Retrieved November 8, 2009. Presidents have sent forces abroad more than 100 times ; Congress has declared war only five times : the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Spanish -- American War, World War I and World War II. Jump up ^ Mitchell, Alison ( May 2, 1999 ). `` The World ; Only Congress Can Declare War. Really. It 's True ''. The New York Times. Retrieved November 8, 2009. President Reagan told Congress of the invasion of Grenada two hours after he had ordered the landing. He told Congressional leaders of the bombing of Libya while the aircraft were on their way. Jump up ^ Gordon, Michael R. ( December 20, 1990 ). `` U.S. troops move in panama in effort to seize noriega ; gunfire is heard in capital ''. The New York Times. Retrieved November 8, 2009. It was not clear whether the White House consulted with Congressional leaders about the military action, or notified them in advance. Thomas S. Foley, the Speaker of the House, said on Tuesday night that he had not been alerted by the Administration. Jump up ^ `` Article II, Section 3, U.S. Constitution ''. Legal Information Institute. 2012. Retrieved August 7, 2012. Jump up ^ `` The Executive Branch ''. The White House. obamawhitehouse.archives.gov. Retrieved February 5, 2010. Jump up ^ NLRB v. Noel Canning, 572 U.S. __ ( 2014 ). Jump up ^ Shurtleff v. United States, 189 U.S. 311 ( 1903 ) ; Myers v. United States, 272 U.S. 52 ( 1926 ). Jump up ^ Humphrey 's Executor v. United States, 295 U.S. 602 ( 1935 ) and Morrison v. Olson, 487 U.S. 654 ( 1988 ), respectively. Jump up ^ Gaziano, Todd ( February 21, 2001 ). `` Executive Summary : The Use and Abuse of Executive Orders and Other Presidential Directives ''. Washington, D.C. : The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved January 23, 2018. Jump up ^ Johnston, David ( December 24, 1992 ). `` Bush Pardons 6 in Iran Affair, Aborting a Weinberger Trial ; Prosecutor Assails ' Cover - Up ' ''. The New York Times. Retrieved November 8, 2009. But not since President Gerald R. Ford granted clemency to former President Richard M. Nixon for possible crimes in Watergate has a Presidential pardon so pointedly raised the issue of whether the President was trying to shield officials for political purposes. Jump up ^ Johnston, David ( December 24, 1992 ). `` Bush Pardons 6 in Iran Affair, Aborting a Weinberger Trial ; Prosecutor Assails ' Cover - Up ' ''. The New York Times. Retrieved November 8, 2009. The prosecutor charged that Mr. Weinberger 's efforts to hide his notes may have ' forestalled impeachment proceedings against President Reagan ' and formed part of a pattern of ' deception and obstruction. '... In light of President Bush 's own misconduct, we are gravely concerned about his decision to pardon others who lied to Congress and obstructed official investigations. Jump up ^ Eisler, Peter ( March 7, 2008 ). `` Clinton - papers release blocked ''. USA Today. Retrieved November 8, 2009. Former president Clinton issued 140 pardons on his last day in office, including several to controversial figures, such as commodities trader Rich, then a fugitive on tax evasion charges. Rich 's ex-wife, Denise, contributed $2,000 in 1999 to Hillary Clinton 's Senate campaign ; $5,000 to a related political action committee ; and $450,000 to a fund set up to build the Clinton library. Jump up ^ Millhiser, Ian ( June 1, 2010 ). `` Executive Privilege 101 ''. Center for American Progress. Retrieved October 8, 2010. Jump up ^ `` Part III of the opinion in Mohamed v. Jeppesen Dataplan ''. Caselaw.findlaw.com. Retrieved November 29, 2010. ^ Jump up to : Frost, Amanda ; Florence, Justin ( 2009 ). `` Reforming the State Secrets Privilege '' ( PDF ). American Constitution Society. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on December 13, 2017. Retrieved November 9, 2017. Jump up ^ Weaver, William G. ; Pallitto, Robert M. ( 2005 ). `` State Secrets and Executive Power ''. Political Science Quarterly. 120 ( 1 ) : 85 -- 112. doi : 10.1002 / j. 1538 - 165x. 2005. tb00539. x. Use of the state secrets privilege in courts has grown significantly over the last twenty - five years. In the twenty - three years between the decision in Reynolds ( 1953 ) and the election of Jimmy Carter, in 1976, there were four reported cases in which the government invoked the privilege. Between 1977 and 2001, there were a total of fifty - one reported cases in which courts ruled on invocation of the privilege. Because reported cases only represent a fraction of the total cases in which the privilege is invoked or implicated, it is unclear precisely how dramatically the use of the privilege has grown. But the increase in reported cases is indicative of greater willingness to assert the privilege than in the past. Jump up ^ Savage, Charlie ( September 8, 2010 ). `` Court Dismisses a Case Asserting Torture by C.I.A ''. The New York Times. Retrieved October 8, 2010. Jump up ^ Finn, Peter ( September 9, 2010 ). `` Suit dismissed against firm in CIA rendition case ''. The Washington Post. Retrieved October 8, 2010. Jump up ^ Glenn Greenwald ( February 10, 2009 ). `` The 180 - degree reversal of Obama 's State Secrets position ''. Salon. Retrieved October 8, 2010. Jump up ^ `` Background on the State Secrets Privilege ''. American Civil Liberties Union. January 31, 2007. Retrieved October 8, 2010. Jump up ^ Cantor, Eric ( July 30, 2009 ). `` Obama 's 32 Czars ''. The Washington Post. Retrieved September 28, 2009. Jump up ^ Nelson, Dana D. ( October 11, 2008 ). `` The ' unitary executive ' question ''. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 4, 2009. Jump up ^ Suarez, Ray ; et al. ( July 24, 2006 ). `` President 's Use of ' Signing Statements ' Raises Constitutional Concerns ''. PBS Online NewsHour. Archived from the original on March 21, 2007. Retrieved November 11, 2009. The American Bar Association said President Bush 's use of `` signing statements '', which allow him to sign a bill into law but not enforce certain provisions, disregards the rule of law and the separation of powers. Legal experts discuss the implications. Jump up ^ Will, George F. ( December 21, 2008 ). `` Making Congress Moot ''. The Washington Post. Retrieved September 28, 2009. Jump up ^ Duggan, Paul ( April 2, 2007 ). `` Balking at the First Pitch ''. The Washington Post. p. A01. Jump up ^ `` History of the BSA Fact Sheet '' ( PDF ). Boy Scouts of America. Retrieved November 9, 2017. Jump up ^ Grier, Peter ( April 25, 2011 ). `` The ( not so ) secret history of the White House Easter Egg Roll ''. The Christian Science Monitor. Archived from the original on July 30, 2012. Retrieved July 30, 2012. Jump up ^ Hesse, Monica ( November 21, 2007 ). `` Turkey Pardons, The Stuffing of Historic Legend ''. The Washington Post. Retrieved May 14, 2011. Jump up ^ Gibbs, Nancy ( November 13, 2008 ). `` How Presidents Pass The Torch ''. Time. Retrieved May 6, 2011. Jump up ^ Dorning, Mike ( January 22, 2009 ). `` A note from Bush starts morning in the Oval Office ''. Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on December 28, 2011. Retrieved May 6, 2011. Jump up ^ Abbott, James A. ; Rice, Elaine M. ( 1998 ). Designing Camelot : The Kennedy White House Restoration. Van Nostrand Reinhold. pp. 9 -- 10. ISBN 978 - 0 - 442 - 02532 - 8. Jump up ^ `` The White House State Dinner ''. The White House Historical Association. Retrieved November 9, 2017. Jump up ^ Dykoski, Rachel ( November 1, 2008 ). `` Book note : Presidential idolatry is `` Bad for Democracy '' ``. Twin Cities Daily Planet. Retrieved November 11, 2009. Dana D. Nelson 's book makes the case that we 've had 200 + years of propagandized leadership... Jump up ^ Neffinger, John ( April 2, 2007 ). `` Democrats vs. Science : Why We 're So Damn Good at Losing Elections ''. HuffPost. Retrieved November 11, 2009... back in the 1980s Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes ran a piece skewering Reagan 's policies on the elderly... But while her voiceover delivered a scathing critique, the video footage was all drawn from carefully - staged photo - ops of Reagan smiling with seniors and addressing large crowds... Deaver thanked... Stahl... for broadcasting all those images of Reagan looking his best. Jump up ^ Nelson, Dana D. ( 2008 ). `` Bad for democracy : how the Presidency undermines the power of the people ''. U of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 8166 - 5677 - 6. Retrieved November 11, 2009. in rich detail how Kennedy drew on the power of myth as he framed his experience during World War II, when his PT boat was sliced in half by a Japanese... Jump up ^ Nelson, Dana D. ( 2008 ). `` Bad for democracy : how the Presidency undermines the power of the people ''. U of Minnesota Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 8166 - 5677 - 6. Retrieved November 11, 2009. Even before Kennedy ran for Congress, he had become fascinated, through his Hollywood acquaintances and visits, with the idea of image... ( p. 54 ) Jump up ^ Lexington ( July 21, 2009 ). `` The Cult of the Presidency ''. The Economist. Retrieved November 9, 2009. Gene Healy argues that because voters expect the president to do everything... When they inevitably fail to keep their promises, voters swiftly become disillusioned. Yet they never lose their romantic idea that the president should drive the economy, vanquish enemies, lead the free world, comfort tornado victims, heal the national soul and protect borrowers from hidden credit - card fees. Jump up ^ Kakutani, Michiko ( July 6, 2007 ). `` Unchecked and Unbalanced ''. The New York Times. Retrieved November 9, 2009. the founding fathers had ' scant affection for strong executives ' like England 's king, and... Bush White House 's claims are rooted in ideas `` about the ' divine ' right of kings ''... and that certainly did not find their ' way into our founding documents, the 1776 Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of 1787. ' Jump up ^ `` The Conquest of Presidentialism ''. HuffPost. August 22, 2008. Retrieved September 20, 2009. Jump up ^ Schimke, David ( September -- October 2008 ). `` Presidential Power to the People -- Author Dana D. Nelson on why democracy demands that the next president be taken down a notch ''. Utne Reader. Retrieved September 20, 2009. Jump up ^ Linker, Ross ( September 27, 2007 ). `` Critical of Presidency, Prof. Ginsberg and Crenson unite ''. The Johns - Hopkins Newsletter. Retrieved November 9, 2017. presidents slowly but surely gain more and more power with both the public at large and other political institutions doing nothing to prevent it. Jump up ^ Kakutani, Michiko ( July 6, 2007 ). `` Unchecked and Unbalanced ''. The New York Times. Retrieved November 9, 2009. Unchecked and Unbalanced : Presidential Power in a Time of Terror By Frederick A.O. Schwarz Jr. and Aziz Z. Huq ( authors ) ^ Jump up to : Nelson, Dana D. ( October 11, 2008 ). `` Opinion -- The ' unitary executive ' question -- What do McCain and Obama think of the concept ? ''. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 21, 2009. Jump up ^ Shane, Scott ( September 25, 2009 ). `` A Critic Finds Obama Policies a Perfect Target ''. The New York Times. Retrieved November 8, 2009. There is the small, minority - owned firm with deep ties to President Obama 's Chicago backers, made eligible by the Federal Reserve to handle potentially lucrative credit deals. ' I want to know how these firms are picked and who picked them, ' Mr. Wilson, the group 's president, tells his eager researchers. Jump up ^ `` Article II. The Executive Branch, Annenberg Classroom ''. The Interactive Constitution. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : The National Constitution Center. Retrieved June 15, 2018. Jump up ^ Peabody, Bruce G. ; Gant, Scott E. ( February 1999 ). `` The Twice and Future President : Constitutional Interstices and the Twenty - Second Amendment ''. Minnesota Law Review. Minneapolis. 83 ( 3 ) : 565 -- 635. Archived from the original on January 15, 2013. Retrieved June 12, 2015. Jump up ^ Albert, Richard ( Winter 2005 ). `` The Evolving Vice Presidency ''. Temple Law Review. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 78 ( 4 ) : 811 -- 896. Retrieved July 31, 2018 -- via Digital Commons @ Boston College Law School. Jump up ^ `` Article I ''. US Legal System. USLegal. Retrieved June 15, 2018. Jump up ^ Moreno, Paul. `` Articles on Amendment XIV : Disqualification for Rebellion ''. The Heritage Guide to the Constitution. The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved June 15, 2018. Jump up ^ International Law, US Power : The United States ' Quest for Legal Security, p 10, Shirley V. Scott -- 2012 Jump up ^ `` Twenty - third Amendment ''. Annenberg Classroom. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : The Annenberg Public Policy Center. Retrieved July 30, 2018. ^ Jump up to : Neale, Thomas H. ( May 15, 2017 ). `` The Electoral College : How It Works in Contemporary Presidential Elections '' ( PDF ). CRS Report for Congress. Washington, D.C. : Congressional Research Service. p. 13. Retrieved July 29, 2018. Jump up ^ `` About the Electors ''. U.S. Electoral College. Washington, D.C. : National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved August 2, 2018. Jump up ^ `` Maine & Nebraska ''. fairvote.com. Takoma Park, Maryland : FairVote. Retrieved August 1, 2018. Jump up ^ `` Split Electoral Votes in Maine and Nebraska ''. 270towin.com. Retrieved August 1, 2018. Jump up ^ `` Faithless Elector State Laws ''. fairvote.com. Takoma Park, Maryland : FairVote. Retrieved August 1, 2018. Jump up ^ Kuroda, Tadahisa. `` Essays on Article II : Electoral College ''. The Heritage Guide to The Constitution. The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved July 27, 2018. Jump up ^ Fried, Charles. `` Essays on Amendment XII : Electoral College ''. The Heritage Guide to the Constitution. The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved February 20, 2018. Jump up ^ Boller, Paul F. ( 2004 ). Presidential Campaigns : From George Washington to George W. Bush ( 2nd revised ed. ). New York, New York : Oxford University Press. pp. 36 -- 39. ISBN 978 - 0 - 19 - 516716 - 0. Retrieved August 2, 2018. Jump up ^ Larson, Edward J. ; Shesol, Jeff. `` The Twentieth Amendment ''. The Interactive Constitution. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : The National Constitution Center. Retrieved June 15, 2018. Jump up ^ `` The First Inauguration after the Lame Duck Amendment : January 20, 1937 ''. Washington, D.C. : Office of the Historian, U.S. House of Representatives. Retrieved July 24, 2018. Jump up ^ `` Commencement of the Terms of Office : Twentieth Amendment '' ( PDF ). Constitution of the United States of America : Analysis and Interpretation. Washington, D.C. : United States Government Printing Office, Library of Congress. pp. 2297 -- 98. Retrieved July 24, 2018. ^ Jump up to : Kesavan, Vasan. `` Essays on Article II : Oath of Office ''. The Heritage Guide to The Constitution. The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved August 2, 2018. Jump up ^ NCC Staff ( January 20, 2017 ). `` How Presidents use Bibles at inaugurations ''. Constitution Daily. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : National Constitution Center. Retrieved August 3, 2018. Jump up ^ Munson, Holly ( July 12, 2011 ). `` Who said that ? A quick history of the presidential oath ''. ConstitutionDaily. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : National Constitution Center. Retrieved August 3, 2018. Jump up ^ Neale, Thomas H. ( October 19, 2009 ). `` Presidential Terms and Tenure : Perspectives and Proposals for Change '' ( PDF ). Washington, D.C. : Congressional Research Service. Retrieved August 3, 2018. Jump up ^ Waugh, Joan. `` Ulysses S. Grant : Campaigns and Elections ''. Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia. Retrieved August 3, 2018. Jump up ^ Milkis, Sidney. `` Theodore Roosevelt : Campaigns and Elections ''. Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia. Retrieved August 3, 2018. ^ Jump up to : `` Twenty - second Amendment ''. Annenberg Classroom. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : The Annenberg Public Policy Center. Retrieved August 2, 2018. ^ Jump up to : Presser, Stephen B. `` Essays on Article I : Impeachment ''. Heritage Guide to the Constitution. The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved August 3, 2018. Jump up ^ Gerhardt, Michael J. `` Essays on Article I : Trial of Impeachment ''. Heritage Guide to the Constitution. The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved August 3, 2018. Jump up ^ Woolley, John ; Peters, Gerhard. `` List of Vice-Presidents Who Served as `` Acting '' President Under the 25th Amendment ``. The American Presidency Project ( online ). Gerhard Peters ( database ). Santa Barbara, California : University of California ( hosted ). Retrieved July 19, 2018. Jump up ^ Feerick, John. `` Essays on Article II : Presidential Succession ''. The Heritage Guide to the Constitution. The Heritage Foundation. Retrieved July 19, 2018. Jump up ^ `` Succession : Presidential and Vice Presidential Fast Facts ''. cnn.com. October 24, 2017. Retrieved July 19, 2018. Jump up ^ `` U.S. Senate : Party Division ''. senate.gov. Retrieved January 2, 2017. Jump up ^ Jamison, Dennis ( December 31, 2014 ). `` George Washington 's views on political parties in America ''. The Washington Times. Retrieved July 1, 2016. Jump up ^ `` The Presidents of the United States of America ''. enchantedlearning.com. Retrieved August 2, 2018. Jump up ^ `` Political Parties of the Presidents ''. presidentsusa.net. Retrieved August 2, 2018. Jump up ^ Longley, Robert ( September 1, 2017 ). `` Presidential Pay and Compensation ''. ThoughtCo. Retrieved July 31, 2018. Jump up ^ Elkins, Kathleen ( February 19, 2018 ). `` Here 's the last time the president of the United States got a raise ''. CNBC. Retrieved July 31, 2018. Jump up ^ `` Presidential and Vice Presidential Salaries Exclusive of Perquisites ''. Data from Congressional Quarterly 's Guide to the Presidency. University of Michigan. Retrieved July 31, 2018. Jump up ^ Williamson, Samuel H. `` Seven Ways to Compute the Relative Value of a U.S. Dollar Amount, 1774 to Present ''. measuringworth.com. MeasuringWorth. Retrieved July 31, 2018. Jump up ^ `` The White House Building ''. whitehouse. Retrieved August 3, 2018. Jump up ^ Bulmiller, Elisabeth ( January 2009 ). `` Inside the Presidency : Few outsiders ever see the President 's private enclave ''. National Geographic. Washington, D.C. : National Geographic Partners. Retrieved August 3, 2018. Jump up ^ `` The White House Building ''. whitehouse. Retrieved August 3, 2018. Jump up ^ `` President 's Guest House ( includes Lee House and Blair House ), Washington, DC ''. Washington, D.C. : General Services Administration. Retrieved November 9, 2017. Jump up ^ `` Air Force One ''. whitehouse.gov/about/air-force-one/. Archived from the original on December 14, 2012... White House Military Office. Retrieved June 17, 2007. Jump up ^ Any U.S. Air Force aircraft carrying the president will use the call sign `` Air Force One. '' Similarly, `` Navy One '', `` Army One '', and `` Coast Guard One '' are the call signs used if the president is aboard a craft belonging to these services. `` Executive One '' becomes the call sign of any civilian aircraft when the president boards. Jump up ^ New Presidential Limousine enters Secret Service Fleet U.S. Secret Service Press Release ( January 14, 2009 ) Retrieved on January 20, 2009. Jump up ^ Ahlers, Mike M. ; Marrapodi, Eric ( January 6, 2009 ). `` Obama 's wheels : Secret Service to unveil new presidential limo ''. CNN. Archived from the original on February 2, 2016. Retrieved December 16, 2017. Jump up ^ Farley, Robert ( August 25, 2011 ). `` Obama 's Canadian - American Bus ''. FactCheck. Retrieved December 16, 2017. Jump up ^ `` Junior Secret Service Program : Assignment 7. Code Names ''. National Park Service. Archived from the original on January 18, 2007. Retrieved August 18, 2007. Jump up ^ `` Candidate Code Names Secret Service Monikers Used on the Campaign Trail ''. CBS. September 16, 2008. Retrieved November 12, 2008. Jump up ^ Schwemle, Barbara L. ( October 17, 2012 ). `` President of the United States : Compensation '' ( PDF ). Congressional Research Service. Retrieved January 10, 2013. Jump up ^ `` Former presidents cost U.S. taxpayers big bucks ''. Toledo Blade. January 7, 2007. Retrieved May 22, 2007. Jump up ^ 18 U.S.C. § 3056 Jump up ^ `` Obama signs bill granting lifetime Secret Service protection to former presidents and spouses ''. The Washington Post. Associated Press. January 10, 2013. Archived from the original on August 23, 2016. Retrieved January 10, 2013. ^ Jump up to : `` United States Secret Service : Protection ''. United States Secret Service. Retrieved November 9, 2017. Jump up ^ `` Obama signs protection bill for former presidents ''. The Washington Times. January 10, 2013. Retrieved August 14, 2013. Jump up ^ `` Shock and Anger Flash Throughout the United States ''. Associated Press. March 31, 1981. Retrieved March 11, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Four Presidents ''. Reagan Presidential Library, National Archives and Records Administration. Retrieved April 3, 2011. Jump up ^ `` Biography of Richard M. Nixon ''. obamawhitehouse.archives.gov., The White House. Jump up ^ 44 U.S.C. § 2112 Further reading Balogh, Brian and Bruce J. Schulman, eds. Recapturing the Oval Office : New Historical Approaches to the American Presidency ( Cornell University Press, 2015 ), 311 pp. Bumiller, Elisabeth ( January 2009 ). `` Inside the Presidency ''. National Geographic. 215 ( 1 ) : 130 -- 149. Couch, Ernie. Presidential Trivia. Rutledge Hill Press. March 1, 1996. ISBN 1 - 55853 - 412 - 1 Lang, J. Stephen. The Complete Book of Presidential Trivia. Pelican Publishing. 2001. ISBN 1 - 56554 - 877 - 9 Greenberg, David. Republic of Spin : An Inside History of the American Presidency ( W.W. Norton & Company, 2015 ). xx, 540 pp. Leo, Leonard -- Taranto, James -- Bennett, William J. Presidential Leadership : Rating the Best and the Worst in the White House. Simon and Schuster. 2004. ISBN 0 - 7432 - 5433 - 3 Presidential Studies Quarterly, published by Blackwell Synergy, is a quarterly academic journal on the presidency. Świątczak, Wasilewska, Iwona. `` The Toughest Season in the White House '' : The Rhetorical Presidency and the State of the Union Address, 1953 -- 1992. PhD thesis. University of Helsinki, 2014. ISBN 978 - 951 - 51 - 0248 - 5. Primary sources Waldman, Michael -- Stephanopoulos, George. My Fellow Americans : The Most Important Speeches of America 's presidents, from George Washington to George W. Bush. Sourcebooks Trade. 2003. ISBN 1 - 4022 - 0027 - 7 Jacobs, Ron. Interview with Joseph G. Peschek and William Grover, authors of The Unsustainable Presidency, a book offering an analysis of the role the US President plays in economics and politics External links Find more aboutPresident of the United Statesat Wikipedia 's sister projects Definitions from Wiktionary Media from Wikimedia Commons Quotations from Wikiquote Texts from Wikisource Textbooks from Wikibooks Travel guide from Wikivoyage Data from Wikidata White House homepage President of the United States at Curlie ( based on DMOZ ) Presidents of the United States ( list ) George Washington ( 1789 -- 1797 ) John Adams ( 1797 -- 1801 ) Thomas Jefferson ( 1801 -- 1809 ) James Madison ( 1809 -- 1817 ) James Monroe ( 1817 -- 1825 ) John Quincy Adams ( 1825 -- 1829 ) Andrew Jackson ( 1829 -- 1837 ) Martin Van Buren ( 1837 -- 1841 ) William Henry Harrison ( 1841 ) John Tyler ( 1841 -- 1845 ) James K. 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Question: who is the current leader of the usa
Answer: Donald Trump