President of the United States

The President of the United States of America (sometimes abbreviated to "POTUS") is the head of state of the United States. Under the U.S. Constitution, the President is also the chief executive of the federal government and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces.

Because of the superpower status of the United States, the American President is widely considered to be the most powerful person on the earth, and is usually one of the world's best-known public figures. During the Cold War, the President was sometimes referred to as "the leader of the free world," a phrase that is still invoked today.

The United States was the first nation to create the office of President as the head of state in a modern republic. Today the office is widely emulated all over the world in nations with a presidential system of government.

The 43rd and current President of the United States is George W. Bush. His first term was 2001–2005; his second term began in 2005 and will end in 2009.

President of the United States in Congress Assembled

After the adoption of the Articles of Confederation in 1781 the President of the Continental Congress was renamed to President of the United States in Congress Assembled. After the Constitutional Convention, which replaced the Articles of Confederation with the modern United States Constitution in 1787, the President's title was shortened to the "President of the United States". Functionally, the President of the United States in Congress Assembled is quite different from the modern office of the President of the United States and is the most analogous to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives.

Current system

The Amendment XII in 1804 changed the electoral process by directing the electors to use separate ballots to vote for the President and Vice President. To be elected, a candidate must receive a majority of electoral votes, or if no candidate receives a majority, the President and Vice President are chosen by the House of Representatives and Senate, respectively, as necessary.

Powers

The President, according to the Constitution, must "take care that the laws be faithfully executed." To carry out this responsibility, the president presides over the executive branch of the federal government; a vast organization of about 4 million people, including 1 million active-duty military personnel. A President-elect will make as many as 6,000 appointments to government positions, including appointments to the federal judiciary. The Senate must consent to all judicial appointments as well as the appointments of all principal officers. The President may veto laws made by the United States Congress but cannot personally initiate laws. Congress can overturn the veto with a two-thirds majority in both houses. He is Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces and may make treaties, but the Senate must confirm these. The political scientist Richard Neustadt said, "Presidential power is the power to persuade and the power to persuade is the ability to bargain". He was commenting on the fact that the President's domestically constitutional power is limited, despite the modern expectation of Presidents to have a legislative program, and successful bargaining with Congress is usually essential to Presidential success.