U.S. Constitution - Bill of Rights
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. The electors shall meet
in their respective states, and vote by ballot for two persons,
of whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same
state with themselves. And they shall make a list of all the
persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each; which
list they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the
seat of the government of the United States, directed to the
President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall,
in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives,
open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted.
The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the
President, if such number be a majority of the whole number
of electors appointed; and if there be more than one who have
such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the
House of Representatives shall immediately choose by ballot
one of them for President; and if no person have a majority,
then from the five highest on the list the said House shall
in like manner choose the President. But in choosing the President,
the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from
each state having one vote; A quorum for this purpose shall
consist of a member or members from two thirds of the states,
and a majority of all the states shall be necessary to a choice.
In every case, after the choice of the President, the person
having the greatest number of votes of the electors shall
be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more
who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them by
ballot the Vice President. The Congress may determine
the time of choosing the electors, and the day on which they
shall give their votes; which day shall be the same throughout
the United States. 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 and pardons
for offenses against the United States, except in cases of
impeachment. He shall have power, by and with the advice and
consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds
of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and
by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint
ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of
the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States,
whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for,
and which shall be established by law: but the Congress may
by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as
they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of
law, or in the heads of departments. The President shall have
power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the
recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall
expire at the end of their next session. 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.
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