President of the United States

President of the United States
Seal of the President
Flag of the President
Incumbent
Donald Trump
since January 20, 2025
Style
Type
AbbreviationPOTUS
Member of
ResidenceWhite House
SeatWashington, D.C.
AppointerElectoral College
Term lengthFour years
renewable once
Constituting instrumentConstitution of the United States (1789)
FormationMarch 4, 1789
(237 years ago) (1789-03-04)
First holderGeorge Washington
DeputyVice President of the United States
Salary$400,000 per year
Websitewhitehouse.gov

The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America and the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces. The president is also the head of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and is the chairman of the presidential cabinet.

Donald Trump is the 47th and current president of the United States, who has been in office since January 20, 2025.

Eligibility and requirements

Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the Constitution states for a person to serve as president must:

Election process and presidential terms

The president is elected by the people through the Electoral College to a four-year term, along with the vice presidential candidate or the incumbent vice president as their running mate. The presidential candidate or incumbent president must have at least 270 electoral college votes to win the election.

The Twenty-second Amendment to the Constitution prevents anyone from being elected president more than twice. This amendment was added after Franklin Roosevelt served four terms from 1933 until he died in 1945.

President-elect of the United States

The president-elect of the United States is the candidate who has won the United States presidential election and is awaiting inauguration to become the president.

Presidential Inauguration

The president-elect immediately began their four-year term on inauguration day every four years on January 20. The original inauguration date was held on March 4, but was later changed in 1933.

Oath of office

The presidential oath of office, mandated by Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. 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, so help me God."



Executive Office of the President

Flag of the Executive Office of the President of the United States

The Executive Office of the President consists of the offices and agencies that support the work of the president at the center of the executive branch of the U.S. federal government. The office consists of several offices and agencies, such as the White House Office, the staff working directly for and reporting to the president, including White House staff, the National Security Council, and the Office of Management and Budget.

Presidential line of succession

Lyndon B. Johnson takes the presidential oath of office aboard Air Force One after the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963.

If the president dies, resigns, or is impeached, the vice president will succeed to the presidential office and duties. Fifteen other federal government officials also rank in the succession line of the president.

Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy were assassinated while in office. William Henry Harrison, Zachary Taylor, Warren G. Harding and Franklin Roosevelt died from illness while president. Calvin Coolidge became president, when Warren G. Harding died while in office.

Richard Nixon is the only U.S. president to have resigned from office.

Andrew Johnson, Bill Clinton, and Donald Trump are the only presidents to have been impeached.

Travel and Transportation

Residences

The White House is the official residence of the president and the first family of the United States. it has been the official residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800.

Camp David is the official presidential retreat residence if the president decides to go on vacation along with his family.

Blair House is the official presidential guest house for foreign diplomats and heads of state.

Protection

President Barack Obama surrounded by Secret Service agents.

The United States Secret Service is in charge with protecting the president and the first family. As part of their protection, presidents, first ladies, their children and other immediate family members are given Secret Service codenames. These codenames are used for security and safety reasons.

List of living former presidents

As of January 2025, there are four living former presidents, the oldest being Joe Biden, who served as the 46th President of the United States from 2021–2025. The most recent death of a former president was that of Jimmy Carter, who served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977–1981, on December 29, 2024.

Presidential rankings and approval ratings

By a majority of historical sources by historians or by the American people; Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Woodrow Wilson, Barack Obama, Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy, Calvin Coolidge, Bill Clinton and Thomas Jefferson are ranked high on polls.

On the other hand; James Buchanan, Warren G. Harding, Herbert Hoover, Richard Nixon, George W. Bush and Franklin Pierce are thought to be the worst.

Presidential libraries and museums

Since Herbert Hoover, each president has created an institutional place known as a presidential library for preserving and making available his papers, records, and other documents and materials. There are currently thirteen presidential libraries in the NARA system.

Several presidential libraries contain the graves of the president such as Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush.

Notes

  1. ↑ Foreign-born American citizens who met the age and residency requirements at the time the Constitution was adopted were also eligible for the presidency. However, this allowance has since become obsolete.
  1. ↑ In addition to $100,000 in travel reimbursement, $19,000 for entertainment and $50,000 for additional expenses.

References

  1. ↑ "How to Address the President; He Is Not Your Excellency or Your Honor, But Mr. President". The New York Times. The Washington Star. August 2, 1891.
  2. ↑ "USGS Correspondence Handbook—Chapter 4". United States Geological Survey. July 18, 2007. Archived from the original on September 26, 2012. Retrieved November 15, 2012.
  3. ↑ "Models of Address and Salutation". International Trade Administration. Archived from the original on July 20, 2010. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
  4. ↑ "Heads of State, Heads of Government, Ministers for Foreign Affairs", Protocol and Liaison Service, United Nations. Retrieved November 1, 2012.
  5. ↑ 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". The White House. Retrieved July 19, 2011 – via National Archives.
  6. ↑ "The conventions of nine states having adopted the Constitution, Congress, in September or October, 1788, passed a resolution in conformity with the opinions expressed by the Convention and appointed the first Wednesday in March of the ensuing year as the day, and the then seat of Congress as the place, 'for commencing proceedings under the Constitution.'

    "Both governments could not be understood to exist at the same time. The new government did not commence until the old government expired. It is apparent that the government did not commence on the Constitution's being ratified by the ninth state, for these ratifications were to be reported to Congress, whose continuing existence was recognized by the Convention, and who were requested to continue to exercise their powers for the purpose of bringing the new government into operation. In fact, Congress did continue to act as a government until it dissolved on the first of November by the successive disappearance of its members. It existed potentially until March 2, the day preceding that on which the members of the new Congress were directed to assemble." Owings v. Speed, 18 U.S. (5 Wheat) 420, 422 (1820)

  7. ↑ 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.
  8. ↑ "March 4: A forgotten huge day in American history". Philadelphia: National Constitution Center. March 4, 2013. Archived from the original on February 24, 2018. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
  9. ↑ "Presidential Election of 1789". Digital Encyclopedia. Mount Vernon, Virginia: Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. Retrieved July 29, 2018.
  10. ↑ Elkins, Kathleen (2018-02-19). "Here's the last time the president of the United States got a raise". CNBC.
  11. ↑ "POTUS - Presidents of the United States". Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  12. ↑ "President of the United States". Ballotpedia. Retrieved 2023-11-23.
  13. ↑ "President Donald J. Trump". The White House. Retrieved 2025-01-20.
  14. ↑ Our Government • The Executive Branch Archived 2009-01-26 at the Wayback Machine, The White House.
  15. ↑ "Article 2 Section 1 Clause 8 | Constitution Annotated | Congress.gov | Library of Congress". constitution.congress.gov. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
  16. ↑ "Presidential Inaugurations: I Do Solemnly Swear". White House Historical Association. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
  17. ↑ "Truman and Coolidge go up, Jefferson and Jackson go down. How history remembers presidents". Los Angeles Times. 17 February 2020. Archived from the original on 2021-04-22. Retrieved 2021-04-22.

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