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The Constitution says that to run for president a person must meet three conditions. They must be a natural-born citizen of the U.S. They must have lived in the U.S. for at least 14 years. They also must be 35 or older.
The Constitution also says that the president and vice president shall be chosen by electors selected by the states. Each state gets the same number of electors as it has members of Congress. The entire group of electors is called the Electoral College. The framers of the Constitution did this to avoid giving ordinary people too much power.
▲ The election of a president begins with the nomination of a candidate by each of the major political parties. A party’s selection of a candidate starts when states hold a primary election. Some states hold caucuses, like this Iowa Caucus of 2004. In a primary election, a voter takes either a Republican or a Democratic ballot. All the candidates who want the nomination of their party are listed on the ballot. At state caucuses, members of each party meet in groups around the state. There, they discuss and vote for their chosen candidate.
▲ Today, the Electoral College still elects the president and vice president. In most states, the electors vote for the candidate who received the most popular votes in the state. States that are home to more people get more electoral votes than smaller states get. So a candidate who wins the most popular votes nationally may not receive the most electoral votes. This has happened four times: in 1824, 1876, 1888, and 2000.
◀ After the conventions, the candidates travel the country trying to convince voters to support them. They usually participate in televised debates. They also run political ads on TV. Some ads focus on what the candidate believes. Other ads attack the opponent. During a presidential campaign, the candidates and parties spend millions of dollars. Some of the money is donated by voters. Some comes from businesses and other groups that want to influence whoever becomes president. In the picture on the left, presidential candidates Richard Nixon (right) and John F. Kennedy take part in a televised debate in 1960.
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What is a third-party candidate?
A third-party candidate does not have the backing of either of the two major parties, so he or she has almost no chance of becoming president. But a third-party candidate can win enough votes to affect the outcome of an election. In 2000, 2004, and 2008, consumer advocate Ralph Nader ran as a third-party candidate.
◀ It doesn’t happen often—only nine times in U.S. history. But sometimes a president dies or leaves office before his term is over. The Constitution says that the vice president then becomes president. The Succession Act states that if the vice president cannot take over, the speaker of the house becomes president. After that, the next person in line is the president pro tempore of the Senate. The secretary of state comes next, and then other cabinet members. In ths picture, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson is being sworn in after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963.
Election Day is the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The Electoral College meets in December to make the decision official. The new president takes the oath of office on Inauguration Day, January 20.
The 2008 Election
Barack Obama
Hillary Clinton
John McCain
Sarah Palin
▲ The presidential race of 2008 was groundbreaking for several reasons. An African American, Barack Obama, and a woman, Hillary Clinton, competed for the Democratic Party nomination. Obama won the nomination. He ran against John McCain, who was the Republican Party nominee and oldest person ever to run for president. McCain selected a woman, Sarah Palin, as his vice-presidential running mate, while Obama chose Joe Biden. The now-historic election generated worldwide attention. Obama became the first African American president in our history. In 2012, he was re-elected to a second term.
