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The Constitution says that to run for president a person must be three things: 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. Why did the framers of the Constitution do this? They did not want to put too much power directly into the hands of ordinary people.
▲ The election of a president takes some time. It 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 their party’s nomination are listed on the ballot. At state caucuses, members of each party meet in groups around the state. Here, they talk about the candidates. Then they vote for the one they have chosen.
▲ The Electoral College still elects the president and vice president. In most states, electors vote for the candidate who got most of the state’s popular vote. States with more people get more electoral votes than smaller states. So a candidate who gets most of the nation’s popular vote may not get the most electoral votes. This has happened four times. The first time was in 1824. It happened again in 1876 and 1888. The last time it happened was in 2000.
◀ After the conventions, the candidates go all over the country trying to get voters to support them. They usually take part in debates on TV. They also run ads on TV. Some ads focus on what the candidate says. Others attack the opponent. During a presidential campaign, the candidates and parties spend millions of dollars. Voters donate some of the money. A lot of it comes from businesses and other groups that want to influence the candidate. In the picture on the left, presidential candidates John F. Kennedy (left) and Richard Nixon 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. There’s almost no chance of them becoming president. But such a candidate can take votes away from the major parties. That may affect who wins. Ralph Nader was famous for fighting for consumers’ rights. He ran as a third-party candidate in 2000, 2004, and 2008.
◀ It doesn’t happen often—only nine times so far. 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 tells us that the speaker of the house is next in line. The president pro tempore of the Senate comes next. Then it goes to the secretary of state. In this picture, Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson is being sworn in as president 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 and makes the decision official. The new president takes the oath of office on Inauguration Day. That is on January 20.
The 2008 Election
Barack Obama
Hillary Clinton
John McCain
Sarah Palin
▲ Many things were new about the presidential race of 2008. An African American, Barack Obama, and a woman, Hillary Clinton, competed for the Democratic Party nomination. Obama won. He ran against John McCain, who was the Republican Party nominee. He was also the oldest person ever to run for president. McCain picked a woman, Sarah Palin, as his vice-presidential running mate. 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.
