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The Constitution says that to run for president a person must be a natural-born citizen of the U.S., have lived in the U.S. for at least 14 years, and be 35 years 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 begins with the nomination of a candidate by each of the major political parties. A party’s selection of a candidate starts in each state at a primary election or at 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 gather in locations across 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 highest number of actual people’s votes in the state. Because more heavily populated states get more electoral votes than smaller states get, a candidate who receives 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 go around the country trying to persuade people to vote for them. They usually participate in televised debates. They also run political ads on TV. Some ads focus on what the candidate believes in, but other ads attack the opponent. During a presidential campaign, the candidates and parties will spend millions of dollars. Some of the money comes from donations by voters, and some comes from businesses and other groups that want to influence whoever wins the presidency. 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, and thus has almost no chance of becoming president. However, a third-party candidate can win enough votes to influence the outcome of an election. In that case, he or she is called a “spoiler.” In 2000, 2004, and 2008, consumer advocate Ralph Nader ran as a third-party candidate.
◀ Nine times in U.S. history, a president has died or left office before his term was 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 people in line are the president pro tempore of the Senate, the secretary of state, and then other cabinet members. 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. Then the Electoral College meets in December and makes the decision official. The new president will take the oath of office on Inauguration Day, which is 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 the oldest person ever to run for president. McCain selected a woman, Sarah Palin, as his vice-presidential running mate, while Barack Obama chose Joe Biden. The now-historic election generated worldwide attention. Obama went on to become the first African American president in our history, and in 2012, he was re-elected to a second term.
