Selecting a President

Selecting a President. .

"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…" Article II, Section I

, Article II, Section 1 lays out the process through which the president and vice president are elected. The Constitution establishes the Electoral College, which allocates a certain number of votes to each state according to its population. This ensures that the poeple of less populous states still have a say in the election of their national leaders. The 12th Amendment joins the president and vice president as being elected on slate., Setting a Precedent
As the first two presidents of the United States, George Washington and John Adams set precedents on how executive authority was to be used., Most famously, Washington turned down the opportunity to run for a third term. This humility was a pattern in Washington's life. At the end of the Revolutionary War, he resigned as commander of the Continental Army and returned the military power of the government back to the American people., After two four-year terms as president, Washington relinquished executive power and returned to the life of a private citizen. In doing so, he guaranteed the peaceful transfer of power to his successor, John Adams. When King George III heard that Washington would so willingly give up his military power, he remarked that Washington "was the greatest man in the world.", Washington's example was followed by all successive presidents until Franklin Delano Roosevelt ran for a third term in 1940 and an unprecedented 4th term in 1944. With the ratification of the 22nd Amendment in 1951, it is now unconstitutional for a president to serve more than two terms., [Captions:] , General George Washington Resigning His Commission by artist John Trumball. This painting shows George Washington resigning his commission as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army at the Maryland State House in Annapolis on December 23, 1783. , Courtesy of Architect of the Capitol., King George III ruled Great Britain from 1760 to 1820. This portrait painted in 1779 by Benjamin West portrays the King with scenes of the Royal Navy and British Army at war. , Courtesy of Royal Collection Trust.