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Aaron Burr
Aaron Burr, Jr. (February 6, 1756 – September 14, 1836) served as the third Vice President of the United States (1801–1805) under President Thomas Jefferson, and was the first Vice President to never serve as President. He fought in the Revolutionary War, was an important political figure in the nation's early history, and spent much of his career after politics engaging in a number of controversial adventures.
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Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) served as the 16th President of the United States from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led the country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union, ending slavery, and rededicating the nation to nationalism, equal rights, liberty and democracy. Reared in a poor family on the western frontier, he was mostly self-educated and became a country lawyer, an Illinois state legislator, and a one-term member of the United States House of Representatives, but failed in two attempts at a seat in the United States Senate. He was an affectionate, though often absent, husband, and father of four children.
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Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 – July 12, 1804) was the first United States Secretary of the Treasury, a Founding Father, economist, and political philosopher. Aide-de-camp to General George Washington during the American Revolutionary War, he was a leader of nationalist forces calling for a new Constitution; he was one of America's first Constitutional lawyers, and wrote most of the Federalist Papers, a primary source for Constitutional interpretation. Hamilton was the primary author of the economic policies of the George Washington Administration, especially the funding of the state debts by the Federal government, the establishment of a national bank, a system of tariffs, and friendly trade relations with Britain. He created and dominated the Federalist Party, and was opposed by Thomas Jefferson and his Democratic-Republican Party. Jefferson denounced Hamilton as too loose with the Constitution, too favorable to Britain, to monarchy and to the moneyed interests of the cities, but Hamilton's policies went into effect. A believer in a militarily strong national government, Hamilton helped defeat the tax revolt of western farmers in 1794, and built a new army to oppose France in the Quasi War of 1798, but Federalist President John Adams found a diplomatic solution that avoided war. Hamilton helped defeat Adams' reelection bid in 1800, but realizing that Aaron Burr would be a dangerous president, Hamilton threw his weight behind Jefferson who was chosen president in 1801. Tensions with Burr escalated to a duel, in which Hamilton was killed.
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Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808 – July 31, 1875) was the 17th President of the United States (1865–1869). Following the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, Johnson presided over the Reconstruction era of the United States in the four years after the American Civil War. His tenure was controversial as his positions favoring the white South came under heavy political attack from Republicans.
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Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II (; born August 4, 1961) is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned after his election to the presidency in November 2008.
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Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III, August 19, 1946) is the former 42nd President of the United States and served from 1993 to 2001. At 46 he was the third-youngest president. He became president at the end of the Cold War, and was the first baby boomer president. His wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton, is currently the United States Secretary of State. Each received a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Yale Law School.
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Dana D. Nelson
Dana D. Nelson is a professor of English at Vanderbilt University and a prominent progressive advocate for citizenship and democracy. She is notable for her criticism in her books such as Bad for Democracy of excessive presidential power and for exposing a tendency by Americans to neglect basic citizenship duties while hoping the president will solve most problems, or presidentialism. Her scholarship focuses on early American literature relating to citizenship and democratic government.
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Dick Cheney
Richard Bruce "Dick" Cheney (born January 30, 1941) served as the 46th Vice President of the United States from 2001 to 2009 under George W. Bush. He briefly served as Acting President of the United States on two occasions during which Bush underwent medical procedures.
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Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower ( ; October 14, 1890, in Denison, Texas – March 28, 1969), at Walter Reed Army Hospital, in Washington D. C. was a five-star general in the United States Army and the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961, and the last to be born in the 19th century. During World War II, he served as Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, with responsibility for planning and supervising the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944–45, from the Western Front. In 1951, he became the first supreme commander of NATO.
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Edmund Randolph
Edmund Jenings Randolph (August 10, 1753 September 12, 1813) was an American attorney, the seventh Governor of Virginia, the second Secretary of State, and the first United States Attorney General.
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Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos (September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was 10th President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was a lawyer, member of the Philippine House of Representatives (1949–1959) and a member of the Philippine Senate (1959–1965). He was Senate President in 1963. He claimed to have led a guerrilla force called Ang Maharlika in northern Luzon during the Second World War, something much doubted however to be true. As Philippine president and strongman, his greatest achievement was in the fields of infrastructure development and international diplomacy. However, his administration was marred by massive authoritarian corruption, despotism, nepotism, political repression, and human rights violations. He benefited from a large personality cult in the Philippines during his regime. In 1983, his government was implicated in the assassination of his primary political opponent, Benigno Aquino, Jr.. The implication caused a chain of events, including a tainted presidential election that served as the catalyst for the People Power Revolution in February 1986 that led to his removal from power and eventual exile in Hawaii. It was later alleged that he and his wife Imelda Marcos had moved billions of dollars of embezzled public funds to the United States, Switzerland, and other countries, as well as into alleged corporations during his 20 years in power.
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George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush (born June 12, 1924, in Milton, Massachusetts) was the 41st President of the United States (1989–1993). He was also Ronald Reagan's Vice President (1981–1989), a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.
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George W Bush
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George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (; born July 6, 1946, in New Haven, Connecticut) was the 43rd President of the United States, serving from 2001 to 2009, and the 46th Governor of Texas, serving from 1995 to 2000.
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George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799)
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Gerald Ford
Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King, Jr.; July 14, 1913 – December 26, 2006) was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974. As the first person appointed to the vice-presidency under the terms of the 25th Amendment, when he became President upon Richard Nixon's resignation on August 9, 1974, he also became the only President of the United States who was elected neither President nor Vice-President.
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Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837 June 24, 1908) was the 22nd and 24th President of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms (1885–1889 and 1893–1897) and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents. He was the winner of the popular vote for president three times—in 1884, 1888, and 1892—and was the only Democrat elected to the presidency in the era of Republican political domination that lasted from 1860 to 1912.
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Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884 – December 26, 1972) was the 33rd President of the United States (1945–1953). As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice-president and the 34th Vice President of the United States, he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his historic fourth term.
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Herbert Hoover
Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was the 31st President of the United States (1929–1933). Hoover was a professional mining engineer and author. As the United States Secretary of Commerce in the 1920s under Presidents Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge, he promoted government intervention under the rubric "economic modernization". In the presidential election of 1928, Hoover easily won the Republican nomination, despite having no previous elected office experience. To date, Hoover is the last cabinet secretary to be directly elected President of the United States, as well as one of only two Presidents (along with William Howard Taft) to have been elected President without electoral experience or high military rank. The nation was prosperous and optimistic at the time, leading to a landslide victory for Hoover over Democrat Al Smith.
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Hillary Clinton
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James Buchanan
James Buchanan, Jr. (April 23, 1791 – June 1, 1868) was the 15th President of the United States from 1857–1861 and the last to be born in the 18th century. To date he is the only president from the state of Pennsylvania and the only bachelor.
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James Madison
James Madison, Jr. (March 16, 1751 – June 28, 1836) was an American politician and political philosopher who served as the fourth President of the United States (1809–1817) and is considered one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.
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Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. (born October 1, 1924) served as the 39th President of the United States from 1977 to 1981 and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office. Before he became President, Carter served two terms as a Georgia State Senator and one as Governor of Georgia, from 1971 to 1975, and was a peanut farmer and naval officer.
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John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963.
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John Quincy Adams
John Quincy Adams (July 11, 1767 – February 23, 1848) was the sixth President of the United States from 1825 to 1829. He was also an American diplomat and served in both the Senate and House of Representatives. He was a member of the Federalist, Democratic-Republican, National Republican, and later Anti-Masonic and Whig parties. Adams was the son of President John Adams and Abigail Adams. The name "Quincy" came from Abigail's maternal grandfather, Colonel John Quincy, after whom Quincy, Massachusetts, is named.
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John Tyler
John Tyler, Jr. (March 29, 1790 January 18, 1862) was the tenth President of the United States (1841–1845) and the first to succeed to the office following the death of a predecessor.
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Korean War
The Korean War (1950–armistice, 1953) was a military conflict between the Republic of Korea, supported by the United Nations, and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and People's Republic of China (PRC), with air support from the Soviet Union. The war began on 25 June 1950 and an armistice was signed on 27 July 1953. The war was a result of the political division of Korea by agreement of the victorious Allies at the conclusion of the Pacific War. The Korean peninsula had been ruled by Japan from 1910 until the end of World War II. In 1945, following the surrender of Japan, American administrators divided the peninsula along the 38th Parallel, with United States troops occupying the southern part and Soviet troops occupying the northern part.
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Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson (August 27, 1908 – January 22, 1973), often referred to as LBJ, served as the 36th President of the United States from 1963 to 1969 after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States from 1961 to 1963. He is one of four Presidents who served in all four elected Federal offices of the United States: Representative, Senator, Vice President and President.
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Nancy Pelosi
'''Nancy Patricia D'Alesandro Pelosi''' (; born March 26, 1940) is the 60th and current Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Before being elected Speaker in the 110th Congress, she was the House Minority Leader from 2003 to 2007, holding the post during the 108th and 109th Congresses.
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Pervez Musharraf
General (ret) Pervez Musharraf (lang-ur|) (born 11 August 1943), NI(M), Tamgha-e-Basalat award, is a Pakistani politician and military figure who served as the tenth President of Pakistan (2001–2008) and the Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army (1998–2007).
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Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was the 37th President of the United States from 1969 to 1974, having formerly been the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961. A member of the Republican Party, he was the only President to resign the office as well as the only person to be elected twice to both the Presidency and the Vice Presidency.
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Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was the 40th President of the United States (1981–1989) and the 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975).
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Ross Perot
Henry Ross Perot (; born June 27, 1930) is an American businessman from Texas best known for running for President of the United States in 1992 and 1996. Perot founded Electronic Data Systems (EDS) in 1962, sold the company to General Motors in 1984, and founded Perot Systems in 1988. Perot Systems was bought by Dell for $3.9 billion in 2009. He was born in Texarkana, Texas.
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Rutherford B. Hayes
Rutherford Birchard Hayes (October 4, 1822 January 17, 1893) was the 19th President of the United States from March 4, 1877 to March 4, 1881. He also served as the Governor of Ohio twice, from 1868–1872 and 1876–1877.
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Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919) His last name is, according to Roosevelt himself, "pronounced as if it was spelled 'Rosavelt.' That is in three syllables. The first syllable as if it was 'Rose.'" ; An [http://vvl.lib.msu.edu/record.cfm?recordid=509 Audio recording] in which Roosevelt pronounces his own last name distinctly. To listen at the correct speed, slow the recording down by 20%. Retrieved on July 12, 2007. ) was the 26th President of the United States. He is noted for his energetic personality, range of interests and achievements, leadership of the Progressive Movement, and his "cowboy" image and robust masculinity. He was a leader of the Republican Party and founder of the short-lived Progressive ("Bull Moose") Party of 1912. Before becoming President (1901–1909) he held offices at the municipal, state, and federal level of government. Roosevelt's achievements as a naturalist, explorer, hunter, author, and soldier are as much a part of his fame as any office he held as a politician.
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Thomas Jefferson
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Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885) was the 18th President of the United States (1869–1877) as well as military commander during the Civil War and post-war Reconstruction periods. Under Grant's command, the Union Army defeated the Confederate military and ended the Confederate States of America. Grant began his lifelong career as a soldier after graduating from the United States Military Academy in 1843. Fighting in the Mexican American War, he was a close observer of the techniques of Generals Zachary Taylor and Winfield Scott. He resigned from the Army in 1854, then struggled to make a living in St. Louis. After many financial setbacks, he finally moved to Galena, Illinois where he worked as a clerk in his father's tannery shop, making Galena his permanent legal home.
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Valerie Plame Wilson
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Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to 15 May 1975 when the Mayaguez Incident concluded and two weeks after the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. The 'Mayaguez incident' involving the Khmer Rouge government in Cambodia on 12–15 May 1975, marked the last official battle of the United States (U.S.) involvement in the Vietnam War. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of South Vietnam, supported by the United States and other anti-communist nations.
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William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857 – March 8, 1930) was the 27th President of the United States and later the 10th Chief Justice of the United States. He is the only person to have served in both offices.
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Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856 – February 3, 1924) was the 28th President of the United States. A leader of the Progressive Era, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913. With Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft dividing the Republican Party vote, Wilson was elected President as a Democrat in 1912.
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World War I
World War I was a military conflict centered on Europe that began in the summer of 1914. The fighting ended in late 1918. This conflict involved all of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Allies (centred around the Triple Entente) and the Central Powers. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilized in one of the largest wars in history. More than 9 million combatants were killed, due largely to great technological advances in firepower without corresponding ones in mobility. It was the second deadliest conflict in history.
http://wn.com/World_War_I
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Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It has a population of 36,524 (July 2008 est.), and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is part of the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area. The city was the temporary capital of the United States in 1783–1784 and the site of the Annapolis Peace Conference, held in November 2007, at the United States Naval Academy. St. John's College is also in Annapolis.
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Camp David is the country retreat of the President of the United States and his guests. It is located in low wooded hills about 100 kilometers or 60 miles NNW of Washington, D.C. in Thurmont, Frederick County, Maryland.
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Great Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island. With a population of about 60.0 million people in mid-2009, it is the third most populated island on Earth. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1,000 smaller islands and islets. The island of Ireland lies to its west. Politically, Great Britain may also refer to the island itself together with a number of surrounding islands which comprise the territory of England, Scotland and Wales.
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Grenada () is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea. Grenada is located northwest of Trinidad and Tobago, northeast of Venezuela, and southwest of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
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Illinois ( {{respell|-i-), is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. It is the most populous state in the Midwest region, however with 65% of its residents concentrated in the Chicago metropolitan area, most of the state has either a rural or a small town character. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and western Illinois, and natural resources like coal, timber, and petroleum in the south, Illinois has a broad economic base. Illinois is an important transportation hub; the Port of Chicago connects the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River via the Illinois River. As the "most average state", Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and politics, though the latter has not really been true since the early 1970s.
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Iran ( ), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Central Eurasia and Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was also known to the western world as Persia. Both Persia and Iran are used interchangeably in cultural contexts; however, Iran is the name used officially in political contexts.
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Iraq ( or , Arabic: ), officially the Republic of Iraq (Arabic:
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The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and number of books. The head of the Library is the Librarian of Congress, currently James H. Billington.
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New York (; locally or ) is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east. The state has a maritime border with Rhode Island east of Long Island, as well as an international border with the Canadian provinces of Ontario to the north and west, and Quebec to the north. New York is often referred to as New York State to distinguish it from New York City.
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The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish and Norwegian: Nobels fredspris) is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.
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North Korea, officially the '''Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK'''; Chosongul: 조선민주주의인민공화국), is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea. The Amnok River and the Tumen River form the border between North Korea and the People's Republic of China. A section of the Tumen River in the extreme northeast is the border with Russia.
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The Oval Office, located in the West Wing of the White House, is the official office of the President of the United States.
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{{Infobox country
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Panama (), officially the Republic of Panama (; ), is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The capital is Panama City.
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Philadelphia () is the largest city in Pennsylvania, sixth-most-populous city in the United States and the fifty-first most populous city in the world.
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The Philippines ( ), officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (), is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam. The Sulu Sea to the southwest lies between the country and the island of Borneo, and to the south the Celebes Sea separates it from other islands of Indonesia. It is bounded on the east by the Philippine Sea. Its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire and its tropical climate make the Philippines prone to earthquakes and typhoons but have also endowed the country with natural resources and made it one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world. An archipelago comprising 7,107 islands, the Philippines is categorized broadly into three main geographical divisions: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Its capital city is Manila.
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Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell. Temple University is among the nation’s largest providers of professional education (law, medicine, podiatric medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, architecture) and prepares the largest body of professional practitioners in Pennsylvania, offering over 300 academic degree programs at seven campuses and sites in Pennsylvania and its international campuses in Rome, Tokyo, and London.
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The United States of America (also referred to as the United States, the U.S., the USA, or America) is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its forty-eight contiguous states and Washington, D.C., the capital district, lie between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Caribbean and Pacific.
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The Commonwealth of Virginia () is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" because it is the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents. The geography and climate of the state are shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay, which provide habitat for much of its flora and fauna. The capital of the Commonwealth is Richmond; Virginia Beach is the most populous city and Fairfax County the most populous political subdivision. The state population is nearly eight million.
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Washington, D.C. (), formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790. Article One of the United States Constitution provides for a federal district, distinct from the states, to serve as the permanent national capital. The City of Washington was originally a separate municipality within the federal territory until an act of Congress in 1871 established a single, unified municipal government for the whole District. It is for this reason that the city, while legally named the District of Columbia, is known as Washington, D.C. The city shares its name with the U.S. state of Washington, which is located on the country's Pacific coast.
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The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical style. It has been the residence of every U.S. President since John Adams. When Thomas Jefferson moved into the house in 1801, he (with architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe) expanded the building outward, creating two colonnades that were meant to conceal stables and storage.
http://wn.com/White_House
- 9/11
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Schnieder, Davis Pre Filmography
PRE
Releases by year: 2007 |
Releases by album:
Album releases
Epic Fits
(Released 2007)
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Drool
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Fudging On Our Folks
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Scenes from a 1963 Los Angeles Love-In
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Slash in the Snake Pit
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Ace Cock
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I Met Her in the Bin
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Nope Fun
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So Jazzed
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Dude Fuk
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Greasers
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Popping Showers
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And Prolapse...
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Ride, Ride, Ride
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Know Yr Teachers
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- 1910 in baseball
- 9/11
- Aaron Burr
- Abraham Lincoln
- Advice and consent
- Affirmation in law
- Air Force One
- Alexander Hamilton
- Ambassador
- American Civil War
- Andrew Johnson
- Annapolis Convention
- Annapolis, Maryland
- Army One
- Barack Obama
- Bay of Pigs Invasion
- Bible
- Bill (proposed law)
- Bill Clinton
- Blair House
- Boeing 747
- Boeing VC-25
- Cadillac
- call sign
- Camp David
- CBS
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- chief executive
- Clinton v. Jones
- Coast Guard One
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- common law
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- Dana D. Nelson
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- Democracy in America
- Dick Cheney
- Discovery (law)
- Draft (politics)
- due process
- Dwight D. Eisenhower
- economic growth
- Edmund Randolph
- Egg rolling
- encrypted
- Euna Lee
- Evidence (law)
- executive branch
- Executive One
- executive privilege
- Federalist No. 69
- Ferdinand Marcos
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- George F. Will
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- George H. W. Bush
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Post | President |
---|---|
Body | theUnited States of America |
Insignia | Seal Of The President Of The United States Of America.svg |
Insigniacaption | Official seal |
Incumbent | Barack Obama |
Incumbentsince | January 20, 2009 |
Style | Mr. President(informal)The Honorable(formal)His Excellency(diplomatic) |
Residence | White House |
Termlength | Four yearsrenewable once |
Formation | United States ConstitutionMarch 4, 1789 |
Salary | $400,000 annually |
Inaugural | George WashingtonApril 30, 1789 |
Website | whitehouse.gov/president }} |
The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.
Article II of the U.S. Constitution vests the executive power of the United States in the president and charges him with the execution of federal law, alongside the responsibility of appointing federal executive, diplomatic, regulatory, and judicial officers, and concluding treaties with foreign powers, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The president is further empowered to grant federal pardons and reprieves, and to convene and adjourn either or both houses of Congress under extraordinary circumstances. Since the founding of the United States, the power of the president and the federal government have grown substantially and each modern president, despite possessing no formal legislative powers beyond signing or vetoing congressionally passed bills, is largely responsible for dictating the legislative agenda of his party and the foreign and domestic policy of the United States. The president is frequently described as the most powerful person in the world.
The president is indirectly elected by the people through the Electoral College to a four-year term, and is one of only two nationally elected federal officers, the other being the Vice President of the United States. The Twenty-second Amendment, adopted in 1951, prohibits anyone from ever being elected to the presidency for a third full term. It also prohibits a person from being elected to the presidency more than once if that person previously had served as President, or Acting President, for more than two years of another person's term as President. In all, 43 individuals have served 55 four-year terms. On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama became the forty-fourth and current president.
Origin
In 1783, the Treaty of Paris secured independence for each of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain. The new states, though politically independent of each other, maintained the loose alliance embodied in the Articles of Confederation that they had negotiated during the revolution. Seeking to avoid anything that remotely resembled a monarchy, the Continental Congress designed the Articles to establish a weak league or alliance of states. The Articles took effect on March 1, 1781 when the final state of Maryland ratified the document. As a central authority, Congress under the Articles was denied any legislative power; it could make its own resolutions, determinations, and regulations, but not any laws, nor any taxes or local commercial regulations enforceable upon citizens. This institutional organization reflected the conception of how Americans believed the British system of Crown and Parliament they had overthrown ought to have functioned: a superintending body for matters that concerned all the states. With peace at hand, the states turned inward to their own affairs.By 1786, Americans found their continental borders besieged and weak, their respective economies in crises as states agitated trade rivalries with one another and witnessed their hard currency pouring into foreign markets to pay for imports, their Mediterranean commerce preyed upon by North African pirates, and their foreign-financed Revolutionary War debts unpaid and accruing interest. Civil and political unrest loomed. Aiming toward a first step of resolving interstate commercial antagonisms, Virginia called for a trade conference in Annapolis, Maryland. When that convention failed for lack of participation and attendance due to suspicions by most of the other states, the Annapolis delegates called for another convention for offering revisions to the Articles to be held the next year in Philadelphia. Prospects for the next convention appeared bleak until James Madison and Edmund Randolph succeeded in securing George Washington's attendance as a delegate to Philadelphia.
When the Constitutional Convention convened in May 1787, the state delegations brought with them an accumulated experience over a diverse set of institutional arrangements between legislative and executive branches from within their respective state governments. Most states maintained a weak executive without veto or appointment powers, elected annually by the legislature to a single term only, sharing power with an executive council, and countered by a strong legislature. New York offered the greatest exception, having a strong, unitary governor with veto and appointment power elected to a three-year term, and eligible for reelection to an indefinite number of terms thereafter. It was through the closed-door negotiations at Philadelphia that the presidency framed in the U.S. Constitution emerged.
Powers and duties
Article I legislative role
The first power the U.S. Constitution confers upon the president is the legislative power of the presidential veto. The Presentment Clause requires any bill passed by Congress to be presented to the president before it can become law. Once the legislation has been presented, the president has three options: # Sign the legislation; the bill then becomes law. # Veto the legislation and return it to Congress, expressing any objections; the bill does not become law, unless each house of Congress votes to override the veto by a two-thirds vote. # Take no action. In this instance, the president neither signs nor vetoes the legislation. After 10 days, not counting Sundays, two possible outcomes emerge: #* If Congress is still convened, the bill becomes law. #* If Congress has adjourned, thus preventing the return of the legislation, the bill does not become law. This latter outcome is known as the pocket veto.In 1996, Congress attempted to enhance the president's veto power with the Line Item Veto Act. The legislation empowered the president to sign any spending bill into law while simultaneously striking certain spending items within the bill, particularly any new spending, any amount of discretionary spending, or any new limited tax benefit. Once a president had stricken the item, Congress could pass that particular item again. If the president then vetoed the new legislation, Congress could override the veto by its ordinary means, a two-thirds vote in both houses. In Clinton v. City of New York, , the U.S. Supreme Court ruled such a legislative alteration of the veto power to be unconstitutional.
Article II executive powers
War and foreign affairs powers
Perhaps the most important of all presidential powers is command of the United States armed forces as commander-in-chief. While the power to declare war is constitutionally vested in Congress, the president commands and directs the military and is responsible for planning military strategy. The framers of the Constitution took care to limit the president's powers regarding the military; Alexander Hamilton explains this in Federalist No. 69: Congress, pursuant to the War Powers Resolution, must authorize any troop deployments longer than 60 days, although that process relies on triggering mechanisms that have never been employed, rendering it ineffectual. Additionally, Congress provides a check to presidential military power through its control over military spending and regulation.Along with the armed forces, the president also directs U.S. foreign policy. Through the Department of State and the Department of Defense, the president is responsible for the protection of Americans abroad and of foreign nationals in the United States. The president decides whether to recognize new nations and new governments, and negotiates treaties with other nations, which become binding on the United States when approved by two-thirds vote of the Senate.
Although not constitutionally provided, presidents also sometimes employ "executive agreements" in foreign relations. These agreements frequently regard administrative policy choices germane to executive power; for example, the extent to which either country presents an armed presence in a given area, how each country will enforce copyright treaties, or how each country will process foreign mail. However, the 20th century witnessed a vast expansion of the use of executive agreements, and critics have challenged the extent of that use as supplanting the treaty process and removing constitutionally prescribed checks and balances over the executive in foreign relations. Supporters counter that the agreements offer a pragmatic solution when the need for swift, secret, and/or concerted action arises.
Administrative powers
The president is the chief executive of the United States, putting him at the head of the executive branch of the government, whose responsibility is to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed." The executive branch has over four million employees, including members of the military.Presidents make numerous executive branch appointments: an incoming president may make up to 6,000 before he takes office and 8,000 more during his term. Ambassadors, members of the Cabinet, and other federal officers, are all appointed by a president with the "advice and consent" of a majority of the Senate. Appointments made while the Senate is in recess are temporary and expire at the end of the next session of the Senate.
The power of a president to fire executive officials has long been a contentious political issue. Generally, a president may remove purely executive officials at his discretion. However, Congress can curtail and constrain a president's authority to fire commissioners of independent regulatory agencies and certain inferior executive officers by statute.
The president possesses the ability to direct much of the executive branch through executive orders. To the extent the orders are grounded in federal statute or executive power granted in the U.S. Constitution, these orders have the force of law. Thus, executive orders are reviewable by federal courts or can be rendered null through legislative changes to statute.
Juridical powers
The president also has the power to nominate federal judges, including members of the United States courts of appeals and the Supreme Court of the United States. However, these nominations do require Senate confirmation. Securing Senate approval can provide a major obstacle for presidents who wish to orient the federal judiciary toward a particular ideological stance. When nominating judges to U.S. district courts, presidents often respect the long-standing tradition of Senatorial courtesy. Presidents may also grant pardons and reprieves, as is often done just before the end of a presidential term.Historically, two doctrines concerning executive power have developed that enable the president to exercise executive power with a degree of autonomy. The first is executive privilege, which allows the president to withhold from disclosure any communications made directly to the president in the performance of executive duties. George Washington first claimed privilege when Congress requested to see Chief Justice John Jay's notes from an unpopular treaty negotiation with Great Britain. While not enshrined in the Constitution, or any other law, Washington's action created the precedent for the privilege. When Richard Nixon tried to use executive privilege as a reason for not turning over subpoenaed evidence to Congress during the Watergate scandal, the Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Nixon, , that executive privilege did not apply in cases where a president was attempting to avoid criminal prosecution. When President Bill Clinton attempted to use executive privilege regarding the Lewinsky scandal, the Supreme Court ruled in Clinton v. Jones, , that the privilege also could not be used in civil suits. These cases established the legal precedent that executive privilege is valid, although the exact extent of the privilege has yet to be clearly defined. Additionally, federal courts have allowed this privilege to radiate outward and protect other executive branch employees, but have weakened that protection for those executive branch communications that do not involve the president.
The state secrets privilege allows the president and the executive branch to withhold information or documents from discovery in legal proceedings if such release would harm national security. Precedent for the privilege arose early in the 19th century when Thomas Jefferson refused to release military documents in the treason trial of Aaron Burr and again in 1876 in Totten v. United States, when the Supreme Court dismissed a case brought by a former Union spy. However, the privilege was not formally recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court until United States v. Reynolds (1953) where it was held to be a common law evidentiary privilege. Before the September 11 attacks, use of the privilege had been rare, but increasing in frequency. Since 2001, the government has asserted the privilege in more cases and at earlier stages of the litigation, thus in some instances causing dismissal of the suits before reaching the merits of the claims, as in the Ninth Circuit's ruling in Mohamed v. Jeppesen Dataplan. Critics of the privilege claim its use has become a tool for the government to cover up illegal or embarrassing government actions.
Legislative facilitator
Representing the executive branch of government, the president cannot simultaneously hold a seat in Congress. Therefore, the president cannot directly introduce legislative proposals for consideration in Congress. The president can, however, take an indirect role in shaping legislation, especially if the president's political party has a majority in one or both houses of Congress. For example, the president or other officials of the executive branch may draft legislation and then ask senators or representatives to introduce these drafts into Congress. The president can further influence the legislative branch through constitutionally mandated, periodic reports to Congress. These reports may be either written or oral, but today are given as the State of the Union address, which often outlines the president's legislative proposals for the coming year.According to Article II, Section 3, Clause 2 of the Constitution, the president may convene either or both houses of Congress. If both houses cannot agree on a date of adjournment, the president may appoint a date for Congress to adjourn.
Ceremonial roles
As head of state, the president can fulfill traditions established by previous presidents. William Howard Taft started the tradition of throwing out the ceremonial first pitch in 1910 at Griffith Stadium, Washington, D.C., on the Washington Senators' Opening Day. Every president since Taft, with the exception of Jimmy Carter, threw out at least one ceremonial first ball or pitch for either Opening Day, the All-Star Game, or the World Series, usually with much fanfare.Other presidential traditions are associated with American holidays. Rutherford B. Hayes began in 1878 the first White House egg rolling for local children. Beginning in 1947 during the Harry S. Truman administration, every Thanksgiving the president is presented with a live domestic turkey during the annual national thanksgiving turkey presentation held at the White House. Since 1989 when the custom of "pardoning" the turkey was formalized by Ronald Reagan, the turkey has been taken to a farm where it will live out the rest of its natural life.
Presidential traditions also involve the president's role as head of government. Many outgoing presidents since James Buchanan traditionally give advice to their successor during the presidential transition. Ronald Reagan and his successors have also left a private message on the desk of the Oval Office on Inauguration Day for the incoming president.
During a state visit by a foreign head of state, the president typically hosts a State Arrival Ceremony held on the South Lawn, a custom begun by John F. Kennedy in 1961. This is followed by a state dinner given by the president which is held in the State Dining Room later in the evening.
Selection process
Eligibility
Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the Constitution sets the principal qualifications one must meet to be eligible to the office of president. A president must: be a natural born citizen of the United States;A person who meets the above qualifications is still disqualified from holding the office of president under any of the following conditions:
Under the Twenty-second Amendment, no person can be elected president more than twice. The amendment also specifies that if any eligible person who serves as president or acting president for more than two years of a term for which some other eligible person was elected president, the former can only be elected president once. Scholars disagree whether anyone no longer eligible to be elected president could be elected vice president, pursuant to the qualifications set out under the Twelfth Amendment.
Under Article I, Section 3, Clause 7, upon conviction in impeachment cases, the Senate has the option of disqualifying convicted individuals from holding other federal offices, including the presidency.
Campaigns and nomination
The modern presidential campaign begins before the primary elections, which the two major political parties use to clear the field of candidates in advance of their national nominating conventions, where the most successful candidate is made the party's nominee for president. Typically, the party's presidential candidate chooses a vice presidential nominee, and this choice is rubber-stamped by the convention.
Nominees participate in nationally televised debates, and while the debates are usually restricted to the Democratic and Republican nominees, third party candidates may be invited, such as Ross Perot in the 1992 debates. Nominees campaign across the country to explain their views, convince voters and solicit contributions. Much of the modern electoral process is concerned with winning swing states through frequent visits and mass media advertising drives.
Election and oath
Presidents are elected indirectly in the United States. A number of electors, collectively known as the Electoral College, officially select the president. On Election Day, voters in each of the states and the District of Columbia cast ballots for these electors. Each state is allocated a number of electors, equal to the size of its delegation in both Houses of Congress combined. Generally, the ticket that wins the most votes in a state wins all of that state's electoral votes and thus has its slate of electors chosen to vote in the Electoral College.
The winning slate of electors meet at its state's capital on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December, about six weeks after the election, to vote. They then send a record of that vote to Congress. The vote of the electors is opened by the sitting vice president, acting in his capacity as President of the Senate and read aloud to a joint session of the incoming Congress, which was elected at the same time as the president.
Pursuant to the Twentieth Amendment, the president's term of office begins at noon on January 20 of the year following the election. This date, known as Inauguration Day, marks the beginning of the four-year terms of both the president and the vice president. Before executing the powers of the office, a president is constitutionally required to take the presidential oath:
Although not required, presidents have traditionally palmed a Bible while swearing the oath and have added "So help me God!" to the end of the oath. Further, though no law requires that the oath of office be administered by any specific person, presidents are traditionally sworn in by the Chief Justice of the United States.
Tenure and term limits
The term of office for president and vice president is four years. George Washington, the first president, set an unofficial precedent of serving only two terms, which subsequent presidents followed until 1940. Before Franklin D. Roosevelt, attempts at a third term were encouraged by supporters of Ulysses S. Grant and Theodore Roosevelt; neither of these attempts succeeded. In 1940, Franklin D. Roosevelt declined to seek a third term, but allowed his political party to "draft" him as its presidential candidate and was subsequently elected to a third term. In 1941, the United States entered World War II, leading voters to elect Roosevelt to a fourth term in 1944.After the war, and in response to Roosevelt being elected to third and fourth terms, the Twenty-second Amendment was adopted. The amendment bars anyone from being elected president more than twice, or once if that person served more than half of another president's term. Harry S. Truman, who was president when the amendment was adopted, and so by the amendment's provisions exempt from its limitation, also briefly sought a third (a second full) term before withdrawing from the 1952 election.
Since the amendment's adoption, four presidents have served two full terms: Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Jimmy Carter and George H. W. Bush sought a second term, but were defeated. Richard Nixon was elected to a second term, but resigned before completing it. Lyndon B. Johnson was the only president under the amendment to be eligible to serve more than two terms in total, having served for only fourteen months following John F. Kennedy's assassination. However, Johnson withdrew from the 1968 Democratic Primary, surprising many Americans. Gerald Ford sought a full term, after serving out the last two years and five months of Nixon's second term, but was not elected.
Vacancy or disability
Vacancies in the office of president may arise under several possible circumstances: death, resignation and removal from office.Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution allows the House of Representatives to impeach high federal officials, including the president, for "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." Article I, Section 3, Clause 6 gives the Senate the power to remove impeached officials from office, given a two-thirds vote to convict. The House has thus far impeached two presidents: Andrew Johnson in 1868 and Bill Clinton in 1998. Neither was subsequently convicted by the Senate; however, Johnson was acquitted by just one vote.
Under Section 3 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment, the president may transfer the presidential powers and duties to the vice president, who then becomes acting president, by transmitting a statement to the Speaker of the House and the president pro tempore of the Senate stating the reasons for the transfer. The president resumes the discharge of the presidential powers and duties when he transmits, to those two officials, a written declaration stating that resumption. This transfer of power may occur for any reason the president considers appropriate; in 2002 and again in 2007, President George W. Bush briefly transferred presidential authority to Vice President Dick Cheney. In both cases, this was done to accommodate a medical procedure which required Bush to be sedated; both times, Bush returned to duty later the same day.
Under Section 4 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment, the vice president, in conjunction with a majority of the Cabinet, may transfer the presidential powers and duties from the president to the vice president by transmitting a written declaration to the Speaker of the House and the president pro tempore of the Senate that the president is unable to discharge the presidential powers and duties. If this occurs, then the vice president will assume the presidential powers and duties as acting president; however, the president can declare that no such inability exists and resume the discharge of the presidential powers and duties. If the vice president and Cabinet contest this claim, it is up to Congress, which must meet within two days if not already in session, to decide the merit of the claim.
The United States Constitution mentions the resignation of the president but does not regulate the form of such a resignation or the conditions for its validity. Pursuant to federal law, the only valid evidence of the president's resignation is a written instrument to that effect, signed by the president and delivered to the office of the Secretary of State. On August 9, 1974, facing likely impeachment in the midst of the Watergate scandal, Richard Nixon became the only president ever to resign from office.
The Constitution states that the vice president becomes president upon the removal from office, death or resignation of the preceding president. If the offices of president and vice president both are either vacant or have a disabled holder of that office, the next officer in the presidential line of succession, the Speaker of the House, becomes acting president. The line then extends to the president pro tempore of the Senate, followed by every member of the Cabinet in a set order.
Compensation
+ Presidential pay history | Date established !! Salary !! Salary in 2009 | dollars |
September 24, 1789 | $25,000 | $566,000 |
March 3, 1873 | style="text-align:right;">style="text-align:right;"| $865,000 | |
March 4, 1909 | style="text-align:right;">style="text-align:right;"| $1,714,000 | |
January 19, 1949 | style="text-align:right;">style="text-align:right;"| $906,000 | |
January 20, 1969 | style="text-align:right;">style="text-align:right;"| $1,175,000 | |
January 20, 2001 | style="text-align:right;">style="text-align:right;"| $487,000 | |
The president earns a $400,000 annual salary, along with a $50,000 annual expense account, a $100,000 non-taxable travel account and $19,000 for entertainment. The most recent raise in salary was approved by Congress and President Bill Clinton in 1999 and went into effect in 2001.
The White House in Washington, D.C. serves as the official place of residence for the president; he is entitled to use its staff and facilities, including medical care, recreation, housekeeping, and security services. Naval Support Facility Thurmont, popularly known as Camp David, is a mountain-based military camp in Frederick County, Maryland used as a country retreat and for high alert protection of the president and his guests. Blair House, located adjacent to the Old Executive Office Building at the White House Complex and Lafayette Park, is a complex of four connected townhouses exceeding of floor space which serves as the president's official guest house and as a secondary residence for the president if needed.
For ground travel, the president uses the presidential state car, which is an armored limousine built on a heavily modified Cadillac-based chassis. One of two identical Boeing VC-25 aircraft, which are extensively modified versions of Boeing 747-200B airliners, serve as long distance travel for the president, and are referred to as Air Force One while the president is on board. The president also uses a United States Marine Corps helicopter, designated Marine One when the president is aboard.
The United States Secret Service is charged with protecting the sitting president and his family. As part of their protection, presidents, first ladies, their children and other immediate family members, and other prominent persons and locations are assigned Secret Service codenames. The use of such names was originally for security purposes and dates to a time when sensitive electronic communications were not routinely encrypted; today, the names simply serve for purposes of brevity, clarity and tradition.
Post-presidency
Beginning in 1959, all living former presidents were granted a pension, an office and a staff. The pension has increased numerous times with Congressional approval. Retired presidents now receive a pension based on the salary of the current administration's cabinet secretaries, which is $191,300 as of 2008. Some former presidents have also collected congressional pensions. The Former Presidents Act, as amended, also provides former presidents with travel funds and franking privileges.Until 1997, all former presidents, and their families, were protected by the Secret Service until the president's death. The last president to have lifetime Secret Service protection is Bill Clinton; George W. Bush and all subsequent presidents will be protected by the Secret Service for a maximum of ten years after leaving office.
Some presidents have had significant careers after leaving office. Prominent examples include William Howard Taft's tenure as Chief Justice of the United States and Herbert Hoover's work on government reorganization after World War II. Grover Cleveland, whose bid for reelection failed in 1888, was elected president again four years later in 1892. Two former presidents served in Congress after leaving the White House: John Quincy Adams was elected to the House of Representatives, serving there for seventeen years, and Andrew Johnson returned to the Senate in 1875. John Tyler served in the provisional Congress of the Confederate States during the Civil War and was elected to the Confederate House of Representatives.
Presidents may use their predecessors as emissaries to deliver private messages to other nations, or as official representatives of the United States to state funerals and other important foreign events. Richard Nixon made multiple foreign trips to countries including China and Russia, and was lauded as an elder statesman. Jimmy Carter has become a global human rights campaigner, international arbiter and election monitor, and a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Bill Clinton has also worked as an informal ambassador, most recently in the negotiations that led to the release of two American journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee from North Korea. Clinton has also been active politically since his presidential term ended, working with his wife Hillary on her presidential bid.
Currently there are four living former presidents:
Presidential libraries
Each president since Herbert Hoover has created a repository known as a presidential library for preserving and making available his papers, records and other documents and materials. Completed libraries are deeded to and maintained by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); the initial funding for building and equipping each library must come from private, non-federal sources. There are currently thirteen presidential libraries in the NARA system. There are also a number of presidential libraries maintained by state governments and private foundations, such as the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, which is run by the State of Illinois.
Criticism
Criticism of the presidency generally falls into one of the following categories:; Presidency is too powerful : Most of the nation's Framers expected Congress, which was described first in the Constitution, to be the dominant branch of government; they did not want or expect a strong executive. However, numerous critics describe the presidency today as too powerful, unchecked and unbalanced and "monarchist" in nature. Critic Dana D. Nelson believes presidents over the past thirty years have worked towards "undivided presidential control of the executive branch and its agencies." She criticizes proponents of the unitary executive for expanding "the many existing uncheckable executive powers – such as executive orders, decrees, memorandums, proclamations, national security directives and legislative signing statements – that already allow presidents to enact a good deal of foreign and domestic policy without aid, interference or consent from Congress." Constitutional scholars have criticized excessive presidential power and described presidents as "constitutional dictators" with "an incentive to declare emergencies" to assume "quasi-dictatorial powers." David Sirota sees a pattern that "aims to provide a jurisprudential rationale for total White House supremacy over all government." Another critic wrote that the expanded presidency was "the greatest threat ever to individual freedom and democratic rule."
; Images and public relations : Some argue that images of the presidency have a tendency to be manipulated by administration public relations officials as well as by presidents themselves. One critic described the presidency as "propagandized leadership" which has a "mesmerizing power surrounding the office"; another described the aura surrounding the presidency with the word "cult." Administration public relations managers staged carefully crafted photo-ops of smiling presidents with smiling crowds for television cameras; in one instance of a televised photo-op, viewers were influenced by images and not by the story. One critic wrote the image of John F. Kennedy was described as carefully framed "in rich detail" which "drew on the power of myth" regarding the incident of PT 109 and claimed that Kennedy understood how to use images to further his presidential ambitions. Even presidential funerals are staged affairs with high production values to give an impression of "regal grandeur". As a result, political commentators believe that American voters have unrealistic expectations of presidents: voters expect a president to "drive the economy, vanquish enemies, lead the free world, comfort tornado victims, heal the national soul and protect borrowers from hidden credit-card fees."
; Deficit spending : Few presidents over the past hundred years have been adept at keeping spending within limits. Presidents who promised to rein in spending had difficulty controlling budgets. The long-term historical pattern has been for the nation to have moderate surpluses except during recessions or wars, and this pattern lasted until the 1980s. Reagan increased substantial deficits without a recession or war, and budget deficits as a percent of GDP climbed from 1.6% in 1979 to 4.0% to 6.0% for most of the 1980s, although there was a four-year period of surpluses beginning 1998 during the tenures of Clinton and Bush. After 9/11, spending returned under Bush and remained high. In 2009, the budget office estimated total federal debt would reach $12 trillion, including interest payments of $565 billion, or 4 percent of GDP. In the first decade of 2000, $632 billion was added to the budget. In 2009, the United States may be forced to borrow nearly $9.3 trillion over the next ten years, according to one estimate. A critic and senator warned this "clearly creates a scenario where the country's going to go bankrupt." Obama inherited a budget deficit in 2009 of a staggering 10% of GDP. The high levels of federal employment brought about by Roosevelt's New Deal have held steady relative to increased economic output and population. In 1962, for example, there were 13.3 federal civilian employees in the executive branch per 1,000 population, while in 2007 there were only 8.7, an increase of about 151,000 employees. From 1962 to 2007, the total number of federal civilian executive branch employees increased by 6.1% while the population increased by 61.7%. However, in the same period, the number of employees in state and local governments almost tripled.
+ Federal deficit 1940–present | |
! Decade | ! Deficit as % of GDP |
; Legislative and budgetary powers : Some critics charge that presidents have usurped important legislative and budgetary powers that should normally belong to Congress. Presidents control a vast array of agencies that can make regulations with little oversight from Congress. One critic charged that presidents could appoint a "virtual army of 'czars' – each wholly unaccountable to Congress yet tasked with spearheading major policy efforts for the White House". Presidents have been criticized for making signing statements when signing congressional legislation about how they understand a bill or plan to execute it, and commentators have described this practice as against the spirit of the Constitution. Signing statements "tip the balance of power between Congress and the White House a little more in favor of the executive branch" and have been used by the past four presidents. This practice has been criticized by the American Bar Association as unconstitutional. One critic, George F. Will, sees an "increasingly swollen executive branch" and "the eclipse of Congress". He argued that this process has been continuing "for decades" and criticized the "marginalization" of Congress.
; Abuse of power : Presidents have sometimes resorted to illegal and extra-legal activities, particularly during wartime. Lincoln suspended habeas corpus during the Civil War; Wilson imprisoned suspected communists without trial during the Palmer Raids; and Roosevelt interned over a hundred thousand Japanese-Americans during World War II. FDR used federal investigators to study tax and financial records of opposition politicians. In an effort to prevent terrorism, George W. Bush authorized warrantless wiretaps which were later ruled unconstitutional as well as torture and denying detainees due process. Nixon broke numerous laws by asking operatives to burglarize the offices of a political opponent's psychiatrist as well as the Democratic National Committee then tried to cover up White House involvement with hush money in what became the Watergate scandal. Nixon's actions were, in a way, predicted by Tocqueville in Democracy in America (1835). Tocqueville argued that the re-electability of presidents was a grave cause for concern, since presidents running for re-election were tempted to not only lose their impartiality but use the vast machinery of the State to further their re-election. Tocqueville warned:
; Starting wars without a declaration from Congress : Some critics charge that the executive branch has usurped Congress's Constitutionally defined task of declaring war. While historically presidents initiated the process for going to war, they asked for and got formal war declarations from Congress for the War of 1812, the Mexican–American War, the Spanish–American War, World War I, and World War II. However, presidents did not get official declarations for other military actions, including Theodore Roosevelt's military move into Panama in 1903, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the invasions of Grenada and Panama (1990). However, while not getting an official declaration of war, presidents got Congressional approval in the first Iraq war (1991) and second Iraq War (2003) In 1993, one critic wrote "Congress's war power has become the most flagrantly disregarded provision in the Constitution."
; Election advantages of incumbent presidents : Presidents, in office, and seeking a second term have an advantage over challengers, and critics have charged that this is unfair. Since 1936, in the thirteen presidential elections where there was an incumbent, incumbents won ten times, challengers only three times (see table). Incumbent presidents seeking re-election enjoy advantages that challengers lack, including the power to command greater media coverage and influence events as well as dispense government grants. One reporter noted "nearly all incumbents raise far more (money) than do their challengers" which brings an advantage to incumbents. PACs give most of their money to incumbents because they are more likely to win. One political forecaster suggested incumbency added 5 percentage points to a candidate's likely re-election results, although circumstances such as economic growth and inflation could influence the outcome.
+ Presidential elections since 1936 with an incumbent | ||||||
!Year | !Candidate | !Votes | !Candidate | !Votes | !Winner | Notes |
; Pardon power : Presidents have been criticized for pardoning certain individuals. Gerald Ford was criticized for pardoning Richard Nixon. [[George H W Bush pardoned an official suspected of hiding notes relating to the Iran-Contra scandal. Bill Clinton issued 140 pardons on the last day of his term of office, pardoning fugitives and prominent campaign contributors. George W Bush commuted the sentence of a staffer who had covered up administration complicity in the Valerie Plame Wilson matter.
; Foreign policy management : Since there is no requirement that presidential candidates have foreign policy or military or diplomatic expertise, and presidents manage foreign policy, the quality of decision-making has varied from president to president. Assessments by foreign policy experts list both successes and failures in the past half-century. Important successes within the last half century included the breakup of the Soviet Union and avoiding World War III as well as the handling of the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. But numerous presidential decisions have been criticized, including the Bay of Pigs Invasion of Cuba, specific military choices, trading arms for hostages with Iran, and decisions about initiating wars. The occupation following the Iraq War was criticized as being "catastrophically unplanned" and overall strategy with Iraq was called a "self-defeating alienation of allies." One critic noted a trend of the "militarization of U.S. foreign policy." Presidents have been accused of supporting dictators such as the Shah of Iran, Musharraf of Pakistan, and Marcos of the Philippines. Overall strategy regarding the Middle East has been criticized as well as the handling of North Korea and Iran. Critics have charged that partisan politics have interfered with foreign policy.
See also
Categories
Articles
References
Further reading
External links
{| style="float:right;" | |};Official
;Presidential histories A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns, 1787–1825 Presidential Election Returns including town and county breakdowns. A companion website for the C-SPAN television series: American Presidents: Life Portraits A collection of letters, portraits, photos, and other documents from the National Archives A collection of over 67,000 Presidential documents
;Miscellaneous An article analyzing the president's many hats. An educational site on the American presidency. Listing of every President's occupation(s) before and after becoming the Commander in Chief Brief histories of the Masonic careers of Presidents who were members of the Freemasons. A PBS site on the American presidency.
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