Our President Barack Obama 44 TH President of the United States A Democrat 51 Years Old Former State Senator of Illinois Born in Honolulu, Hawaii First African-American President of the United States Since Barack Obama is our current President, he is the incumbent in the Presidential race Incumbent: A person who currently holds a political position.

The President: The President of the United States is the head of the Executive Branch. He is in charge of overseeing the government and the bureaucracy. The bureaucracy is the group of non-elected officials who work for the government.

Qualifications: The President can only serve as President for two four year terms. He or she must be a natural born citizen of the United States. The President must be at least 35 years old. Must be a permanent United States for fourteen years before running for President.

How Presidents are Elected Candidates belong to political parties: a group of people who share in the same values and ideas that wish to influence government. The two main Political Parties in the United States are: Republicans and Democrats

How Presidents are Elected When a political party has more than one party member running for president, Primary Elections are held to decide which person will run for president. After a candidate for President has been chosen, the Presidential candidates pick a running mate for the Vice President. After each Candidate has chosen a running mate, the parties hold national conventions to formally chose their nominees for president.

The 2012 Republican National Convention

The 2012 Democratic National Convention

Flash Prompt! After reading and listening to the following scenarios, write your answers in your notebook, and then discuss your answer with the person sitting next to you. Ready…….Set……..GO!

Prompt 1 Anthony Vespuchi, a congressman from New Jersey wishes to run for President. He is 45- years-old, has lived in New Jersey for over 20 years, and was born in Genoa, Italy. Can he run for president? Why or why not?

Prompt 2 Mary Anna Gilbert wants to run for president. She is 40-years-old, born in Conway, Iowa but has lived in Canada for the past five years. Can she run? Yes or no and why?

Prompt 3 Roberto Sanchez is campaigning for the Democratic nomination for President. He was born in Chicago, Illinois, is 58 years of age and has lived in New York City for the past 18 years. How does he meet all the requirements for holding the office of President of the United States?

Prompt 4 In this past election between President Obama and the Republican Candidate, Mitt Romney, who was the Incumbent? President Obama was the Incumbent

Prompt 5 Place the following in order of their occurrence: 1.National Conventions (DNC and RNC) 2.Primary Elections 3.Presidential candidates picking a running a running mate to be their Vice President 4.The Presidential Election