Presidential Duties Minimum Qualifications: Minimum of 35 years of age Natural-born citizen of the U.S. Resident of the U.S. for at least 14 years before taking office Same qualifications for vice president

Presidential Duties Presidential Duties: Commander in Chief Appoints (with consent of the Senate) Executive Departmental Leaders, Federal Court Judges, Top Officials Ensures the law is executed properly Ability to lower a criminal sentence or grant a pardon Power to make laws Gives State of the Union address each year

Presidential Duties Presidential Duties: Commander in Chief Appoints (with consent of the Senate) Executive Departmental Leaders, Federal Court Judges, Top Officials Ensures the law is executed properly Ability to lower a criminal sentence or grant a pardon Power to make laws Gives State of the Union address each year

Presidential Duties Presidential Term: 4 year terms Can serve two 4 year terms. If a VP takes over as President for <2 years, they can serve 2 more terms (total 10 years). Assignment: Originally, the Constitution did not specify how many terms could be served. What amendment specifies the number of terms?

Presidential Duties Presidential Salary: : $200,000 per year 2001: Congress raised the salary to $400,000 per year Travel expense: $100,000 per year Congress cannot increase or decrease the salary during a president’s term

Presidential Duties Presidential Benefits: Protected transportation Free medical, dental and health care 132-room mansion (swimming pool, bowling alley, private movie theater, tennis courts, basketball court) Cooking, shopping, and cleaning 10 year of secret service protection after retirement

Presidential Duties Retirement: After retirement, presidents receive a lifetime pension of $148,400 per year Free office space and free mailing services $96,000 per year for office help When a president dies, the widow can receive $20,000 per year

Presidential Duties Presidential Campaign Costs: In 2008 candidate endorsements: $269,985,803 for top 4 Republicans $588,443,633 for top 4 Democrats Mitt Romney spent approximately $44 million of his own money in ’08

Presidential Duties Limitations on Campaign Funds: Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act (BCRA) 2002: Presidential candidates that accept public financing agree to limit their spending $37.3 million for the primaries $74.6 million for the general election McCain accepted public funding Obama did private financing

Presidential Duties Presidential Succession: Assignment: What is the Succession Act of 1947? Assignment: What is the 25 th Amendment? Assignment: List the Presidential Succession (all 18)

Presidential Duties Vice President: Two primary roles: Presides over the Senate Votes in the Senate if there is a tie President may assign additional duties and responsibilities to the VP Assignment: How many Vice Presidents have become President?