Article II of the US Constitution. Executive Department

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, as follows.

• Executive Department
  • Creation of the Presidency
  • Executive Power: Theory of the Presidential Office
    • Hamilton and Madison.
    • The Myers Case.
    • The Curtiss-Wright Case.
    • The Youngstown Case.
    • The Zivotofsky Case.
    • The Practice in the Presidential Office.

    Clause 2. Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress; but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.

    Clause 3. The Electors shall meet in their respective States and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the Certificates, and the Votes shall then be counted. The Person having the greatest Number of Votes shall be the President, if such Number be a majority of the whole Number of Electors appointed: and if there be more than one who have such Majority, and have an equal Number of Votes, then the House of Representatives shall immediately chuse by Ballot one of them for President; and if no Person have a Majority, then from the five highest on the List the said House shall in like manner chuse the President. But in chusing the President, the Votes shall be taken by States, the Representation from each State having one Vote; A quorum for this purpose shall consist of a Member or Members from two thirds of the States, and a Majority of all the States shall be necessary to a Choice. In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall chuse from them by Ballot the Vice President.

    Clause 4. The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.

    • Electoral College
      • “Appoint”
      • State Discretion in Choosing Electors
      • Constitutional Status of Electors
      • Electors as Free Agents

      No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been Fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.

      In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

      The President shall, at stated Times, receive for his Services, a Compensation which shall neither be encreased nor diminished during the Period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within that Period any other Emolument from the United States, or any of them.

      Before he enter on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:—“I do solemly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

      The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Office, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

      • Commander In Chief
        • Development of the Concept
          • The Limited View.
          • The Prize Cases.
          • Impact of the Prize Cases on World Wars I and II.
          • Presidential War Agencies.
          • Constitutional Status of Presidential Agencies.
          • Evacuation of the West Coast Japanese.
          • Presidential Government of Labor Regulations.
          • Sanctions Implementing Presidential Directives.
          • The Postwar Period.
          • The Historic Use of Force Abroad.
          • The Theory of Presidential Power.
          • The Power of Congress to Control the President’s Discretion.
          • The Commander-in-Chief a Civilian Officer.
          • Martial Law in Hawaii.
          • Articles of War: The Nazi Saboteurs.
          • Articles of War: World War II Crimes.
          • Articles of War: Response to the Attacks of September 11, 2001.
          • Martial Law and Domestic Disorder.
          • The Cabinet
          • The Legal Nature of a Pardon
          • Scope of the Power
            • Offenses Against the United States: Contempt of Court.
            • Effects of a Pardon: Ex parte Garland.
            • Limits to the Efficacy of a Pardon.

            He shall have Power, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, to make Treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the Advice and Consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, Judges of the supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose Appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by Law: but the Congress may by Law vest the Appointment of such inferior Officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the Court of Law, or in the Heads of Departments.

            • The Treaty Making Power
              • President and Senate
                • Negotiation, a Presidential Monopoly.
                • Origin of the Conception.
                • Treaties and the States.
                • Treaties and Congress.
                • Congressional Repeal of Treaties.
                • Treaties Versus Prior Acts of Congress.
                • When Is a Treaty Self-Executing.
                • Treaties and the Necessary and Proper Clause.
                • Termination of Treaties by Notice.
                • Determination Whether a Treaty Has Lapsed.
                • Status of a Treaty a Political Question.
                • Present Status of Indian Treaties.
                • Executive Agreements by Authorization of Congress
                  • Reciprocal Trade Agreements.
                  • The Constitutionality of Trade Agreements.
                  • The Lend-Lease Act.
                  • International Organizations.
                  • Arbitration Agreements.
                  • Agreements Under the United Nations Charter.
                  • Status of Forces Agreements.
                  • The Litvinov Agreement.
                  • The Hull-Lothian Agreement.
                  • The Post-War Years.
                  • Office
                    • Presidential Diplomatic Agents.
                    • Congressional Regulation of Conduct in Office.
                    • The Loyalty Issue.
                    • Financial Disclosure and Limitations.
                    • Legislation Increasing Duties of an Officer.
                    • Nomination.
                    • Senate Approval.
                    • When Senate Consent Is Complete.
                    • The Myers Case.
                    • The Humphrey Case.
                    • The Wiener Case.
                    • The Watergate Controversy.
                    • The Removal Power Rationalized.
                    • Inferior Officers.
                    • Private Access to Government Information.
                    • Prosecutorial and Grand Jury Access to Presidential Documents.
                    • Congressional Access to Executive Branch Information.

                    The President shall have Power to fill up all Vacancies that may happen during the Recess of the Senate, by granting Commissions which shall expire at the End of their next Session.

                    • Recess Appointments
                      • Judicial Appointments
                      • Ad Interim Designations

                      He shall from time to time give to the Congress Information on the State of the Union, and recommend to their Consideration such Measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary Occasions, convene both Houses, or either of them, and in Case of Disagreement between them, with Respect to the Time of Adjournment, he may adjourn them to such Time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and other public Ministers; he shall take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed, and shall Commission all the Officers of the United States.

                      • Legislative Role Of The President
                      • The Conduct Of Foreign Relations
                        • The Right of Reception: Scope of the Power
                        • The Presidential Monopoly
                          • The Logan Act.
                          • A Formal or a Formative Power.
                          • The President’s Diplomatic Role.
                          • Jefferson’s Real Position.
                          • The Case of Cuba.
                          • The Power of Nonrecognition.
                          • Recent Statements of the Doctrine.
                          • Powers Derived From The “Take Care” Duty
                          • Impoundment of Appropriated Funds
                          • Power and Duty of the President in Relation to Subordinate Executive Officers
                            • Administrative Decentralization Versus Jacksonian Centralism.
                            • Congressional Power Versus Presidential Duty to the Law.
                            • Myers Versus Morrison.
                            • Power of the President to Guide Enforcement of the Penal Law.
                            • The Debs Case.
                            • Present Status of the Debs Case.
                            • Congress and the President versus Foreign Expropriation
                            • The Doctrine of the Opinion of the Court
                            • The Doctrine Considered
                            • Power Denied by Congress
                            • Unofficial Conduct
                            • The President’s Subordinates

                            The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.

                            • Impeachment
                              • Persons Subject to Impeachment
                                • Judges.