The Executive

The President

•is the head of state and head of government of the United States;

•leads the executive branch of the federal government;

•is the commander- in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.

Functions of the President

•choosing the 14 cabinet members who head departments;

•choosing who will run as vice president;

•appointing federal judges;

•choosing heads of agencies such as the FBI and CIA;

•proposing laws, and approving federal laws after Congress has approved them;

•choosing US ambassadors to foreign countries;

•responsible for relations with foreign countries;

The Vice President

•is the second-highest public office created by the United States Constitution;

•President of the US Senate.

The Cabinet

•is composed of the most senior appointed officers of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States, who are generally the heads of the federal executive departments;

•forms the government together with the president.

•advises the president on issues related to their departments.

Presidential Election in the

USA

The president is chosen by 538 members of the electoral college.

The presidential election is actually 51 separate contests.

Each state plus the D.C. administers its own elections.

The President and Vice President run together as a "ticket" – voters elect them together.

A ticket needs only to receive the most votes (a plurality, not a majority) in a state in order to ‘win’ the electors allocated to the state.

A ticket needs to ‘win’ a majority of electors in order for its candidates to be declared President and Vice President.

In the modern era, the ‘magic number’ is 270, half of the 538 electors plus one.