Article 2 of the US Constitution creates the executive branch. It puts federal executive power in a single President, sets a four-year term, spells out who is eligible for the office and how they are chosen, lists the powers the President may exercise and the duties the President must perform, and sets the grounds for removal from office. Four sections do the work, and several later amendments have refined the framework.
Who Can Be President
Article 2, Section 1, Clause 5 sets three requirements for the presidency. A candidate must be a natural-born citizen, at least 35 years old, and a resident of the United States for at least 14 years.1Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution Article II Section 1 Clause 5 – Qualifications The 12th Amendment applies the same qualifications to the Vice President, since the VP has to be ready to take over at any time.
The Supreme Court has never formally defined “natural born Citizen.” Constitutional scholars generally read it to mean someone who held US citizenship at birth, without going through naturalization later.2Congress.gov. ArtII.S1.C5.1 Qualifications for the Presidency Under current federal statutes, that can include children born abroad to US citizen parents who meet certain residency requirements, though the question has never been definitively resolved by the courts.
The President and Vice President serve four-year terms.3Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Article II Before taking power, the President-elect must recite the oath prescribed in Section 1, word for word: “I do solemnly 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.”4USAGov. Inauguration of the President of the United States The option to affirm rather than swear accommodates anyone whose religious beliefs prohibit oaths. This is the only oath whose exact wording appears in the Constitution itself.
How the President Is Chosen
Article 2 does not provide for a direct popular vote. Each state appoints a number of electors equal to its total representation in Congress, meaning its House members plus its two Senators.5Congress.gov. Article II Section 1 Congress sets the day electors are chosen and the day they cast their votes, and that day must be the same across the country.3Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Article II
The original mechanism had each elector cast two votes for President, with the runner-up becoming Vice President. That broke down once political parties formed. The 12th Amendment, ratified in 1804, fixed it by requiring electors to cast separate ballots for President and Vice President.6Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Twelfth Amendment
Under the 12th Amendment, a candidate needs a majority of all appointed electors to win. If nobody reaches that threshold in the presidential race, the House of Representatives picks the President from the top three vote-getters, with each state delegation getting a single vote. If no vice presidential candidate wins a majority, the Senate chooses between the top two, with each Senator voting individually.6Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution – Twelfth Amendment
Powers Article 2 Gives the President
Section 2 lists the specific authorities the President wields. Most of the biggest ones require the Senate to sign on, a design meant to keep any one person from acting unilaterally on the most consequential decisions.
Commander in Chief
The President is Commander in Chief of the armed forces, including state militias when they are called into federal service.7Constitution Annotated. U.S. Constitution – Article II Section 2 That confers top-level authority over military operations and strategy. It does not include the power to declare war, which belongs to Congress under Article 1.
Treaties and Appointments
The President can negotiate treaties with foreign nations, but a treaty only takes effect if two-thirds of the Senators present vote to approve it. The President nominates ambassadors, federal judges (including Supreme Court justices), and other senior officials, all subject to Senate confirmation.7Constitution Annotated. U.S. Constitution – Article II Section 2 Congress can also assign the appointment of lower-level officers to the President alone, to department heads, or to the courts.
Recess Appointments
When the Senate is in recess, the President can fill vacancies without waiting for confirmation. These recess appointments are temporary; the commissions expire at the end of the Senate’s next session.8Constitution Annotated. Article II Section 2 Clause 3
Pardons
The President can grant reprieves and pardons for federal offenses, with one exception: impeachment cases are off-limits.7Constitution Annotated. U.S. Constitution – Article II Section 2 A pardon can come before or after a conviction and can be broad or narrow. It does not reach state crimes, only offenses against the United States.
Duties Article 2 Requires
Section 3 shifts from powers the President may exercise to duties the President must perform.
The Take Care Clause
The most far-reaching duty in Section 3 is the requirement that the President “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.”9Constitution Annotated. Article II Section 3 – Duties This clause is the constitutional foundation for the President’s authority over federal agencies and the day-to-day enforcement of federal law. It cuts both ways: it empowers the President to direct how laws are carried out, and it obligates faithful execution, meaning the President cannot simply ignore statutes or twist their meaning to serve personal ends.
Reporting to Congress
The President must periodically report to Congress on the state of the nation and recommend legislation the President considers necessary.9Constitution Annotated. Article II Section 3 – Duties This has become the annual State of the Union address, though nothing in the Constitution requires a speech; early Presidents submitted written messages instead.
Diplomacy and Congressional Sessions
The President receives foreign ambassadors and public ministers, a duty that has grown into the broader power of diplomatic recognition, deciding which foreign governments the United States formally acknowledges. The President can also convene one or both chambers of Congress on extraordinary occasions and, when the two chambers disagree about when to adjourn, can adjourn them to a time the President considers appropriate.10Avalon Project. U.S. Constitution – Article II
Compensation and the Emoluments Limits
The President currently receives an annual salary of $400,000, paid monthly, plus a $50,000 expense allowance for costs related to official duties. Any unused portion of that allowance returns to the Treasury, and the allowance itself is excluded from the President’s taxable income.11Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 3 USC 102 – Compensation of the President
Article 2 includes what’s known as the Domestic Emoluments Clause, which imposes two restrictions. The President’s pay cannot be raised or lowered during the term for which that President was elected, and the President cannot receive any other payment from the federal government or any state government during that period.12Constitution Annotated. Article II Section 1 Clause 7 The salary lock prevents Congress from punishing an unpopular President by cutting pay, and prevents a President from being rewarded with raises for signing favorable legislation.
Succession and Disability
Article 2, Section 1 provides that if a President is removed, dies, resigns, or becomes unable to perform the job, the powers and duties of the office pass to the Vice President.13Legal Information Institute. Succession Clause for the Presidency The original text also authorizes Congress to decide by statute who acts as President if both the presidency and vice presidency are vacant. That statutory line today runs from the Speaker of the House to the President pro tempore of the Senate, then through Cabinet secretaries starting with the Secretary of State.14USAGov. Order of Presidential Succession
The 25th Amendment, ratified in 1967, added three more mechanisms. Section 2 allows the President to nominate a new Vice President when that office is vacant; the nominee takes office once confirmed by a majority in both chambers of Congress.15Congress.gov. Twenty-Fifth Amendment Section 3 lets a President voluntarily hand over power by sending a written declaration to the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate; the Vice President serves as Acting President until the President sends another written declaration reclaiming the role.16Legal Information Institute. 25th Amendment – U.S. Constitution
Section 4 covers the harder case: a President who is unable to serve but unwilling or unable to say so. The Vice President and a majority of the Cabinet (or another body designated by Congress) can declare the President unable to discharge the office, at which point the Vice President immediately becomes Acting President. If the President disputes the declaration, Congress must decide the issue within 21 days, and keeping the President sidelined requires a two-thirds vote in both chambers.16Legal Information Institute. 25th Amendment – U.S. Constitution Section 4 has never been invoked.
Removal from Office
Article 2, Section 4 provides that the President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States can be removed from office upon impeachment and conviction for treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.17Constitution Annotated. Article II Section 4 – Impeachment The grounds are deliberately broad. “High crimes and misdemeanors” does not require a violation of criminal law; the phrase historically covers serious abuses of public trust and misconduct in office.
The mechanics come from Article 1, not Article 2. The House of Representatives holds the sole power to impeach, which functions like an indictment. The Senate then conducts the trial, with the Chief Justice presiding when the President is on trial. Conviction requires a two-thirds vote of the Senators present, results in automatic removal, and the Senate may vote separately, by simple majority, to bar the individual from any future federal office.18Congress.gov. Overview of Impeachment Trials
Treason is defined in Article 3, Section 3 as levying war against the United States or giving aid and comfort to its enemies.19Congress.gov. U.S. Constitution Article III Section 3 Bribery involves the corrupt exchange of something of value for official action. No President has ever been convicted and removed by the Senate, though three have been impeached by the House.
Term Limits
Article 2 originally placed no limit on how many times a President could be reelected. George Washington set an informal two-term precedent that held until Franklin Roosevelt won four consecutive elections. The 22nd Amendment, ratified in 1951, caps the presidency at two elected terms. A Vice President or other successor who serves more than two years of a predecessor’s term can only be elected President once, limiting that individual to a maximum of roughly ten years in office.