Creating the presidency

​So what happened at the Constitutional Convention?

Multiple Choice

How many people should lead our executive branch?

(The executive is the branch of the government that puts laws into action.)

• The executive should be one person - one person can act fast, which is what an executive needs to be able to do

• The executive should be a committee of people - multiple perspectives = better decisions

The authors of the Constitution decided that their should only be one leader of the executive branch and gave this person the title of president.

How many leaders should the country have?

Multiple Choice

How long should the president’s term be?

(Term = how long they are president)

• 2 years

• 4 years

• 6 years

• The president serves until they pass away

The authors of the Constitution decided that the president's term in office would be 4 years.

How long is the president's term be?

Multiple Choice

Should we be able to re-elect the same person as president multiple times?

• Yes - why ban someone from a job if they’re doing it well?

• No - people will re-elect someone just because they’re familiar with them, even if they aren’t doing a very good job

They decided at the convention that the president could be re-elected with no limitations at the Constitutional Convention, but eventually the 22nd amendment created the 2 term limit that the president has today.

​Should we be able to re-elect the president?

Multiple Select

What powers should the President have?

(Choose all that are correct)

• The power to veto laws

• The power to appoint members of the president's cabinet and judges on the Supreme Court

• The power to have command over all of the branches of the military.

• The power to issue Executive Orders.

• The power to declare war.

• Qualified veto - Congress can overrule with supermajority (⅔ of votes)

• Appointment power, but have to be approved by Senate

• Head of the military, but Congress has to be the one to declare war

What powers does the president have?

Multiple Choice

Who should choose the president?

• State governments

• Congress

• The people

• Electors chosen by the people, but able to make their own decisions

"Electors" choose the president, but states have the power to decide how those electors are chosen; some electors chosen by the state government, other electors chosen directly by voters; if no candidate receives a majority of electoral votes, House of Representatives decides.

Originally, the candidate who received the second highest number of votes for president became vice president.

​Who chooses the president?