CHAPTER XV

THE PRESIDENT AND HIS CABINET

170. The President's Position and Power. - To be President of the United States has for over a century appealed to the boys of this country as the fulfillment of their greatest desire. And it is surely a noble ambition that seeks to obtain the highest office within the gift of the American people. The President of the United States, chosen by his fellow-citizens to the most exalted position in the land, the representative of the nation's power and dignity in all international relations, the commander in chief of our army and navy, and the head of our national government in times of peace, is little inferior in authority to the greatest of crowned monarchs, and occupies the position of greatest honor among the rulers of the nations.

171. The Meeting of a Nominating Convention. Presidential elections occur every four years on leap years, the people in the different states voting for candidates nominated for the office by political party conventions (§ 28). In the early summer of the presidential years, the conventions_meet usually in one of the larger cities of the central states. The delegates who attend these conventions come from every state in the Union and from the territories,

Reasons for his promi

nence.

Selection of

delegates.

The process of nomina

tion.

Practical and constitutional qualifications of candidates.

each state electing twice as many as it has members of Congress. In round numbers a thousand delegates gather on the floor of the convention hall, each state seated by itself, with banners to mark its location. The remainder of the hall, often seating ten thousand people, is filled with enthusiastic throngs ready to cheer their favorites.

172. The Nomination of Presidential Candidates. The two important duties of the convention are the adoption of a "platform," which is a formal statement of the party's principles, and the selection of the candidates. The first invariably precedes the second. Then begins the contest for the selection of the party's nominee. Sometimes only one name is suggested for the nomination, as was the case when Theodore Roosevelt was nominated by the Republican convention of 1904. More often eight or ten names are presented in laudatory speeches which are received with prolonged cheering in the galleries. The roll of the states is called then alphabetically, ballots being taken until some one has a majority of the whole number cast, or two thirds in the Democratic convention. At times no choice can be made from the principal contestants for the position, and after many futile ballots, a new man or dark horse" is brought forward and receives the honor.

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The person chosen may be a statesman of recognized standing and experience, but almost as frequently the prize is given to a prominent general or to a comparatively unknown man who has played a minor rôle in public affairs. As the constitution re

quires that the President shall be a native-born citizen of the United States, at least thirty-five years of age, and a resident of the United States at least fourteen

years, no one lacking those qualifications is ever

named.

dential can

The selection of a candidate for the vice presidency Vice-presiusually gives little trouble, the leader of a minor didates. party faction or the favorite son of a close state often being chosen.

173. The Election of a President. - Following the nomination, there are two steps in the election of a President. The first takes place on the Tuesday after the first Monday of November, when the voters in the different states choose presidential "electors" who equal in number the senators and the representatives from their state. The second occurs two months later, the "electors" meeting at their respective state capitals and forwarding their votes for President and Vice President to Washington, where they are counted in the presence of both houses of Congress by the president of the Senate.

The two

steps in the

election.

Popular interest of course centers in the November The election campaign. election, because the proceedings after that time are formal in nature. For several months preceding the election, partisan speakers have been addressing audiences in every city and village, thousands of cartoons have been sent out, and millions of campaign circulars distributed. Clubs have been organized, parades and other demonstrations given, and house to house canvasses made to learn how each man will vote. Every effort is made by the permanent party