II THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT

This department of the Constitution treats of the means and processes by which the laws which are made in the Legislative Department shall be carried

out.

SECTION I

Ι a The Executive (or carrying out) power of the United States shall be vested in (placed in the hands of) the President and Congress.

b The President (and the Vice-President) shall hold office four years and shall be elected by the vote of the people in the following manner:

2 Each State shall appoint (through its Legislature) as many Electors as there are Senators and Representatives from that State. No Senator or Representative who holds any office of trust or profit under the United States shall be himself appointed an Elector.

3

a The Electors shall meet in their respective States and ballot for two persons, one of whom shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves.

b They shall make a list of all persons thus voted for and a list of the number of votes each receives.

c These lists, the Electors shall sign and certify and send by mail, sealed, to the seat of government of the United States, the package being directed to the President of the Senate (Speaker).

d The President shall open the package in the

presence of the Senate and House of Representatives and the votes shall be counted.

e The person having the greatest number of votes shall become President of the United States, providing this "largest number" be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed. If more than one name receives a “majority” and an equal number of votes, then the House of Representatives shall cast votes for these two. The one having the greatest number of votes from the House becomes President.

f If, however, on opening the package, it be found that no person has a majority, the five names highest on the list are voted upon by the House of Representatives and the person receiving the highest number of votes becomes President of the United States.

g In choosing a President, the votes shall be taken by States, the group of Electors from each State counting as one. A "quorum" shall be necessary, this consisting of one member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice.

NOTE Let it be thoroughly understood what a quorum is; also what a majority is. It is well here to teach the difference between a majority and a plurality.

The Author has found it impossible to successfully and satisfactorily teach the method of electing a President, except through object-teaching. The teacher is strongly urged to arrange electoral votes so that there shall and shall not be a majority of votes; also so that there shall be a "tie" when the sealed package is opened. Vote only by the new method; it is useless and confusing to try to remember the old method.

h After the President is chosen, the Vice-President shall be chosen; that is, the one having the greatest number of votes. If, however, two names have the same number of votes, the Senate (notice that it is the Senate) shall vote upon the two names, as the House of Representatives voted upon the names of President.

Now it was soon found that this was not a satisfactory way to vote for a President and Vice-President. The Fathers of the Constitution meant to keep the election of the President in the hands of the people as far as possible; but it was found that if elected in this way, the people's real choice was lost in the process.

Therefore, in 1803, this clause of the Constitution was changed. (See Amendment XII.) The President of the United States is now elected in this

manner:

a The Electors meet in their respective States and vote by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom shall not be a member of the same State with themselves.

b The President shall be balloted for first, the Vice-President, secondly, these ballotings being perfectly separate.

c The Electors shall then make a list of names of those voted for as President and a list of names of those voted for as Vice-President.

d These lists the Electors shall sign and certify, seal and send to the President of the Senate (the Speaker).

e

The President of the Senate shall in the presence

of the Senate and the House of Representatives open the package and the votes shall be counted.

ƒ The person having the greatest number of votes, providing he have a majority of the whole number of Electors, shall be the President. If no person have a majority, the highest names on the lists (not more than three, less, if the House choose, shall be balloted upon by the House. The person receiving the highest number of votes becomes President.

g In choosing a President, the Electors' listed names shall be taken by States, each State having one vote. The quorum shall consist of two-thirds of the States and a majority of all the States shall be necessary to a choice.

h The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice-President shall become Vice-President, providing that number be a majority of the Electors. If no person have a majority, the Senate shall ballot for Vice-President from the two highest numbers. The quorum shall consist of two-thirds of the whole Senate and a majority of the whole number of Senators shall be necessary for a choice.

i No person who is not eligible to the office of President, shall be eligible to the office of VicePresident. (This is because the Vice-President, should the President die or be impeached during his term of office, would become President.)

4 Congress shall decide upon the day when the Electors shall be chosen and also the day upon which they shall ballot, that day being the same throughout the United States.

5 No person shall be eligible to the office of President or Vice-President unless he be a natural born citizen of the United States and has lived in his own country for at least fourteen years. He must also be thirty-five years of age.

6 a Should the President die or for any reason be unable to perform his duties, the Vice-President takes his place.

b Should the Vice-President die or for any reason be unable to perform the duties of President, Congress may choose some one to serve until another President be elected by the people through their Electors.

7 The President shall receive a salary and this salary shall neither be increased or decreased during his term of office.

8 The President shall take the following "oath of office":

"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."

SECTION 2

I a The President shall be Commander-in-Chief of the army and navy of the United States and of the militia of the States while they are in the service of the United States.

b He may require in writing the opinions of the heads of the various government departments (hence the Cabinet).