All about electing a President of the United States of America

Every four years the people of the United States choose a President. An election takes place on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. In 2008, Americans went to the polls on November 4.

The job of President is a very important one. The President picks many of the people who help run the country including judges. He or she is in charge of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marines. He or she represents the United States and decides how we work with other countries. The President suggests laws and signs laws. Sometimes he or she even rejects laws. He or she works to help other countries get along.

Not just anyone can be President. You have to be born in the United States and be at least 35 years old. You can only be President for eight years (that's two four-year terms.) Franklin Delano Roosevelt was the only person to be President for more than two terms. He was elected four times. The President can be a man or a woman of any race or any religion.

CHECKLIST
35 YEARS OLD BORN IN THE U.S LIVED IN THE U.S. FOR 14 YEARS OR MORE

In 2008, there were several people running for President but the two major candidates were Arizona Senator John McCain and Illinois Senator Barack Obama.

REPUBLICAN

DEMOCRAT

Arizona Senator John McCain was the Republican Party Presidential Candidate. His Vice Presidential running mate was Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska.

Illinois Senator Barack Obama was the Democratic Party Presidential Candidate. His Vice Presidential running mate was Senator Joe Biden of Delaware.

It takes a lot of work and many months to be elected president. People vote during the state primaries and assemblies. That helps each party decide who to choose as their candidate.

The candidates try to get people to vote for them by giving speeches, shaking hands, giving interviews, and paying for ads on TV, radio, in newspapers, and on the internet. In 2008 the candidates used the internet to get donations of money for their campaign.

The political parties choose a candidate at their conventions. The candidate then picks their Vice Presidential running mate. The members of the party choose the ideas they think are important and the candidates begin to campaign.

The candidates really campaign hard. They march in parades, shake more hands, give more speeches, and talk on TV shows. Volunteers put up signs, banners, posters, and make phone calls to convince people to vote for their candidate. The post videos online and use websites to share their ideas.

The candidates have debates where they answer questions about the issues that are important to the people in our country. The debates are shown on television and lots of people watch. The debates help voters decide who to vote for.

On the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, people all over the United States go to a polling location and vote their choice for President. On the next slide is a picture of one of the ways people vote. Some people vote by punching a hole in a card, some use computers with touch screens, some people still vote using paper ballots or by putting an X in a box next to the candidate's name.

You have to be at least 18 years old to vote, you must be a United States citizen, and you must be registered to vote. A person who is in jail or who is on probation for committing a felony (serious crime such as murder or robbery) cannot vote.

Each state has a certain number of electoral votes. The more people that live in your state-the more electoral votes your state gets. In 48 of the states, the candidate that gets the most votes gets all the electoral votes for that state. Nebraska and Maine, do not follow the winner-take-all rule. In those two states there could be a split of electoral votes among the candidates. The first candidate to win 270 electoral votes becomes the President!

The 2008 election was a historic election. Can you tell from the map who won?

The winner was..............? There was no waiting in 2008. Even with two states too close to call the winner was Senator Barack Obama.
Candidate McCain Obama Undecided # Of States Electoral Votes 21 27 2 163 349 29 % Vote 46% 53% Popular Vote 56,499,986 64,058,702

In 2008, Barack Obama became the first African American to be elected President of the United States. Senator Obama and Senator Biden got to work right away planning for their transition.

The President elect picks many of the people who help run the country. He or she has to choose the people who would help the President run their office at the White House. They help plan who will be nominated for Cabinet positions.

On January 20, the President is sworn in, in Washington, D.C. He recites an oath: "I do solemnly swear 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."

After the inauguration, the President nominates people for the jobs he or she wants them to be in charge of in the different departments of the federal government. The heads of the departments of the federal government make up the President's cabinet. There are many jobs to be filled and they are all important. The Senate must approve each nominee.

The new President and his family move into the White House at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. That's when the hard work really started. They will live there and work there for the next four years.

REFERENCE http://www.pocanticohills.org/election/presid ent.htm