226 PART THREE • insTiTuTions of AmERiCAn GovERnmEnT
Twelfth Amendment
An amendment to the
Constitution, adopted in
1804, that specifies the
separate election of the
president and the vice
president by the Electoral
College.
Head of State
The role of the president
as ceremonial head of the
government.Because victory goes to the candidate with a majority in the Electoral College, it is
conceivable that someone could be elected to the office of the presidency without having
a plurality of the popular vote cast. Indeed, on four occasions candidates won elections
even though their major opponents received more popular votes. One of those elections
occurred in 2000, when George W. Bush won the Electoral College vote and became
president even though his opponent, Al Gore, won the popular vote. In elections in which
more than two candidates were running for office, many presidential candidates have
won with less than 50 percent of the total popular votes cast for all candidates—including
Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Richard Nixon, and in
1992, Bill Clinton.
Thus far, on two occasions the Electoral College has failed to give any candidate
a majority. At that point, the House of Representatives takes over, and the president is
then chosen from among the three candidates having the most Electoral College votes,
as noted in Chapter 8. In 1800, Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr tied in the Electoral
College. This happened because the Constitution had not been explicit in indicating which
of the two electoral votes was for president and which was for vice president. In 1804,
the twelfth amendment clarified the matter by requiring that the president and the vice
president be chosen separately. In 1824, the House again had to make a choice, this time
among William H. Crawford, Andrew Jackson, and John Quincy Adams. It chose Adams,
even though Jackson had more electoral and popular votes.THE mAny RolEs of THE PREsidEnT
The Constitution speaks briefly about the duties and obligations of the president. Based
on this brief list of powers and on the precedents of history, the presidency has grown
into a very complicated job that requires balancing at least five constitutional roles.
These are (1) head of state, (2) chief executive, (3) commander in chief of the armed
forces, (4) chief diplomat, and (5) chief legislator of the United States. In addition to
these constitutional roles, the president serves as the leader of his or her political party.
Of course, the president is also the nation’s most prominent and successful politician.
Here we examine each of these significant presidential functions, or roles. It is worth
noting that one person plays all these roles simultaneously and that the needs of the
roles may at times come into conflict.Head of state
Every nation has at least one person who is the ceremonial head of state. In most demo-
cratic nations, the role of head of state is given to someone other than the chief execu-
tive, who leads the executive branch of government. In Britain, for example, the head of
state is the queen. In much of Europe, the head of state is a relatively powerless president,
and the prime minister is the chief executive. But in the United States, the president is both
chief executive and head of state. According to William Howard Taft, as head of state the
president symbolizes the “dignity and majesty” of the American people.
Some observers of the American political system believe that having the president
serve as both the chief executive and the head of state drastically limits the time avail-
able to do “real” work. Not all presidents have agreed with this conclusion, however—
particularly those presidents who have skillfully blended these two roles with their role as
politician. Being head of state gives the president tremendous public exposure, which can
be an important asset in a campaign for reelection. When that exposure is positive, it helpswww
Helpful Web Sites
You can find an excellent
collection of data and
maps describing all U.S.
presidential elections at
Dave Leip’s Atlas of U.S.
Presidential Elections.
Simply type “leip” into
your search engine.LO2: Distinguish some of
the major roles of the president,
including head of state, chief
executive, commander in chief,
chief diplomat, chief legislator,
party chief, and politician.
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