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Rushmore Teacher Guide to the President Of The United States

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to be the President of the United States of America? What a fun and challenging career that would be. It is also one that very few people have managed to do. The United States has been a country for well over 200 years and we have had fewer than fifty Presidents. The competition for this job is steep. When you are growing up you are told that anyone can be President of the Untied States. That is basically true. There are a few rules though. You also need a lot of determination, character, and ambition if you are going to get this coveted spot. It is definitely a challenging, yet very rewarding job. You will have to work hard in school, get good grades, and made sure you learn as much as you can about foreign and national political affairs. These will be your main focus as President.

So what are the first steps in becoming President? Step number one is that you must be at least thirty-five years old and you must be a citizen who was born in the United States, Puerto Rico, Guam, or the US Virgin Islands. You could also be born to parents who were American citizens living overseas. This being the case though, you need to be a US resident for at least 14 years.

For your education you need to plan on becoming a lawyer, or at least holding a law degree. Twenty-five of our presidents have been lawyers. Of course this is not a requirement, but it is helpful. It is also helpful to start raising money as soon as you can. Campaigns are expensive. Most people running for President usually spend upwards of $100 million for their campaigns.

Also remember that you will have to campaign. This will keep you busy for about a year and a half before the election. Everyday you will be out on the road speaking somewhere. First thing you have to do is win your party's primary election. After that, you will have to name your running mate for Vice President and then the two of you will have to continue to Campaign on the road every day until the actual election. Sometime during all of this you will want to hire a staff that is full of schedulers, speechwriters, and media directors. You will not have time to do this for yourself if you are busy giving speeches everyday.

Next comes the election. In order to win the election you will have to win a majority of the Electoral College. Every individual has the right to vote, but every the majority of each state's votes goes to the wining sides electoral. So if five hundred people vote for the democrat, and 400 vote for the Republican, then all votes go to the Democratic Electoral which counts toward the Democratic Candidate.

Finally, while you are waiting for the results to come in, practice your oath of office, and remember to celebrate whether you win or lose. Think of this, if fewer than 50 people have made it to be President, you making it this close is still extremely successful.

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