How to Become a Presidental Choice

The President of the United States is considered to be the highest position of honor in the United States today. The President is both the head of state and head of government of the United States. Some roles of the President include Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, head of the executive branch of government, able to sign into effect or veto laws passed by Congress, ability to make treaties and appoint foreign ambassadors, create a cabinet of advisors and grant pardons and reprieves. The job is no easy task, with the potential at any time for assassination attempts, acts of terrorism to deal with, public speaking in international venues, and being available at every moment of the day to deal with conflicts and issues that arise in the country as well as overseas. If you feel you would like to obtain this job, you have a daunting task ahead of you to become the next Presidential choice. However, no one says that it is insurmountable. This article will help explore what you need to do to become the next Presidential choice.

Things You'll Need

• meet the requirements for becoming President
• startup campaign funds
• ways to raise massive amounts of funds for the campaign process
• a likeable character
• ability to get things done and become well known

Instructions

1. Meet the requirements for becoming President of the United States as outlined in Article II of the US Constitution. Before you can even be considered as a candidate, you must meet these requirements. You must be a natural born citizen of the United States and be at least 35 years of age. You must have resided in the US for 14 years.

2. Choose your political party. You could register as a Democrat, Republican, or a Third Party candidate such as the Green Party. Although the campaigns today focus more on the candidates than the party affiliation, you will need the backing of one of the parties for obtaining campaign funds and for getting enough votes.

3. Grab some attention for yourself and start the process. This means that committees will be formed to test your appeal across the nation, as well as to increase your visibility. Exploratory committees will begin to seek paid and volunteer staff, seek endorsements, develop your stances on major issues, learn about your chances of becoming President, and start organizing the campaign in major states. This process should start years before the election. So, if you wish to run for President in 2012, you should start forming these committees as early as 2008 or 2009.

4. Declare your candidacy. If you are going to run for President of the United States, you have to register with the Federal Election Commission and file a Statement of Candidacy as soon as you get contributions or spend money over $5,000 in the campaign. Then, within 10 days of filing the Statement of Candidacy, your campaign committee must file a Statement of Organization. This is all governed by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) created by Congress to enforce the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA).

5. Raise funds and start massive campaigning on the campaign trail. The serious part of the campaign process starts six months to a year before the first set of primaries and caucuses.

6. Get on the ballot in the different states for each states' caucus or primary election, and receive electoral votes from the states in each state's primary or caucus. Each state has different rules governing how to get on the ballot. In general, you will either get on the ballot by being nationally recognized in the United States as being a candidate, or by a pettition of a certain amount of signatures to have your name added to the ballot. A third way would be to have the chairperson of the political party's state committee designate your name to be listed on the ballot in that state.

7. Be declared the winner of your party's ticket by getting enough pledged and superdelegates, or by obtain enough votes of the pledged and superdelegates at the party's National Convention.

8. Get on the ballot in each state for the General Election. To do this, you must either be the Democratic or Republican declared the party's nomination at the National Convention of the party, or you can list yourself as another party. To be listed on the ballot as an Independent candidate, you don't need a nomination, but you still need a large number of signatures to support the nomination.

9. Win the General Election. To do so, you must get a majority (over 50%) of electoral college votes from the states when the Electoral College meets in December. Each state gets a set number of electoral votes, determined by the number of senators and house representatives for that state. One candidate wins the electoral votes for each state.

Tips & Warnings

• The addition of the 15th Amendment in 1870 giving African Americans the right to vote and the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote in 1920 guaranteed the rights of African Americans and women to run for and obtain the position of President.

• Don't have been impeached in another federal office. If so, the Senate can vote to disqualify you from running for President.

• Ideally, you will file the Statement of Candidacy around the time that you announce the formation of the exploratory committees to start looking into whether you will run.

• If no candidate receives a majority of the electoral college votes when the Electoral College meets in December, the House of Representatives chooses the President. The house votes by state, with each state getting one vote. A majority of the House votes decides who wins.

• If you are going to run for President, make sure you are willing to dedicate yourself 100% to the position and to the love of the United States as a country. You will make personal sacrifices that you never dreamed of in fulfilling the position.