He is the most powerful man in the United States of America. The US President. But what exactly are his tasks and goals? And what are the names of the US presidents of the 21st century? In this article you will learn which US Presidents there were in the 21st century and how they shaped America.
US Presidents Statement
The US President is the most powerful politician in the United States of America. In his role as President, he not only influences developments in his own country, but also world politics.
The President holds the offices of:
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head of state
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head of government
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supreme commander
head of state
As head of state, the US President holds the highest office of state in the United States of America.
Typical tasks are for example:
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adopt treaties on behalf of the United States
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sent by American diplomats and received by diplomats/politicians from other countries
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appoint the judges of the federal courts as well as the judges of the Supreme Court
head of government
As head of government, he leads the cabinet, which the American President appoints with the consent of the Senate.
The Cabinet of the United States is part of the United States federal government and is an important part of the executive branch. It consists of the US President, the Vice President, the 14 cabinet ministers, the United States Attorney General and other officials from US federal agencies.
From time to time, the US President reports to Congress on the state of the US nation.
The United States Congress is the legislature in the United States. It has existed since the US Constitution came into force on March 4, 1789 and is based in Washington DC. It consists of the two chambers of the House of Representatives and the Senate.
supreme commander
As Commander-in-Chief, the US President has control over the state military forces and over the state National Guard should the National Guard need to be deployed to the federal government. The American President can independently issue orders to the military troops. The Secretary of Defense and the President together form the National Command Authority (NCA), the highest military power in the United States. They decide on the use of nuclear weapons.
US Presidents – Elections
The presidential election takes place every four years. Election day is always the first Tuesday after November 1st.
The congressional elections take place at the same time. The 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution limits the presidential term to a maximum of two terms. That corresponds to 8 years.
Any native American who is at least 35 years old can stand for election. In addition, a candidate must have lived in the USA for at least 14 years. All US citizens over the age of 18 can vote for the President. In order to take part in the election, you must first register
USA presidential election process
The primaries decide which candidates will be nominated by the two major parties (the Republicans and the Democrats).
All delegates, i.e. the candidates, of a party meet in late summer at election party conferences. The winner is officially proclaimed from among all candidates and then nominated for the election of the US President. Both frontrunners have many appearances in interviews and debates from August to November. These public appearances are very important for the candidates. Because the election depends on how the American people personally assess and evaluate the respective future president.
However, the people do not elect the president directly, but so-called electors. In each state, US citizens vote for a list of electors. The electors select the party’s candidate. The population determines how many voters a state has. There are 538 electors in total. Thus, the American people choose the electorate and not the president.
To become US President, you need an absolute majority of the votes. That means a candidate needs more than half of all electoral votes to win. If neither candidate receives at least 270 votes, the House of Representatives decides on the presidential election.
In general, first-past-the-post voting applies in US elections. That means whichever candidate in each state has the majority wins. The winning candidate in a state receives all of the local electoral votes. As a result, the votes of his competitor in the respective state expire.
US Presidents – Obama, Trump etc.
Here you will find an overview of the US Presidents of the 21st century.
George Walker Bush
George Walker Bush was the 43rd President of the United States from 2001 to 2009. He belonged to the Republican Party.
family and youth
George Walker Bush was born on July 6, 1946 in New Haven, Connecticut. His grandfather and father were already politically active. His grandfather Prescott Bush was a Connecticut State Senator and his father George HW Bush was the 41st President of the United States from 1989 to 1993.
As a result, George Walker Bush grew up in wealthy circumstances. From 1961 to 1964 Bush attended the American high school called Phillips Academy. George Walker Bush then studied history at Yale University and business administration at Harvard Business School.
Political career
In 1978, Bush ran for the first time as a candidate for the House of Representatives in Texas’ 19th congressional district. However, he lost the election. When his father became vice president and later president, Bush chose not to run for political office himself during that time. Nevertheless, he became a member of his father’s campaign team. In 1994, Bush ran for governor of Texas and won. George Walker Bush was Governor of Texas from 1995 to 2000.
US presidential campaign
George Walker Bush was nominated alongside Richard Bruce Cheney for the 2000 Republican nomination. In the In the 2000 US presidential election, he ran against Democratic candidates named Al Gore and Ralph Nader. Al Gore was the then incumbent Vice President of the United States. Ralph Nadar was an internationally renowned consumer advocate and politician. It was set up by the US Green Party (Green Party of the United States (GPUS)).
The motto of Bush’s campaign was «compassionate conservatism.» Domestically, he identified himself with the values of the conservative turn of the time, which Reagan Revolution was designated.
In the course of the election campaign, there was a hard Head-to-head between Bush and Al Gore. Ultimately, the outcome of the campaign depended on the state of Florida. This count was very controversial with a margin of 537 votes.
As a result, Al Gore requested a recount, which was rejected by the Supreme Court. Although George W. Bush received fewer electoral votes than Gore, the Supreme Court’s decision gave him more electoral votes overall and thus won.
US Presidency
goals of his first Term of office as US President were:
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strengthening of the military
- To build trust between politicians and the American people
- Enabling workers to invest part of their social security contributions privately
Education reform and a tax cut program were other important Bush bills.
The terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001 fundamentally changed the policies of the US President. For this reason, during his term of office, he was committed to fighting terrorism in foreign policy. For example, Bush’s goal was to destroy the Taliban Islamist regime. From October 7, 2001, he also began waging war in Afghanistan.
You can find more about this in our article on the «War on Terror», the American fight against terrorism.
During his tenure, he also campaigned domestically to fight terrorism. For example, he issued the USA PATRIOT Act (a legal basis for countering terrorism) and established the Department of Homeland Security.
Bush won the 2004 US presidential election again, just ahead of Democratic candidate John Kerry.
Measures of his second term included the Energy Policy Act. The Energy Policy Act came into force on August 8, 2005 and promoted the production of fossil fuels.
The international financial crisis from 2007 put George W. Bush under pressure. Many banks in America got into difficulties and had to file for bankruptcy. The aid package proposed by George W. Bush was rejected by Congress on September 29, 2008.
after his presidency
After his presidency, Bush and his wife, Laura Bush, settled near Dallas. On November 9, 2010, Bush published his memoirs entitled «Decision Points». Bush has also been a painter since his retirement.
Barack Obama
Barack Obama was the 44th President of the United States from 2009 to 2017 and belongs to the Democratic Party. Obama was the first African American President and the first President born outside of the Americas. His birthplace is the island of Hawaii.
If you want to learn more about Barack Obama, read our article about his life and political work.
Political career
Barack Obama first became politically active in 1992. He mobilized over 150,000 African American voters for Bill Clinton’s US presidential election. In 1996 Obama became a representative in the Senate from the state of Illinois and in 2004 Barack Obama was elected US Senator from the Democrats. He became known nationwide for his speech on July 27, 2004 at the Democratic National Convention in Boston, which nominated John Kerry as the candidate for the US presidency.
US presidential campaign
On February 10, 2007, Obama announced that he would run for US President. After the first primaries were over in March 2008, only Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton remained of all candidates from the Democratic Party. Both fought an uphill battle until June 7, 2008, after which Obama won the primaries in 29 of the 50 states.
During the US presidential election, Barack Obama ran against Republican John McCain. Obama’s main motto was «Change» («Change»). During the campaign, he often invoked his African-American identity to appeal to diverse cultural and ethnic groups.
On December 15, 2008, the 538 electors gathered to vote for the 44th US President. 365 voters voted for Obama and 173 for John McCain. Thus, Obama won the US presidential election.
US Presidency
Domestically, for example, he banned the use of torture as a measure for the US secret service CIA.
During the election campaign, the US President promised to reduce the national debt of…