Executive Branch Essay, Research Paper
The United States is a large and complex country that is full of a diversity of citizens. It
has millions of square miles of land with fifty states and several outlying territories, including
more than a thousand islands scattered throughout the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. All
the citizens of the Unites States have been governed in an organized way for more than two
hundred years. The federal government is separated into three branches: the legislative,
executive, and judicial branch. Of the three branches, the executive branch is the most
complex. Its job is to enforce the laws of the United States. It is composed of the President,
Vice President, executive departments, and independent agencies.
The Presidency is the highest office in the country. To become the President, you must
be a natural born citizen of the United States, be at least thirty-five years old by the time you
serve, and have lived in the United States at least 14 years. Presidential elections occur every
four years and candidates are chosen by their political parties before the election. Each party
chooses a candidate through primary elections, conventions, or caucases in every state and one
national convention. After all candidates are chosen, the campaign begins for the general
election.
The election is held on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November.
People in each state vote for the President indirectly by electing the electors who will vote for
the Presidential candidate. The number of electors in each state is equal to the number of
Representatives plus the number of Senators. The electors from each state vote for the choice of
the largest number of people in their state. The candidate with more than half of the electoral
votes wins. The President is inaugurated on January 20 and may only serve two terms which are
four years each. The President is the chief executive officer of the federal government,
administrative head of the executive department of the government, and commander in chief of
the armed forces of the nation. With these titles, he has many duties and responsibilities.
The President works with the other two branches in several ways. He is involved in the
law-making process because all bills have to go to the President before they become the law and
is considered the chief legislator because he sends bills to Congress that he wants passed. The
President appoints Supreme Court justices and judges of other federal courts. When the
President gets elected, he appoints a group of advisors which is called his Cabinet. Part of his
Cabinet are the heads of each executive department.
The Executive Office of the President consists of staff agencies that give the President
information, ideas, and advice on wide range of issues. Presidents frequently create, eliminate,
and reorganize agencies in the Executive Office of the President. The President also appoints the
heads of all the independent agencies. As the Chief Diplomat, he conducts the foreign policy by
negotiating with other countries.
The Vice-Presidency is the second highest office in the country. If the President dies,
leaves office, or cannot perform his duties, the Vice-President becomes President. The
Vice-President has to meet the same requirements as the President. If the president is disabled
for a certain period of time, then the Vice-President serves as Acting President. The Executive
Branch of government includes the President, Vice President, executive departments, and
independent agencies.
The Department of State is the executive department of the United States government that
handles relationships between U.S. and other governments. The head of the department is the
secretary of state who is the senior member of the President’s Cabinet. The department plans
actions of the United States with other nations’ governments. After the approval of the plans by
the President, they become the nation’s official foreign policy.
The main function of the department is to carry out the foreign policy. It negotiates
treaties and agreements with other governments, handles business with the foreign embassies,
speaks in international organizations, and arranges for the United States to participate in
international conferences. The Foreign Service provides information about specific countries,
enforces the foreign policy towards them, and provides services to the Americans traveling
abroad. The Foreign service also issues passports and grant visas to the people coming into the
United States. There are a number of independent agencies that come from the Department of
State. They include the U.S. Information Agency, U.S. Arms Control and Disarmament Agency,
and the Agency for International Development.
Each part of the executive branch works to make our country better and the best.