From Private Citizen to President of the United States

It is no secret that becoming the President of the United States is not just an
over night process. There are many qualifications and steps to even get to the point of
being a final candidate in which the citizens of our country vote on. I am going to
discuss the steps it takes for a private citizen to become the US President and the
important roles that political parties play in the process.
First of all, what is a private citizen? I private citizen is a person who is not
holding public office. For example, voters are private citizens. The governor of Ohio is
not a private citizen. So for a private citizen to work their way up to holding a position
as president, the process is a bit more extensive.
Before anything, there are multiple qualifications that are required to become
president. A private citizen needs to meet the eligibility guidelines set by the United
States Constitution. In Article II Section 1, the Constitution imposes three eligibility
requirements on the presidency. First, there is an age requirement of thirty-five years
or older. Second, the candidate must have been a resident of the United States for
fourteen years. And finally, the third qualification to be President is that one must be a
natural born citizen. If all of these qualifications are met, then one is eligible to begin
the pre-candidacy process.
The pre-candidacy process must begin years before the actual election. The
first thing that the potential candidate usually does is form a political action
committee. This is done to test the appeal of the candidate nationwide, and to raise
money for campaigns. Candidates also establish exploratory committees whose job it
is to 1) seriously consider the candidate's chances of becoming president, 2) suggest

possible campaigns themes and slogans, 3) write speeches and position papers, 4) seek
endorsements from powerful individuals and groups, 5) recruit professional and
volunteer staff, 6) begin organizing state campaigns in key states, 7) hire pollsters and
consultants, and 8) develop media appeals (Thomas S. Vontz and William A. Nixon).
The next step is to declare candidacy and file applications with the Federal
Election Commission (FEC). The FEC was created by congress to enforce the Federal
Election Campaign Act (FECA) which states: If you are running for the U.S. House,
Senate or the Presidency, you must register with the FEC once you (or persons acting
on your behalf) receive contributions or make expenditures in excess of $5,000. Within
15 days of reaching that $5,000 threshold, you must file a Statement of Candidacy
authorizing a principal campaign committee to raise and spend funds on your behalf.
Within 10 days of that filing, your principal campaign committee must submit a
Statement of Organization. Your campaign will thereafter report its receipts and
disbursements on a regular basis (www.fec.gov (accessed Aug. 29, 2011)).
After this, the candidates begin campaigning. Campaigning officially lasts 9
months, but usually begins far before that. This process usually consists of candidates
traveling all over the country to give speeches, participate in city activities, get to know
people, and essentially connect with as many Americans as they can. In this time, the
candidate is trying to paint pictures of a better America, make passionate appeals to
reason, and stake a claim for moral leadership (Lonnie G. Bunch).
During campaigning is when the importance of the political parties come into
play. First of all, political parties are organized groups that share the same views about
the way that power should be used in a country and attempt to influence the
government by electing their members to important government offices (Ginsberg and

Collins). In the United States, there are two main political parties: the Democratic
Party and the Republican Party. The Democratic Party is more liberal while the
Republican Party is more conservative. There are also Independent and Vacant
candidates but those are typically pretty rare to see make it to the final stages of the
election. During the early stages of campaigning, candidates of each party are trying to
win their primary, which means that the republican candidates are trying to win the
vote between all the other republican candidates and the democratic candidates are
trying to win the vote between all of the other democratic candidates. Debates and
interviews take place to help voters get a real idea of who each candidate is in
comparison to the others. Once the primaries are over, it is down to the final
republican and final democratic candidate.
Once we are down to the final candidates, it is time for the general election
campaign. This begins to take place in the fall of that voting year. At this time, there
are a lot of important decisions that the candidate and their campaign organizations
need to make, such as how they are going to shift to the center which means how
they are going to refine their message so it resonates with a majority of the American
electorate. They also need to find a way to do this with out offending their original
supporters or making it seem like they are abandoning their earlier commitments
("Choosing the President 2004).
Finally we get to Election Day. The day that the most important step of
becoming the President of the United States takes place. That step is winning the
popular and electoral votes. On the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November,
it is finally the American voters chance to take control of the presidential election. The
President is also elected based off of the Electoral College. Each state is assigned

electoral votes based off of the number of senators and representatives that they have
in congress. Each state has two senators but the number of representatives that each
state has is based on its population. Typically the results of the votes are known the
morning after Election Day, but nothing is official yet. In December, the members of
the Electoral College travel to their states capital to submit their electoral votes. In
January, a congressional session takes place and all of the official results from each
state are announced. At noon on January 20th, the term of the new president begins.
It is a big decision that the potential candidates face when deciding whether or
not they are suited for the demands of the office and willing to make the personal
sacrifices necessary to win the election and potentially run our country (Thomas S.
Vontz and William A. Nixon). Like I said, becoming President of the United States is
not an over night process. It takes a lot of dedication and understanding of what is
needed for the good of the people and our country.

Works Cited

"Choosing the President 2004," League of Women Voters website, 2003

Ginsberg, Benjamin, Theodore J. Lowi, Margaret Weir, and Caroline J. Tolbert. We the
People: An Introduction to American Politics. Tenth ed. New York: W.W
Norton, 2015. Print.
"Political Party ." Definition of political Party. Harper Collins Publishers, n.d. Web.
09 Nov. 2015.

The American Presidency: A Glorious Burden, Lonnie G. Bunch, 2000

Thomas S. Vontz and William A. Nixon, "Teaching About Presidential Elections," Indiana
University at Bloomington, Center for Social Studies and International Education
website, Aug. 2000
"Quick Answers to Candidate Questions," www.fec.gov (accessed Aug. 29, 2011)