Lesson 4 · 20 min
Learn how the President is elected, what the President can do, who takes over if the President cannot serve, and what the Cabinet does.
The national government has three branches: the legislative branch (Congress), the executive branch (the President), and the judicial branch (the courts). An easy way to remember them is “Congress, President, and the courts.”
The President is in charge of the executive branch. Executive means the part that carries out and enforces the laws that Congress makes.
The executive branch is very large. It includes the President, the Vice President, the Cabinet, and many federal departments and agencies, which are offices that do the daily work of the government.
The President is elected for a term of four years. Americans vote for President in November. Election Day is the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, every four years.
The President is chosen through the Electoral College. Each state gets a number of electors equal to its number of senators plus representatives, and Washington, D.C. gets three. There are 538 electors in total, and a candidate needs at least 270 electoral votes to win.
The Electoral College is important because it decides who is elected President. It was a compromise (a middle way) between two ideas in 1787: letting the people vote directly, or letting Congress choose the President.
A President can be elected only two times. This limit comes from the 22nd Amendment, approved in 1951 after one President was elected four times. The goal is to keep any President from becoming too powerful.
The President signs bills to make them laws. The President can also veto (reject) a bill. Congress can still pass a vetoed bill if two-thirds of both the Senate and the House vote for it again.
The President enforces the laws and is the Commander in Chief, the top leader of the U.S. military. The President is also the chief diplomat, which means the main person who deals with other countries.
The President appoints (chooses) federal judges, including Supreme Court justices. The Senate must approve these choices. This is one example of checks and balances.
If the President dies, resigns (quits), or can no longer serve, the Vice President becomes President. If both the President and the Vice President can no longer serve, the Speaker of the House becomes President.
After the Speaker, the line continues with the President pro tempore of the Senate and then the Cabinet members, starting with the Secretary of State.
The names of the President and the Vice President change after elections. Do not memorize names from old books. Check the USCIS test updates page (https://www.uscis.gov/citizenship/testupdates) shortly before your interview.
The Cabinet is a group of top leaders who advise (give advice to) the President. Most Cabinet members lead a federal department, and most of them have the title “Secretary.”
Some examples are the Secretary of State, who works with other countries; the Secretary of the Treasury, who manages the nation’s money; and the Secretary of Agriculture, who works on farming and food. The Attorney General leads the Department of Justice. The Secretary of Defense leads the military departments; the 2025 test list calls this position “Secretary of War (Defense).”
Other department heads are the Secretaries of Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, the Interior, Labor, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs. The Vice President is also a Cabinet-level position.
The 2025 test also accepts some other Cabinet-level jobs, such as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. If you take the 2008 test, choose from the department leaders and the Vice President.
The legislative branch (Congress) makes the laws. The executive branch (the president) carries out the laws. The judicial branch (the courts) explains the laws. Memory hook: make, carry out, explain.
The president leads the executive branch. This branch carries out, or "executes", the laws that Congress passes. Memory hook: the president is sometimes called the "chief executive."
A president is elected for four years. Presidential elections happen every four years in November, for example in 2024 and 2028. The new term starts on January 20.
George Washington chose to stop after two terms, and later presidents followed his example. Franklin D. Roosevelt broke this tradition and was elected four times. After that, the 22nd Amendment (1951) made two elected terms the limit, so no president becomes too powerful.
Current answer listed by USCIS: Donald J. Trump / Donald Trump / Trump
From the USCIS test updates page (updated September 18, 2025), checked October 31, 2026. Answer with the official serving on your interview day: check USCIS.
This answer changes after elections, so it is not always the same name. The president is elected every four years and leads the executive branch. Check the current name on the USCIS test updates page (uscis.gov/citizenship/testupdates) before your interview.
Current answer listed by USCIS: JD Vance / Vance
From the USCIS test updates page (updated September 18, 2025), checked October 31, 2026. Answer with the official serving on your interview day: check USCIS.
This answer changes after elections, so it is not always the same name. The Vice President is first in line to become president and also leads the Senate, where they can break a tie vote. Check the current name on the USCIS test updates page (uscis.gov/citizenship/testupdates) before your interview.
If the president dies, resigns or cannot do the job, the Vice President becomes president. This has happened nine times in U.S. history. After the Vice President, the next in line is the Speaker of the House.
The president's powers are listed in Article II of the Constitution. The president signs or vetoes bills, makes sure laws are carried out, leads the military, and deals with other countries. The president also chooses federal judges, but the Senate must approve them.
The president is the top leader of the U.S. military. This keeps the military under the control of an elected civilian leader. But only Congress can declare war.
A bill is a plan for a new law. First, both the House and the Senate must pass it. Then the president signs it, and it becomes a law.
To veto means to say no to a bill so it does not become law. The word comes from Latin and means "I forbid." Congress can still pass the bill if two-thirds of both the House and the Senate vote for it again.
The president chooses federal judges, including Supreme Court justices. Then the Senate votes to approve them. This is one way the branches check each other.
The executive branch is much bigger than one person. It includes the president, the Cabinet, and many federal departments and agencies. For example, USCIS, the agency that handles citizenship, is part of the Department of Homeland Security.
The Cabinet is a group of top officials, such as the heads of the federal departments. Each one leads a part of the government and gives the president advice about it. The president chooses them, and most must be approved by the Senate.
The Cabinet includes the Vice President, the heads of the 15 executive departments, and some other top officials. You must name two. Memory hook: the Secretary of State works with other countries, not with the 50 states, and the Attorney General leads the Department of Justice.
When people vote for president, they are really choosing electors from their state. The electors then vote, and a candidate needs 270 of the 538 electoral votes to win. The founders chose this as a middle way between a vote by the people and a choice by Congress.
The executive branch carries out and enforces the laws. The President leads this branch. The Vice President and the Cabinet also work in the executive branch.
The President is elected for a term of four years. Under the 22nd Amendment, a person can be elected President no more than two times. Presidential elections happen every four years in November.
Americans vote for President in November. Election Day is the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The new President starts work the following January.
Current answer listed by USCIS: Donald J. Trump / Donald Trump / Trump
From the USCIS test updates page (updated September 18, 2025), checked October 31, 2026. Answer with the official serving on your interview day: check USCIS.
This answer can change after an election. Before your interview, check the USCIS test updates page (uscis.gov/citizenship/testupdates) for the current name. Learn the name as it appears there.
Current answer listed by USCIS: JD Vance / Vance
From the USCIS test updates page (updated September 18, 2025), checked October 31, 2026. Answer with the official serving on your interview day: check USCIS.
This answer can change after an election. Before your interview, check the USCIS test updates page (uscis.gov/citizenship/testupdates) for the current name. The Vice President is also the President of the Senate.
If the President dies, resigns, or cannot do the job, the Vice President becomes President. This has happened several times in history. For example, Vice President Lyndon Johnson became President when President Kennedy died in 1963.
If neither the President nor the Vice President can serve, the Speaker of the House becomes President. The Speaker is the leader of the House of Representatives. A federal law sets this order, called the line of succession.
The President is the Commander in Chief, the top leader of the U.S. military. This means the armed forces are led by an elected civilian, not by a general. Only Congress, however, can declare war.
After Congress passes a bill, the President signs it and it becomes a law. If the President does not agree, he or she can veto (reject) it instead. Congress can still make it a law with a two-thirds vote in both the Senate and the House.
To veto a bill means to reject it and refuse to sign it. The President has this power. The word "veto" comes from Latin and means "I forbid."
The Cabinet is a group of top officials who advise (give advice to) the President. Most of them lead large government departments, such as the Department of State or the Department of Defense. The President chooses them, and the Senate must approve most of them.
Cabinet-level positions include the Vice President and the heads of the executive departments. Most heads are called "Secretary," but the head of the Department of Justice is called the Attorney General. You need to name two; easy ones to remember are Secretary of State and Secretary of Defense.
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Lesson text is original study material based on the USCIS 2025 Civics Test Study Guide topics. Editorial status: draft, pending expert review.