1、LEVELED BOOK XYourRoadtotheWhite HouseWritten by Terry Miller SYourRoad totheWhite HouseWritten by Terry Miller STtsable of ContenSo You Want to Be President4Are You Qualified?5Time to Campaign9Political Parties10Two Campaigns13Financing Your Campaign1

2、5Election Day16Inauguration21Glossary23Explore More24Index2415Your Roadtothe White House Level XPresident George H. Bush talks with reporters in the Oval Office.dentSo You Want to Be PresiSo, youve thought it over and you want to be the leader of the United States . Are you qualified to run? What po

3、litical party will you represent? How about deciding on a campaign to persuade people to vote for you? And then, how do you ultimately win on Election Day? Think you cando it? Lets follow, step by step, the path youlltake to be elected president .?Are You QualifiedYou only have to meet a few easy re

4、quirements to run for the office of president! These rules are written in the Constitution . You must be 35 years old (uh ohdoes this mean youll be putting off your campaign for a few years?); have been born in the United States; and have lived in the United States for 14 years .In the unlikely even

5、t that you are already president, you have another consideration: how many terms have you served? If youre elected for one four-year term, you have the option of running for a second term . You can only serve two terms (eight years) total . So, if youre on your second term, it might be time to think

6、 about changing careers!George H.W. Bush 19891993William J. Clinton 19932001George W. Bush 20012009Barack H. Obama 2009presentIt isnt a requirement, but youll most likely want to be a politician before you run for president . Voters tend to prefer presidential candidates who have proven their experi

7、ence in government and with leading people .Candidates Who Werent PoliticiansDwight D. Eisenhower is the only nonpolitician towin the presidency since 1900. However, “Ike” was a famous warhero. He commanded the Allied forces in Europe during World War II. Voters knew he was a proven leader and wante

8、d him to lead the United States!These nonpoliticians tried unsuccessfully to become president: Ross Perot, a Texas billionaire Ralph Nader, a consumer advocate Dr. Benjamin Spock, a famous childrens doctorEisenhower encourages Allied troops during World War II.American President Ronald Reagan (right

9、) signs an agreement with Russian President Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987.Do you know exactly what your job will be when youre president? Its always good to have a job description when you apply for a new job . In a nutshell, youll:Make sure the government is functioning wellEnsure the laws are being fo

10、llowed Command the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air ForceMeet with leaders of other countries .You say youre up to the challenge? Youll make a good leader of the country? Good. Your next step will be persuading the voters to agree that youre the best person for the job .What U.S. Presidents Have in Comm

11、onSo FarU.S. presidents have been mostly white Protestant men,exceptfor John F.Kennedy,whowas Catholic,and Barack Obama, who was elected in 2008 as the first African American president. In 2000, the DemocraticPartynominated Senator Joseph Lieberman as the vice presidential candidatethe first Jewishc

12、andidate from amajor party. In 1984, Geraldine Ferraro ran as the Democratic Partys vice presidential candidate. Future presidential electionsJohn F. KennedyJoseph LiebermanBarack H. Obamamay see even more diverse candidates and winners.Geraldine Ferraro speaking in 1984.George W. Bush shakes hands

13、with children during one of his campaign stops in 2004.Time to Campaign!Youll need to start rallying people to vote for you . Everything you do to get voters to prefer you to your opponent is called your campaign . Youll be traveling the country, advertising, speaking, debating, getting your photogr

14、aph taken, marching in parades, shaking hands, and smooching babies . Youll hold news conferences, too . Are you ready for the grueling schedule?Political PartiesBut wait a minute! Before you startcampaigning, youll need to decidewhich political party youll represent .A political party is a group of

15、 people with similar thoughts on how the government should be run .The two main parties in the U.S . are the Democrats and the Republicans . Democrats tend to favor a strong federal government involved in peoples lives through federal programs . Generally speaking, Republicans favor less government

16、involvement in peoples lives, especially when it comes to money . There is no one “right” party or “wrong” party . Most Americans dont believe everything one party stands for, and so they decide by choosing the party that most closely matches their values .WAMTNDNHVTMEMAORIDWYMNSDWIMINYRICTPA NJIn t

17、he 2008NVNEIAIL INOH DEpresidential election, theCA Democratic candidatewon the blue states, and the Republican candidate won the red states.UTCOAZNMAKKSMOOKARTXLAWV VAMDKYDCTNNCSCMS ALGAFLHIA third-party candidate, Ralph Nader, ran for president in 2000 and 2004.Republicans and Democrats are the ma

18、jor parties, but there are other political parties . When someone is called a “third-party candidate,” it means that person is running as a representative of a party other than Republican or Democrat .It Wasnt Always a Major PartyThe Republican Party started out asathird party! The two major parties

19、 used to be the Democratic Party and theWhig Party. The last year the Whigs hada presidential candidate was 1856.The Republican Party took its place with a strong anti-slavery stance. Both the Republican and Democratic parties have evolved into political powerhouses.William Henry Harrison, the first

20、 Whig presidentPresidential candidate John Kerry campaigns in 2004.Okay! Now that youve chosen a political party, youll want to hire a campaign manager . Your manager will draw up a plan that will map out every move of your campaign . A large staff of advisors will assist your campaign manager . The

21、 manager is very important since a good campaign could make the differencebetween losing and winning .There are two parts to a presidential campaign . In the first part, you work to win your partys nomination to be its candidate for president . In the second part of your presidential campaign, youve

22、 won your partys nomination and are concentrating on winning against theother parties candidates .Tswo CampaignSo, in the beginning youre campaigning in order to triumph in the primaries . Primaries are local elections to choose one person to represent a political party in the general election . Som

23、estates dont hold primaries . Instead, the party members from a state choose a candidate by voting at a meeting called a caucus .When the primaries and caucuses are over, the parties each hold a meeting known as a convention. At each convention, party members, or delegates, from each state vote to c

24、hoose the party candidate .Delegates promise to vote for the candidate winning the primary or caucus in their state.When each delegation has spoken (“The greatstate of Oregon casts its votes for Candidate You!”) and the votes have been tallied, you will learn if youve won your partys nomination .The

25、 Number of DelegatesThe Democratic Party has 4,353 delegates. A Democratic candidate must have 2,176 votes or more to win.The Republican Party has 2,509 delegates.ARepublican candidate mustgetatleast 1,254 votes to win.Now things really start to get serious .As your partys presidential nominee, youl

26、lnow enter the second part of your campaign . Your goal is to defeat the presidential candidates from all the other parties and become the president of the United States . As you did before the primaries, youll travel the country to speak, shake hands, and debate with other parties candidates .Volun

27、teers help candidates get elected.Do You Know?When does your campaign actually begin? You will spend lots of time and effort before the primary elections. You may have actually started your campaign years before the primaries are held! Many candidates spend years campaigning and then never go beyond

28、 the primaries because someone else is chosen to be the partys nominee. Candidates run TV ads to promote their policies and attack their opponents.Financing Your CampaignHave you been saving your allowance?Campaigning is expensive . Some experts estimate it costs at least (are you ready for this?)20

29、 million dollars to mount a campaign that has a chance of winning the presidency .Thats for a job that pays $400,000a year . Campaign advertising takes a huge hunk of cash, since one 30-second commercial during a popular TV program can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars .If youre not a millionair

30、e, dont worry, youre not out of the running . Candidates dont usually pay for their own campaigns. Instead, they rely on contributions from supporters for their campaign costs . Whew! What a relief! But you should start making lots of friends now .Election DayIs It an Election Year?Is this a preside

31、ntial election year or not? One easy way to remember: election years endin numbers youcan divide by 4 (2004, 2008, 2012, and so on).Presidential Election Day is held every four years on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November . If you have campaigned successfully, millions of people

32、 turning out to vote will checkyour name on the ballot.Women voters were out in force in 1922, two years after the constitutional amendment passed that allowed them tovote.16Voters cast ballots in privatevoting booths.Who Can Vote?You must be a U.S. citizen over the age of eighteentovote. Voters in

33、most states mustregister before they can vote on Election Day.People vote by mail or in a polling place such as a church, school, or other public building .Each voter steps into a private booth . Different areas use different methods for the actual vote . In some states, the voter flips a switch on

34、a voting machine to indicate the name of the chosen candidate (you!) . Voters use pen or pencil to mark paper ballots in other polling places .17Your Roadtothe White House Level XPredicting the WinnerThe media, such as TV networks and newspapers, take frequent polls during thecampaign to see whois t

35、hefrontrunner. On Election Day, the media ask people whom they voted for asthey leave polling places across thecountry.This method is called exit polls. They feed the information intoacomputer,whichgivesthem aneducatedguessofwho will be the winner.This all sounds straightforward, but theres more to

36、the system than meets the eye . The method for electing the president is called the electoral college. When voters go into the booths on Election Day, thosevotes are called the “popular vote.” Winning the popular vote does not mean youve won the election . In 2000, Democratic candidateAl Gore won th

37、e popular vote, but Republican candidate George W . Bush won the electoral vote, making Bush president .George W. Bush was finally declared president in 2001 aftermuch controversy.18Number of Electors by State in 2012WA12OR 7NH4 MEVT34MT 3ID4ND 3SDM10NWIMINY29WY3NV63NE 510IA616ILINUT6CO920 11OH 18KY

38、 8PA 20WV VAKS 6MO 105MA 11RI 4 CT 7NJ 14DE 3MD 10DC 3CA5513NC15AZ11NM 5OK7TN 11AR6SC 9TX38LA8MS 6AL 9GA16FL 29AK 3HI 4After the popular vote, theres a second election by people called electors. Each state has a certain number of electoral votes . The number for each state equals the sum of its sena

39、tors and representatives . The more people who live ina state, the more electoral votes that state has . The popular vote is added up in each state .A candidate who wins the popular vote in one state also wins all the electoral votes in that state . Imagine you win the popular vote in a state with 2

40、4 electoral votes . This means you get all 24 electoral votes for that state .19Your Roadtothe White House Level XA 1147143D 103Republican John McCain gives his concession speech in 2008.Are you confused? Just try to remember that on Election Day, voters are actuallyvoting for their candidates elect

41、ors . In order to win the presidential election, you must have the most electoral votes .When a presidential candidate knowsthe other side has won, the losing candidate gives a concession speech . (Lets hope its not you .)Close Calls!One vote can literally pick awinner.Forexample, in 1882, there was

42、 an election to the Virginia House of Representatives.The voteswere:Robert Mayo: 10,505George Garrison: 10,504The talk is most often given at campaign headquarters to the people who supported the campaign . Usually, the candidate thanks everyone who helped and wishes the winner luck as president .20

43、InaugurationThe new president has about ten weeks before taking office . That time is necessary for choosing a staff. Presidents select carefully, picking people they trust, whom theyve worked with or know byThe Kitchen CabinetWhen Andrew Jackson was president (18291837), he often met with his admin

44、istrative staff in his kitchen. His opponents were angered at these secret meetings. In a fit of name- calling, they dubbed Jackson and his advisors“the kitchen cabinet.” The name has continued since that time.reputation . If you become president, youll need hundreds of staff members, including the

45、heads of fourteen executive departments (such as the Departmentof Energy and the Department of Defense) who will act as your expert advisors . Youll also need time to move your family into the White House .U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (left) meets with Chinas President Hu Jintao in Beijin

46、g.23Your Roadtothe White House Level XBarack Obama is sworn in as president in 2009 as his wife Michelle looks on.January 20th after Election Day is Inauguration Day, the day a president officially starts his or her four-year term. Its a huge celebration marking the end of hard campaign struggles .

47、If you win, youll be participating in parades, receptions, and balls attended by thousands .The actual swearing-in is a solemn occasion .You will pledge to “faithfully execute the officeof President of the United States” and promise to “preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United St

48、ates .”Now if you are fortunate enough to be elected as the countrys most powerful leader, you will soon learn that when compared to the responsibilitiesof the job itself, getting elected was a “piece of cake .”Glossarycampaigna series of public appearances forinfluencing voters (p . 4)campaignthe m

49、ain place where a campaign isheadquartersrun (p . 20)caucusa meeting of political party leadersto vote for a candidate (p . 13)concessionspeech given to show a candidatespeechagrees the other candidate won (p. 20)Constitutionthe written rules of the United States (p . 5)conventiona meeting for polit

50、ical party delegates to announce their presidential choice (p . 13)delegatesmembers of a political party whodecide their partys presidentialnominee after the primaries (p . 13)electorsthe elected state representatives who really elect the president (p .19)nomineea person picked by a political partyt

51、o run for elected office (p . 14)politicala group of people who believe in partysimilar ideas on how government should work (p . 4)politiciana person who holds elected officeor helps others seek it (p . 6)primarieslocal elections to choose a politicalpartys candidate (p . 13)Explore MoreOn the Inter

52、net, use to find out more about topics presented in this book . Use terms from the text or try searching for glossary or index words .Some searches to try: Democratic Party, political primaries, or Barack Obama.IndexBush, George H .W ., 5Bush, George W ., 5, 9, 15, 18,21, 22cabinet, 21campaign, 4, 9, 1214, 22contributions, 15costs, 15manager, 12caucus, 13Clinton, William J ., 5 concession speech, 20Constitution, 5delegates, 13Democrats, 10, 11Democratic Party, 8, 11, 13 Eisenhower, Dwight D ., 6 Election Day, 1618, 20, 22electio