Accepting Applications for President of The United States
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By Kimberly “KG” Farrell
We, the people—not we, the white people—not we, the citizens, or the legal voters—not we, the privileged class, and excluding all other classes but we, the people, not we, the horses and cattle, but we the people—the men and women, the human inhabitants of the United States, do ordain and establish this Constitution”. ~ Frederick Douglass 1857
I have been thinking a lot lately about how we ended up with President Trump. I’ve heard many voices about voter suppression and low voter turnout. I have been known to preach about the Electoral College and have had many debates about its pros and cons. I have heard endless people say that the GOP is to blame for allowing him to be their candidate to begin with. But rarely have I heard anyone discussing the constitutional requirements for the most powerful job in our country. Maybe people don’t realize that there are requirements. Here is what they are:
A presidential candidate must be a natural born citizen of the United States, a resident for 14 years, and 35 years of age or older
That’s it.
By comparison, to be a sitting judge you must have a Bachelor’s Degree and Juris Doctorate from a law school. In addition, an Undergraduate Degree in political science, history, business or economics is recommended. Generally, a candidate is required to have some experience as an attorney.
To be an attorney in the United States you must complete 4 years of undergraduate study, followed by 3 years of law school. Most states and jurisdictions require lawyers to complete a J.D. Degree from a law school accredited by the ABA.
To be a teacher you must have a Bachelor’s Degree and a solid GPA. Then there is the completion of a teacher preparation program and supervised experience like student teaching. A clean background check. Passing scores on teaching licensure tests, which cover both general knowledge and your teaching subject area.
You get my point. I think that if nothing else, the 2016 presidential race taught us that the requirement to be a possible nominee for President of The United States of America should change. We should never have been subjected to the disgrace of having a con-man like Donald J Trump as our leader. We need to make a change. This of course would be an amendment to the current constitution. It can be done. The constitution has been changed 27 times since it was adopted in1789.
So how do we do it? Well, there are two ways. One would be The Congress proposes an amendment in the form of a joint resolution (a resolution passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives.) The resolution has to be passed by a two thirds majority in both branches and be approved or ‘ratified’ by 2 / 3 of state legislatures to make it an amendment. Since the President does not have a constitutional role in the amendment process, the joint resolution does not go to the President for approval. The second way is called ‘the constitutional convention’. Which is when all 50 states send delegates to a political meeting and they vote to ratify the constitution. If 3 / 4 of the state’s vote for the change, it passes and becomes part of the constitution.
Honestly, I don’t think it would be necessary to propose an enormous change, just one little line. Keep in mind I am a writer, not a professor or politician but this is what I personally would like it to say.
A presidential candidate must be a natural born citizen of the United States, a resident for 14 years, 35 years of age or older and either holds a Bachelor’s Degree of political science or has a minimum of 4 years of experience holding a national office.
I am sure there are many people, far better informed than myself, that could propose additional or substitute their own requirements and I encourage them to speak up. I do caution though, I think the simpler the change is, the better chance it has of passing both branches by 2 / 3.
Stay tuned for a future article about how to get a Congressional Sponsor.
Until then, keep safe and stay hopeful…
Farrell is the author of two suspense novels: 411 Apple Tower Rd a frightening tale about a child predator who chooses the wrong victim and Messanie Hill based on a true story of a house that has more than memories lurking within its walls. You can purchase copies of both books HERE.
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