Presidents of the United States of America

     The President of the United States (informally called "Potus") is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces.

     The president is considered to be the world's most powerful political figure, as the leader of the only contemporary global superpower. The role includes being the commander-in-chief of the world's most expensive military with the second largest nuclear arsenal.

     Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the Constitution sets the following qualifications of eligibility about holding the presidency:

- be a natural-born citizen of the United States;

- be at least thirty-five years old;

- be a resident in the United States for at least fourteen years.

     Take a look to the list of Presidents and their presidency 

1	George Washington	April 30, 1789 – March 4, 1797
2	John Adams	March 4, 1797 – March 4, 1801
3	Thomas Jefferson	March 4, 1801 – March 4, 1809
4	James Madison	March 4, 1809 – March 4, 1817
5	James Monroe	March 4, 1817 – March 4, 1825
6	John Q. Adams	March 4, 1825 – March 4, 1829
7	Andrew Jackson	March 4, 1829 – March 4, 1837
8	Martin Van Buren	March 4, 1837 – March 4, 1841
9	William H. Harrison	March 4, 1841 – April 4, 1841 (Died in office)
10	John Tyler	April 4, 1841 – March 4, 1845
11	James K. Polk	March 4, 1845 – March 4, 1849
12	Zachary Taylor	March 4, 1849 – July 9, 1850 (Died in office)
13	Millard Fillmore	July 9, 1850 – March 4, 1853
14	Franklin Pierce	March 4, 1853 – March 4, 1857
15	James Buchanan	March 4, 1857 – March 4, 1861
16	Abraham Lincoln	March 4, 1861 – April 15, 1865 (Died in office)
17	Andrew Johnson	April 15, 1865 – March 4, 1869
18	Ulysses S. Grant	March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1877
19	Rutherford B. Hayes	March 4, 1877 – March 4, 1881
20	James A. Garfield	March 4, 1881 – September 19, 1881 (Died in office)
21	Chester A. Arthur	September 19, 1881 – March 4, 1885
22	Grover Cleveland	March 4, 1885 – March 4, 1889
23	Benjamin Harrison	March 4, 1889 – March 4, 1893
24	Grover Cleveland	March 4, 1893 – March 4, 1897
25	William McKinley	March 4, 1897 – September 14, 1901 (Died in office)
26	Theodore Roosevelt	September 14, 1901 – March 4, 1909
27	William H. Taft	March 4, 1909 – March 4, 1913
28	Woodrow Wilson	March 4, 1913 – March 4, 1921
29	Warren G. Harding	March 4, 1921 – August 2, 1923 (Died in office)
30	Calvin Coolidge	August 2, 1923 – March 4, 1929
31	Herbert Hoover	March 4, 1929 – March 4, 1933
32	Franklin D. Roosevelt	March 4, 1933 – April 12, 1945 (Died in office)
33	Harry S. Truman	April 12, 1945 – January 20, 1953
34	Dwight D. Eisenhower	January 20, 1953 – January 20, 1961
35	John F. Kennedy	January 20, 1961 – November 22, 1963 (Died in office)
36	Lyndon B. Johnson	November 22, 1963 – January 20, 1969
37	Richard Nixon	January 20, 1969 – August 9, 1974 (Resigned from office)
38	Gerald Ford	August 9, 1974 – January 20, 1977
39	Jimmy Carter	January 20, 1977 – January 20, 1981
40	Ronald Reagan	January 20, 1981 – January 20, 1989
41	George H. W. Bush	January 20, 1989 – January 20, 1993
42	Bill Clinton	January 20, 1993 – January 20, 2001
43	George W. Bush	January 20, 2001 – January 20, 2009
44	Barack Obama	January 20, 2009 – January 20, 2017
45	Donald Trump	January 20, 2017 – present

The White House

     Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the White House is the official residence and workplace of the President of the United States of America. The construction began in 1792 and the place has been the residence of every U. S. president since John Adams, the second one.

     The building has classical inspiration sources, that could be found directly or indirectly in the Roman architect Vitruvius or in Andrea Palladio styles; Palladio being an Italian architect of the Renaissance which had a considerable influence on the Western architecture (Palladian architecture).

     The residence was designed by Irish-born architect James Hoban in the neoclassical style. Construction took place between 1792 and 1800 using Aquia Creek sandstone painted white. When Thomas Jefferson moved into the house in 1801, he (with architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe) added low colonnades on each wing that concealed stables and storage. In 1814, during the War of 1812, the mansion was set ablaze by the British Army in the Burning of Washington, destroying the interior and charring much of the exterior. Reconstruction began almost immediately, and President James Monroe moved into the partially reconstructed Executive Residence in October 1817. Exterior construction continued with the addition of the semi-circular South portico in 1824 and the North portico in 1829.

     Because of crowding within the executive mansion itself, President Theodore Roosevelt had all work offices relocated to the newly constructed West Wing in 1901. Eight years later in 1909, President William Howard Taft expanded the West Wing and created the first Oval Office, which was eventually moved as the section was expanded. In the main mansion, the third-floor attic was converted to living quarters in 1927 by augmenting the existing hip roof with long shed dormers. A newly constructed East Wing was used as a reception area for social events; Jefferson's colonnades connected the new wings. East Wing alterations were completed in 1946, creating additional office space. By 1948, the house's load-bearing exterior walls and internal wood beams were found to be close to failure. Under Harry S. Truman, the interior rooms were completely dismantled and a new internal load-bearing steel frame constructed inside the walls. Once this work was completed, the interior rooms were rebuilt. 

     The modern-day White House complex includes the Executive Residence, West Wing, East Wing, the Eisenhower Executive Office Building—the former State Department, which now houses offices for the President's staff and the Vice President—and Blair House, a guest residence. The Executive Residence is made up of six stories—the Ground Floor, State Floor, Second Floor, and Third Floor, as well as a two-story basement. The property is a National Heritage Site owned by the National Park Service and is part of the President's Park. In 2007, it was ranked second on the American Institute of Architects list of "America's Favorite Architecture".

Miranda warning or Miranda rights

«You have the right to remain silent. If you give up the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney and to have an attorney present during questioning. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided to you at no cost. During any questioning, you may decide at any time to exercise these rights, not answer any questions or make any statements. Do you understand these rights as I have read them to you? »

     The Miranda warning or Miranda rights, is a right to silence warning given by police in the United States to criminal suspects in police custody (or in a custodial interrogation) before they are interrogated to preserve the admissibility of their statements against them in criminal proceedings.

     The Miranda warning is part of a preventive criminal procedure rule that law enforcement are required to administer to protect an individual who is in custody and subject to direct questioning or its functional equivalent from a violation of his or her Fifth Amendment right against compelled self-incrimination.

     In Miranda v. Arizona (1966), the Supreme Court held that the admission of an elicited incriminating statement by a suspect not informed of these rights violates the Fifth Amendment and the Sixth Amendment right to counsel, through the incorporation of these rights into state law. Thus, if law enforcement officials decline to offer a Miranda warning to an individual in their custody, they may interrogate that person and act upon the knowledge gained, but may not use that person's statements as evidence against him or her in a criminal trial.

     The concept of "Miranda rights" was enshrined in U.S. law following the 1966 Miranda v. Arizona Supreme Court decision, which found that the Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights of Ernesto Arturo Miranda had been violated during his arrest and trial for armed robbery, kidnapping, and rape of a mentally handicapped young woman (Miranda was subsequently retried and convicted, based primarily on his estranged ex-partner, who had been tracked down by the original arresting officer via Ernesto's own parents, suddenly claiming that Ernesto had confessed to her when she had visited him in jail; Ernesto's lawyer later confessed that he 'goofed' the trial).

     The circumstances triggering the Miranda safeguards, i.e. Miranda rights, are "custody" and "interrogation". Custody means formal arrest or the deprivation of freedom to an extent associated with formal arrest. Interrogation means explicit questioning or actions that are reasonably likely to elicit an incriminating response. The Supreme Court did not specify the exact wording to use when informing a suspect of his/her rights. However, the Court did create a set of guidelines that must be followed. The ruling states:

     The person in custody must, prior to interrogation, be clearly informed that he/she has the right to remain silent, and that anything the person says will be used against that person in court; the person must be clearly informed that he/she has the right to consult with an attorney and to have that attorney present during questioning, and that, if he/she is indigent, an attorney will be provided at no cost to represent him/her.

     Every U.S. jurisdiction has its own regulations regarding what, precisely, must be said to a person arrested or placed in a custodial situation. The typical warning states:

·            You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions.

·            Anything you say may be used against you in a court of law.

·            You have the right to consult an attorney before speaking to the police and to have an attorney present during questioning now or in the future.

·            If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish.

·            If you decide to answer questions now without an attorney present, you will still have the right to stop answering at any time until you talk to an attorney.

·            Knowing and understanding your rights as I have explained them to you, are you willing to answer my questions without an attorney present?

     The courts have since ruled that the warning must be "meaningful", so it is usually required that the suspect be asked if he/she understands their rights.

     Ernesto Arturo Miranda (March 9, 1941 – January 31, 1976) was a laborer whose conviction on kidnapping, rape, and armed robbery charges based on his confession under police interrogation was set aside in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Miranda v. Arizona, which ruled that criminal suspects must be informed of their right against self-incrimination and their right to consult with an attorney before being questioned by police. This warning is known as a Miranda warning. 

     After the Supreme Court decision set aside Miranda's initial conviction, the state of Arizona retried him. At the second trial, with his confession excluded from evidence, he was again convicted.

Usa - Oath of office for the President

     In the United States, the oath of office for the President is specified in the Constitution (Article II, Section 1). 

     With the right hand up and the left on the open Holy Bible:

     “I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

     An oath of office is an oath or affirmation a person takes before undertaking the duties of an office, usually a position in government or within a religious body, although such oaths are sometimes required of officers of other organizations. Such oaths are often required by the laws of the state, religious body, or other organization before the person may actually exercise the powers of the office or any religious body. It may be administered at an inauguration, coronation, enthronement, or other ceremony connected with the taking up of office itself, or it may be administered privately. In some cases it may be administered privately and then repeated during a public ceremony.

     Some oaths of office are a statement of loyalty to a constitution or other legal text or to a person or other office-holder (an oath to support the constitution of the state, or of loyalty to the king). Under the laws of a state it may be considered treason or a high crime to betray a sworn oath of office.

     The word 'oath' and the phrase 'I swear' refer to a solemn vow. For those who choose not to, the alternative terms 'solemn promise' and 'I promise' are sometimes used.

History of the Oath

     While the oath-taking dates back to the First Congress in 1789, the current oath is a product of the 1860s, drafted by Civil War-era members of Congress intent on ensnaring traitors.

     The Judiciary Act of 1789 established an additional oath taken by federal judges:

     I do solemnly swear (or affirm), that I will administer justice without respect to persons, and do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and that I will faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent on me, according to the best of my abilities and understanding, agreeably to the Constitution, and laws of the United States. [So help me God.]

     The outbreak of the Civil War quickly transformed the routine act of oath-taking into one of enormous significance.

     In April 1861, a time of uncertain and shifting loyalties, President Abraham Lincoln ordered all federal civilian employees within the executive branch to take an expanded oath. When Congress convened for a brief emergency session in July, members echoed the president’s action by enacting legislation requiring employees to take the expanded oath in support of the Union. This oath is the earliest direct predecessor of the modern version of the oath.

     When Congress returned for its regular session in December 1861, members who believed that the Union had as much to fear from northern traitors as southern soldiers again revised the oath, adding a new first section known as the “Ironclad Test Oath.” The war-inspired Test Oath, signed into law on July 2, 1862, required “every person elected or appointed to any office ... under the Government of the United States ... excepting the President of the United States” to swear or affirm that they had never previously engaged in criminal or disloyal conduct.

     Those government employees who failed to take the 1862 Test Oath would not receive a salary; those who swore falsely would be prosecuted for perjury and forever denied federal employment.

     The 1862 oath’s second section incorporated a different rendering of the hastily drafted 1861 oath. Although Congress did not extend coverage of the Ironclad Test Oath to its own members, many took it voluntarily. Angered by those who refused this symbolic act during a wartime crisis, and determined to prevent the eventual return of prewar southern leaders to positions of power in the national government, congressional hard-liners eventually succeeded by 1864 in making the Test Oath mandatory for all members.

     The Senate then revised its rules to require that members not only take the Test Oath orally, but also that they “subscribe” to it by signing a printed copy. This condition reflected a wartime practice in which military and civilian authorities required anyone wishing to do business with the federal government to sign a copy of the Test Oath.

     The current practice of newly sworn senators signing individual pages in an oath book dates from this period. 

     As tensions cooled during the decade following the Civil War, Congress enacted private legislation permitting particular former Confederates to take only the second section of the 1862 oath. An 1868 public law prescribed this alternative oath for “any person who has participated in the late rebellion, and from whom all legal disabilities arising therefrom have been removed by act of Congress.” Northerners immediately pointed to the new law’s unfair double standard that required loyal Unionists to take the Test Oath’s harsh first section while permitting ex-Confederates to ignore it. In 1884, a new generation of lawmakers quietly repealed the first section of the Test Oath, leaving intact the current affirmation of constitutional allegiance.

Usa - Oath of Allegiance - Naturalization ceremony

     United States Oath of Allegiance is an oath that must be taken by all immigrants who wish to become United States citizens (Citizenship ceremony).

I hereby declare on oath,

that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure

all allegiance and fidelity

to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty

of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen;

that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws

of the United States of America

against all enemies, foreign and domestic;

that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;

that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law;

that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law;

that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law;

and that I take this obligation freely without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion;

so help me God.

     The principles embodied in the Oath are codified in Section 337(a) in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), which provides that all applicants shall take an oath that incorporates the substance of the following:

     - Support the Constitution;

     - Renounce and abjure absolutely and entirely all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty of whom or which the applicant was before a subject or citizen;

     - Support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic;

     - Bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and

     - A. Bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; or

       B. Perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; or

       C. Perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law.

     The Oath of Allegiance for prospective citizens originated with the Naturalization Act of 1790, which required applicants to take an oath or affirmation "to support the constitution of the United States", but did not provide a text. The Naturalization Act of 1795 added renunciation of the new citizen's former sovereign to the oath. The Naturalization Act of 1906 added the section of the oath requiring new citizens to defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; and bear true faith and allegiance to the same.

     The Oath acquired a standard text in 1929. Prior to then, spoken oaths were adapted from naturalization law, and each court could develop its own procedures for administering the oath.

     The Internal Security Act of 1950 added the text about bearing arms and performing noncombatant service in the armed forces of the United States. The section about performing work of national importance under civilian direction was added by the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952.