President-elect of the United States

{{Short description|Winner of the U.S. presidential election before inauguration}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2021}}

{{Infobox Political post

| post = President-elect

| body = the
United States

| insignia =

| insigniasize =

| insigniacaption =

| imagesize =

| incumbent = Not applicable

| incumbentsince = January 20, 2025

| style = The Honorable

| residence =

| termlength = In the period between receiving 270 Electoral College votes and noon (Eastern Standard Time) on Inauguration Day

| formation = No official formation

| salary = None

| inaugural = George Washington
January 10, 1789

| website =

| termlength_qualified =

}}

The president-elect of the United States is the candidate who has presumptively won the United States presidential election and is awaiting inauguration to become the president. There is no explicit indication in the U.S. Constitution as to when that person actually becomes president-elect, although the Twentieth Amendment uses the term "president-elect", thereby giving the term constitutional basis.{{Cite news|date=November 18, 2020|title=Fact check: Previous presidents have used 'Office of the President Elect'|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-office-president-elect-idUSKBN27Y2XT|access-date=December 6, 2020|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114214404/https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-factcheck-office-president-elect-idUSKBN27Y2XT|url-status=live}} It is assumed the Congressional certification of votes cast by the Electoral College of the United States – occurring after the third day of January following the swearing-in of the new Congress, per provisions of the Twelfth Amendment – unambiguously confirms the successful candidate as the official "president-elect" under the U.S. Constitution. As an unofficial term, president-elect has been used by the media since at least the latter half of the 19th century and was in use by politicians since at least the 1790s. Politicians and the media have applied the term to the projected winner, even on election night,{{cite news|first=Karina|last=Bolster|title=Decision 2020: The meaning behind 'President-elect'|date=November 10, 2020|website=NBC12.com|url=https://www.nbc12.com/2020/11/10/decision-meaning-behind-president-elect/|access-date=November 14, 2020|archive-date=November 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114173052/https://www.nbc12.com/2020/11/10/decision-meaning-behind-president-elect/|url-status=live}} and very few who turned out to lose have been referred to as such.{{cite web |last1=Pollard |first1=Benjamin |title=1916: The presidential election The Herald got wrong |url=https://www.browndailyherald.com/2020/10/29/1916-presidential-election-herald-got-wrong/ |website=Brown Daily Herald |publisher=Brown University |access-date=22 December 2020 |archive-date=January 14, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114214359/https://www.browndailyherald.com/2020/10/29/1916-presidential-election-herald-got-wrong/ |url-status=live }}

While Election Day is held in early November, formal voting by the members of the Electoral College takes place in mid-December, and those votes are later delivered to a joint session of the Congress to be counted and certified, and the presidential inauguration (at which the oath of office is taken) is then usually held on January 20. The only constitutional provision pertaining directly to the person who has won the presidential election is their availability to take the oath of office.{{cite web|url=https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/what-constitutional-duties-are-placed-on-the-president-elect|title=What constitutional duties are placed on the President Elect?|last=Bomboy|first=Scott|date=January 6, 2017|publisher=National Constitution Center|access-date=January 15, 2017|archive-date=November 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114173104/https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/what-constitutional-duties-are-placed-on-the-president-elect|url-status=live}} The Presidential Transition Act of 1963 empowers the General Services Administration to determine who the apparent election winner is, and provides for a timely and organized sequence for the federal government's transition planning in cooperation with the president-elect's transition team; it also includes the provision of office space for the "apparent successful candidates".{{cite web|title=An Act To promote the orderly transfer of the executive power in connection with the expiration of the term of office of a President and the Inauguration of a new President (Public Law 88-277)|url=https://www.gsa.gov/cdnstatic/Presidential_Act_of_1963.pdf|website=gsa.gov|publisher=General Services Administration|location=Washington, D.C.|quote=The terms "President-elect" and "Vice-President-elect" as used in this Act shall mean such persons as are the apparent successful candidates for the office of the President and Vice President, respectively, as ascertained by the Administrator following the general elections held to determine the electors of the President and Vice-President in accordance with title 3, United States code, sections 1 and 2|access-date=December 7, 2020|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114214327/https://www.gsa.gov/cdnstatic/Presidential_Act_of_1963.pdf|url-status=live}} By convention, during the period between the election and the inauguration, the president-elect actively prepares to carry out the duties of the office of president and works with the outgoing (or lame duck) president to ensure a smooth handover of presidential responsibilities. Since 2008, incoming presidents have also used the name Office of the President-Elect to refer to their transition organization, despite a lack of formal description for it.

Incumbent presidents who have won re-election for a second consecutive term are generally not referred to as presidents-elect, as they are already in office and are not waiting to become president. A sitting vice president who is elected president is referred to as president-elect. A former president who previously assumed office then left office but was later elected president to a non-consecutive term is also referred to as president-elect.

{{United States presidential transitions series}}

History of the usage of the term

The use of the term dates back to at least the 1790s, with letters written by multiple of the Founding Fathers of the United States having used the term in relation to the 1796 United States presidential election. There is evidence from some of these letters that, as is the case today, it may have been acceptable to apply the term to individuals that appeared to have won election, even before the full results were known.{{cite web |last1=Satta |first1=Mark |title=A brief history of the term 'president-elect' in the United States |url=https://theconversation.com/a-brief-history-of-the-term-president-elect-in-the-united-states-152215 |website=The Conversation |access-date=31 May 2021 |language=en |date=12 January 2021}}

Major news publications began to regularly use the term in the latter half of the 19th century.

With the 1933 ratification of the Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the term was now used in the Constitution of the United States.

Presidential election law overview

{{further|Electoral College|Electoral Count Act}}

{{more citations needed|section|date=December 2020}}

Article II, Section 1, Clause 2 of the United States Constitution, along with the Twelfth and Twentieth Amendments directly address and govern the process for electing the nation's president. Presidential elections are further regulated by various federal and state laws.

Under the 1887 Electoral Count Act, the presidential electors, the members of the Electoral College, the body that directly elects the president, must be "appointed, in each state, on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November, in every fourth year". Thus, all states appoint their electors on the same date, in November, once every four years. However, the manner of appointment of the electors is determined by the law of each state, subject to the restrictions stipulated by the Constitution.

Currently, in every state, an election by the people is the method employed for the choice of the members of the Electoral College. The Constitution, however, does not specify any procedure that states must follow in choosing electors. A state could, for instance, prescribe that they be elected by the state legislature or even chosen by the state's governor. The latter was the norm in early presidential elections prior to the 1820s; no state has done so since the 1860s. Several states have enacted or proposed laws that would give their electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote regardless of the result of their statewide vote, but these laws will not come into force unless states with a majority of the electoral votes collectively enact such laws, which as of 2018 has yet to occur.

On the Monday after the second Wednesday in December, the electors of each state meet in their respective state capitals (and the electors of the District of Columbia meet in the federal capital), and in those meetings the electors cast their votes for president and vice president of the United States. At the conclusion of their meetings, the electors of each state and of the District of Columbia then execute a "certificate of vote" (in several original copies), declaring the vote count in each meeting. To each certificate of vote, a certificate of ascertainment is annexed. Each certificate of ascertainment is the official document (usually signed by the governor of the state or by the state's secretary of state) that declares the names of the electors, certifying their appointment as members of the Electoral College. Given that in all states the electors are currently chosen by popular vote, each certificate of ascertainment also declares the results of the popular vote that decided the appointment of the electors, although this information is not constitutionally required. The electors in each state and of the District of Columbia then send the certificates of vote, with the enclosed certificates of ascertainment, to the president of the U.S. Senate.

The electoral votes are counted in a joint session of Congress in early January (on January 6 as required by 3 U.S. Code, Chapter 1, or an alternative date set by statute), and if the ballots are accepted without objections, the presidential and vice-presidential candidates winning at least 270 electoral votes—a majority of the total number of electoral votes—are certified as having won the election by the incumbent vice president, in their capacity as president of the Senate. If no presidential candidate reaches the 270-vote threshold, the election for the president is decided by the House of Representatives in a run-off contingent election. Similarly, if no vice-presidential candidate reaches that threshold, the election for the vice president is decided by the Senate.

=Electoral College role=

Although neither the Constitution nor any federal law requires electors to vote for the candidate who wins their state's popular vote, some states have enacted laws mandating that they vote for the state vote winner. In 2020, the constitutionality of these laws was upheld by the United States Supreme Court.Chiafalo et al. v. Washington, 591 U.S. ____ (July 6, 2020). https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/chiafalo-v-washington/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114173058/https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/chiafalo-v-washington/ |date=November 14, 2020 }} Historically, there have only been a few instances of "faithless electors" casting their ballots for a candidate to whom they were not pledged, and such instances have never altered the outcome of a presidential election.

=Congressional reports=

Two congressional reports found that the president-elect is the eventual winner of the majority of electoral ballots cast in December. The Congressional Research Service (CRS) of the Library of Congress, in its 2004 report "Presidential and Vice Presidential Succession: Overview and Current Legislation,"{{cite web |author=Thomas H. Neale |publisher=Congressional Research Service |title=Presidential and Vice Presidential Succession: Overview and Current Legislation |url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL31761.pdf |access-date=April 21, 2012 |archive-date=November 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114173057/https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL31761.pdf |url-status=live }} discussed the question of when candidates who have received a majority of electoral votes become president-elect. The report notes that the constitutional status of the president-elect is disputed:{{blockquote|Some commentators doubt whether an official president- and vice president-elect exist prior to the electoral votes being counted and announced by Congress on January 6, maintaining that this is a problematic contingency lacking clear constitutional or statutory direction. Others assert that once a majority of electoral votes has been cast for one ticket, then the recipients of these votes become the president- and vice president-elect, notwithstanding the fact that the electoral votes are not counted and certified until the following January 6.}}

The CRS report quotes the 1933 U.S. House committee report accompanying the Twentieth Amendment as endorsing the latter view:{{blockquote|It will be noted that the committee uses the term "president-elect" in its generally accepted sense, as meaning the person who has received the majority of electoral votes, or the person who has been chosen by the House of Representatives in the event that the election is thrown into the House. It is immaterial whether or not the votes have been counted, for the person becomes the president-elect as soon as the votes are cast.U.S. Congress, House, Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, report to accompany S.J. Res. 14, 72nd Cong., 1st sess., Rept. 345 (Washington, GPO:1932), p. 6.}}

=President-elect succession=

Scholars have noted that the national committees of the Democratic and Republican parties have adopted rules for selecting replacement candidates in the event of a nominee's death, either before or after the general election. If the apparent winner of the general election dies before the Electoral College votes in December the electors would likely be expected to endorse whatever new nominee their national party selects as a replacement. The rules of both major parties stipulate that if the apparent winner dies under such circumstances and his or her running mate is still able to assume the presidency, then the running mate is to become the president-elect with the electors being directed to vote for the former vice presidential nominee for president. The party's national committee, in consultation with the new president-elect, would then select a replacement to receive the electoral votes for vice president.

If the apparent winner dies between the college's December vote and its counting in Congress in January, the Twelfth Amendment stipulates that all electoral ballots cast shall be counted, presumably even those for a dead candidate. The U.S. House committee reporting on the proposed Twentieth Amendment said the "Congress would have 'no discretion' [and] 'would declare that the deceased candidate had received a majority of the votes.'"{{cite book|last=Longley|first=Lawrence D.|author2=Neal R. Peirce|title=The Electoral College Primer 2000|url=https://archive.org/details/electoralcollege0000long|url-access=registration|publisher=Yale University Press|year=1999|page=130|isbn=0-300-08036-0}}

The Constitution did not originally include the term president-elect. The term was introduced through the Twentieth Amendment, ratified in 1933, which contained a provision addressing the unavailability of the president-elect to take the oath of office on Inauguration Day. Section 3 provides that if there is no president-elect on January 20, or the president-elect "fails to qualify", the vice president-elect would become acting president on January 20 until there is a qualified president. The section also provides that if the president-elect dies before noon on January 20, the vice president-elect becomes president-elect. In cases where there is no president-elect or vice president-elect, the amendment also gives the Congress the authority to declare an acting president until such time as there is a president or vice president. At this point the Presidential Succession Act of 1947 would apply, with the office of the Presidency going to the speaker of the House of Representatives, followed by the president pro tempore of the Senate and various Cabinet officers.{{cite web| title=Title 3—The President: Chapter 1—Presidential Elections and Vacancies| url=https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2017-title3/pdf/USCODE-2017-title3-chap1.pdf| year=2017| page=6| publisher=U.S. Government Publishing Office| location=Washington, D.C.| access-date=November 6, 2019| archive-date=November 28, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128153713/https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2017-title3/pdf/USCODE-2017-title3-chap1.pdf| url-status=live}}

Horace Greeley is the only presidential candidate to win pledged electors in the general election and then die before the presidential inauguration; he secured 66 votes in 1872 and died before the Electoral College met. Greeley had already clearly lost the election and most of his votes inconsequentially scattered to other candidates.

The closest instance of there being no qualified person to take the presidential oath of office on Inauguration Day happened in 1877 when the disputed election between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden was decided and certified in Hayes' favor just three days before the inauguration (then March 4). It might have been a possibility on several other occasions as well. In January 1853, President-elect Franklin Pierce survived a train accident that killed his 11-year-old son. Four years later, President-elect James Buchanan battled a serious illness contracted at the National Hotel in Washington, D.C., as he planned his inauguration. Additionally, on February 15, 1933, just 23 days after the Twentieth Amendment went into effect, President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt survived an assassination attempt in Miami, Florida. The amendment's provision moving inauguration day from March 4 to January 20, would not take effect until 1937, but its three provisions about a president-elect went into effect immediately. If the assassination attempt on Roosevelt had been successful then, pursuant to Section 3 of the amendment, Vice President-elect John Nance Garner would have been sworn in as president on Inauguration Day, and the vice presidency would have remained vacant for the entire 4-year term.

Presidential transitions

{{Main|United States presidential transition}}

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| image1 = Logo of the Office of the President-Elect.png

| caption1 = Office of the President-Elect logos first began to be used by the Obama transition team in 2008

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| caption2 = 2016 logo used by the Trump transition team in first term

| image3 = Office of the President-Elect.svg

| caption3 = 2020 logo used by the Biden transition team

| image4 = 47 transition seal.png

| caption4 = 2024 logo used by the Trump transition team in second term

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Since the widespread adoption of the telegraph in the mid-19th century, the de facto president-elect has been known beyond a reasonable doubt, with only a few exceptions, within a few days (or even hours) of the polls closing on election day. As a result, incoming presidents gained valuable preparation time prior to assuming office.

Recent presidents-elect have assembled transition teams to prepare for a smooth transfer of power following the inauguration. Outgoing presidents have cooperated with the president-elect on important policy matters during the last two months of the president's term to ensure a smooth transition and continuity of operations that have significant national interests. Before the ratification of the Twentieth Amendment in 1933, which moved the start of the presidential term to January, the president-elect did not assume office until March, four months after the popular election.

Under the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 (P.L. 88-277),{{cite web |url=http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/178083|title=Presidential Transition Act of 1963|publisher=www.gsa.gov|access-date=October 19, 2016 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121061852/http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/contentView.do?contentType=GSA_BASIC&contentId=24780|archive-date=November 21, 2008}} amended by the Presidential Transitions Effectiveness Act of 1998 (P.L. 100-398),{{cite web|url=http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/178095|title=The Presidential Transitions Effectiveness Act of 1998|publisher=www.gsa.gov|access-date=October 19, 2016|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121061835/http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/contentView.do?programId=13294&channelId=-19661&ooid=24614&contentId=25149&pageTypeId=8199&contentType=GSA_BASIC&programPage=%2Fep%2Fprogram%2FgsaBasic.jsp&P=CA|archive-date=November 21, 2008}} the Presidential Transition Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-293),{{cite web |url=http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/178087|title=Presidential Transition Act of 2000|publisher=www.gsa.gov|access-date=October 19, 2016 |url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121103456/http://www.gsa.gov/Portal/gsa/ep/contentView.do?programId=13294&channelId=-19661&ooid=24614&contentId=24781&pageTypeId=8199&contentType=GSA_BASIC&programPage=%2Fep%2Fprogram%2FgsaBasic.jsp&P=CA|archive-date=November 21, 2008}}{{cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/~gov_affairs/s2705.htm |title=S. 2705 |publisher=www.senate.gov|access-date=October 30, 2008 |archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20080803080814/https://www.senate.gov/~gov_affairs/s2705.htm|archive-date = August 3, 2008}} and the Pre-Election Presidential Transition Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-283),{{cite web |url=http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/178099 |title=Pre-Election Presidential Transition Act of 2010 |access-date=October 19, 2016 |archive-date=November 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114173110/https://www.gsa.gov/governmentwide-initiatives/presidential-transition-directory |url-status=live }} the president-elect is entitled to request and receive certain privileges from the General Services Administration (GSA) as they prepare to assume office.

Section 3 of the Presidential Transition Act of 1963 was enacted to help smooth transitions between incoming and outgoing presidential administrations. To that end, provisions such as office space, telecommunication services, transition staff members are allotted, upon request, to the president-elect, though the Act grants the president-elect no official powers and makes no mention of an "Office of the President-Elect."

In 2008, President-elect Barack Obama gave numerous speeches and press conferences in front of a placard emblazoned with "Office of the President Elect"{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/08/us/politics/08watch.html?ref=politics|work=The New York Times|title=Donning the Presidential Mantle to Brave a Storm of Questions on the Economy|first=Alessandra|last=Stanley|date=November 8, 2008|access-date=May 20, 2010|archive-date=November 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114173102/https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/08/us/politics/08watch.html?ref=politics|url-status=live}} and used the same term on his website.{{cite web|title=Office of the President Elect |url=http://change.gov |access-date=December 2, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081108031104/http://change.gov/ |archive-date=November 8, 2008 |url-status=dead |website=change.gov}} President-elect Donald Trump did likewise on January 11, 2017.{{cite news|last1=Houpt|first1=Simon|title=Trump's answer to press seeking substantive response: 'I won'|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/us-politics/trumps-answer-to-press-seeking-substantive-answers-i-won/article33586997/|access-date=January 12, 2017|work=The Globe and Mail|date=January 11, 2017|archive-date=November 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114173125/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/us-politics/trumps-answer-to-press-seeking-substantive-answers-i-won/article33586997/|url-status=live}}

The Presidential Transition Act of 1963 further authorizes the Administrator of the General Services Administration to issue a "letter of ascertainment" even before the December vote of the Electoral College; this letter identifies the apparent winners of the November general election; this enables the president-elect, vice president-elect, and transition teams for the purposes of receiving federal transition funding, office space and communications services prior to the beginning of the new administration on January 20.In November 2000, the GSA administrator did not name a president-elect until the legal disputes over vote counting in Florida were resolved. {{cite news|last=Schrader|first=Esther|title=GSA Denies Bush Transition Aid, Citing Legal Battle|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-nov-28-mn-58239-story.html|date=November 28, 2000|access-date=November 16, 2008|work=Los Angeles Times|quote=It started early Monday when the Bush team asked for access to the taxpayer-funded transition offices that are to be used by the president-elect. The General Services Administration refused, explaining it was best to wait until the legal challenges in Florida had run their course.|archive-date=January 2, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090102162150/http://articles.latimes.com/2000/nov/28/news/mn-58239|url-status=live}}{{cite news|author=Allan Smith and Heidi Przybyla|title=Trump appointee slow-walks Biden transition. That could delay the president-elect's Covid-19 plan.|publisher=NBC News|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/trump-appointee-slow-walks-biden-transition-could-delay-president-elect-n1247152|date=November 10, 2020|quote=the letter of "ascertainment" — a previously mostly noncontroversial process since the passage of the Presidential Transition Act of 1963. Signing the paperwork when a new president is elected triggers the release of millions of dollars in transition funding and allows an incoming administration access to current government officials.|access-date=November 11, 2020|archive-date=November 14, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114173107/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/trump-appointee-slow-walks-biden-transition-could-delay-president-elect-n1247152|url-status=live}} There are no firm rules on how the GSA determines the president-elect. Typically, the GSA chief might make the decision after reliable news organizations have declared the winner or following a concession by the loser.{{cite news|first=Anne|last=Flaherty|title=Trump could make a Biden transition messy: Here's how|date=November 18, 2020|work=ABC News|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-make-biden-transition-messy/story?id=74060595|access-date=November 18, 2020|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114214405/https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/trump-make-biden-transition-messy/story?id=74060595|url-status=live}}

Article II, Section 1, Clause 8 of the Constitution provides that "Before he enter on the Execution of his Office" the president shall swear or affirm to "faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States" and "preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." The Twentieth Amendment provides that noon on January 20 marks both the end of a four-year presidential term and the beginning of the next four-year presidential term.Scott E. Gant & Bruce G. Peabody, [https://scholarship.law.umn.edu/concomm/991/ Musings on a Constitutional Mystery: Missing Presidents and "Headless Monsters"?] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114173129/https://scholarship.law.umn.edu/concomm/991/ |date=November 14, 2020 }} 14 Constitutional Commentary 83 (spring 1997). It is a "constitutional mystery" about who (if anyone) holds the presidency during the brief period on Inauguration Day between noon and the swearing-in of a new president (or the renewed swearing-in of a re-elected president) approximately five minutes later. One view is that "a President-elect does not assume the status and powers of the President until he or she takes the oath"; under this view, "a person must reach before he or she can assume and exercise the powers of President."Bruce Peabody, [https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1220&context=nulr_online Imperfect Oaths, the Primed President, and an Abundance of Constitutional Caution] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114173109/https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1220&context=nulr_online |date=November 14, 2020 }}, 104 Northwestern University Law Review Colloquy 12 (2009). A second, opposite view is that the taking of the oath is a "ceremonial reminder of both the President's duty to execute the law and the status of the Constitution as supreme law" and is not a prerequisite to a person "exercis[ing] the powers of the Chief Executive"; the view can be partially based on the fact that the oath is not mentioned in the eligibility requirements for the presidency set forth elsewhere in Article II. A third, intermediate view (the "primed presidency" view) is that "a President-elect automatically becomes President upon the start of his new term, but is unable to 'enter on the Execution of his Office' until he recites the oath"; in other words, the president "must complete the oath before she can constitutionally tap the power of the presidency."

The president-elect and vice president-elect receive mandatory protection from the United States Secret Service. Since the 1968 assassination of Robert F. Kennedy, major-party candidates also receive such protection during the election campaign.

List of presidents-elect

class="wikitable"

! colspan=2 |President-elect{{efn|Column counts number of presidents-elect. Grover Cleveland and Donald Trump are counted twice because they were elected to two non-consecutive terms. John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester A. Arthur and Gerald Ford are not counted because they entered office intra-term and never elected to the presidency. Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Harry S. Truman and Lyndon B. Johnson, who also entered office intra-term, are not counted because they were already incumbent presidents when elected to a full term.{{cite news| last=Thurston| first=David| title=10 things to know about U.S. vice-presidents| publisher=CBC News| date=August 13, 2012| url=https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.1206684| access-date=June 7, 2020| archive-date=November 14, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114173122/https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.1206684| url-status=live}}}}

! colspan=2 |Party

! Following

! Through

1

| George Washington

style="background:#FFF;"| NonpartisanElection of 1788–89{{Efn|Also after a delay in the certification of the electoral votes by Congress.}}George Washington's first inauguration
2

| John Adams

style="background-color:{{party color|Federalist Party}}"| FederalistElection of 1796John Adams's inauguration
3

| Thomas Jefferson

rowspan="4" style="background-color:{{party color|Democratic-Republican Party}}"| rowspan="4" |Democratic-RepublicanElection of 1800{{Efn|name=plusce|Also after a contingent election in the House of Representatives.}}Thomas Jefferson's first inauguration
4

| James Madison

Election of 1808James Madison's first inauguration
5

| James Monroe

Election of 1816James Monroe's first inauguration
6

|John Quincy Adams

Election of 1824{{Efn|name=plusce}}John Quincy Adams's inauguration
7

| Andrew Jackson

rowspan="2" style="background-color:{{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}" | rowspan="2" | DemocraticElection of 1828Andrew Jackson's first inauguration
8

| Martin Van Buren

Election of 1836Martin Van Buren's inauguration
9

| William Henry Harrison

style="background-color:{{party color|Whig Party (United States)}}" | WhigElection of 1840William Henry Harrison's inauguration
10

| James K. Polk

style="background-color:{{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}" | DemocraticElection of 1844James K. Polk's inauguration
11

| Zachary Taylor

style="background-color:{{party color|Whig Party (United States)}}" | WhigElection of 1848Zachary Taylor's inauguration
12

| Franklin Pierce

rowspan="2" style="background-color:{{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}" | rowspan="2" | DemocraticElection of 1852Franklin Pierce's inauguration
13

| James Buchanan

Election of 1856James Buchanan's inauguration
14

| Abraham Lincoln

rowspan="4" style="background-color:{{party color|Republican Party (United States)}}" | rowspan="4 | RepublicanElection of 1860Abraham Lincoln's first inauguration
15

| Ulysses S. Grant

Election of 1868Ulysses S. Grant's first inauguration
16

| Rutherford B. Hayes

Election of 1876{{efn|Also after a dispute over 20 electoral votes from four states was resolved by a special Electoral Commission established by Congress.}}Rutherford B. Hayes's inauguration
17

| James A. Garfield

Election of 1880James A. Garfield's inauguration
18

| Grover Cleveland

style="background-color:{{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}" | DemocraticElection of 1884Grover Cleveland's first inauguration
19

| Benjamin Harrison

style="background-color:{{party color|Republican Party (United States)}}" | RepublicanElection of 1888Benjamin Harrison's inauguration
20

| Grover Cleveland

style="background-color:{{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}" | DemocraticElection of 1892Grover Cleveland's second inauguration
21

| William McKinley

rowspan="2" style="background-color:{{party color|Republican Party (United States)}}" | rowspan="2" | RepublicanElection of 1896William McKinley's first inauguration
22

| William Howard Taft

Election of 1908William Howard Taft's inauguration
23

| Woodrow Wilson

style="background-color:{{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}" | DemocraticElection of 1912Woodrow Wilson's first inauguration
24

| Warren G. Harding

rowspan="2" style="background-color:{{party color|Republican Party (United States)}}" | rowspan="2" | RepublicanElection of 1920Warren G. Harding's inauguration
25

| Herbert Hoover

Election of 1928Herbert Hoover's inauguration
26

| Franklin D. Roosevelt

style="background-color:{{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}" | DemocraticElection of 1932Franklin D. Roosevelt's first inauguration
27

| Dwight D. Eisenhower

style="background-color:{{party color|Republican Party (United States)}}" | RepublicanElection of 1952Dwight D. Eisenhower's first inauguration
28

| John F. Kennedy

style="background-color:{{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}" | DemocraticElection of 1960John F. Kennedy's inauguration
29

| Richard Nixon

style="background-color:{{party color|Republican Party (United States)}}" | RepublicanElection of 1968Richard Nixon's first inauguration
30

| Jimmy Carter

style="background-color:{{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}" | DemocraticElection of 1976Jimmy Carter's inauguration
31

| Ronald Reagan

rowspan="2" style="background-color:{{party color|Republican Party (United States)}}" | rowspan="2" | RepublicanElection of 1980Ronald Reagan's first inauguration
32

| George H. W. Bush

Election of 1988George H. W. Bush's inauguration
33

| Bill Clinton

style="background-color:{{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}" | DemocraticElection of 1992Bill Clinton's first inauguration
34

| George W. Bush

style="background-color:{{party color|Republican Party (United States)}}" | RepublicanElection of 2000{{Efn|Also after a dispute over Florida's 25 electoral votes was resolved by the Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore, which halted the Florida vote recount that was under way.{{cite news| title=Bush, now president-elect, signals will to bridge partisan gaps| last=McCaleb| first=Ian Christopher| date=December 13, 2000| url=https://www.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/12/13/election.wrap/| publisher=CNN.com| access-date=February 10, 2009| archive-date=November 14, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201114173114/https://www.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/12/13/election.wrap/| url-status=live}}}}George W. Bush's first inauguration
35

| Barack Obama

style="background-color:{{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}" | DemocraticElection of 2008Barack Obama's first inauguration
36

| Donald Trump

style="background-color:{{party color|Republican Party (United States)}}" | RepublicanElection of 2016Donald Trump's first inauguration
37

| Joe Biden

style="background-color:{{party color|Democratic Party (United States)}}" | DemocraticElection of 2020Joe Biden's inauguration
38

| Donald Trump

style="background-color:{{party color|Republican Party (United States)}}" | RepublicanElection of 2024Donald Trump's second inauguration

Notes:
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See also

{{Portal|United States|Politics}}

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References

{{reflist}}