The Executive Branch

Presidents are the superstars of the American political game. Although the head of just one of the three branches of the federal government, the president is the only official—along with the vice president—elected by the entire country. He (all men, so far) stands as the representative of the government and, in times of crisis, as a symbol of the nation. Yet the presidency is an intensely political office, the target of partisan attacks, and traditionally restrained by the powers given by the Constitution to other branches and players in the federal system of government.