The etymology of the word president has its origin in Latin, it is formed by the prefix “prae” which means in front, plus the verb “sedere” which is a synonym of “sitting down”, this means that the word president can be translated as " sitting in front." The position or designation of president is used in different institutions such as: president of the Republic or Nation, of the university or university centers, of clubs, among others.
What is a president
Table of Contents
A president is a leader of an organization, company, community, club, union, university, country, a division or part of any of these, or, generally, anything else. Etymologically, a president is the one who presides.
Originally, the term referred to the president of a ceremony or meeting, but today it more commonly refers to an official. Among other things, "President" today is a common title for the heads of state of most republics, whether popularly elected, elected by the legislature, or by a special electoral college.
In politics, a president is usually an elected official, who presides over a republic or a nation governed by the people. Now, in the business world, a president is the main member of an organization, such as a corporation or institution. That president's job responsibilities include guiding the direction of the body and administering its policies.
Requirements to be president
Each country or nation has its own requirements to be president, each Constitution makes it clear who is eligible to be a candidate for the office of president, and establishes the regulations that must be met to carry out this position.
In general terms the requirements are:
- Be a citizen born in that country.
- Be over 30 years of age.
- Be resident in the country, the minimum time required by the Constitution.
In the case of the United States, the legal requirements to exercise the presidency remain the same since G. Washington, first president of this nation and established in Article II, Section I of the Constitution of this country:
- Age limit: must be over 35 years old.
- Citizenship: must have been born within the borders of the USA, if not, at least one of the parents must be or have been a citizen.
- Have resided in the country for at least 14 years.
The requirements to be president of Mexico, according to what is established in Article 82 of the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, are the following:
- Be Mexican by birth and in full enjoyment of rights, also the son of Mexican parents.
- Have resided in that country for at least 20 years and especially the year before the elections.
- Be over 35 years old.
- Not be a minister of any religious cult.
- Not be on active duty in the Army, or cease to be at least 90 days before the elections.
- Not being the head of some of the bodies to which the Constitution grants autonomy. Not to exercise the position of Secretary or Undersecretary of State, Attorney General of the Republic, or head of the executive power of any federative entity, unless they leave their position six months before the day of the election.
To be president of France, the following requirements must be met:
- Be of French nationality.
- Be 18 years of age or older.
- Not be disqualified from holding public office.
- Be registered in the Electoral Registry.
- Have at least 500 endorsements of elected positions.
The requirements to be president of Venezuela, according to Article 227 of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela are:
- Being Venezuelan or Venezuelan by birth, being in full enjoyment of their rights.
- Be over 30 years old.
- Not to hold any religious office, that is, to be from a secular state.
- Not to exercise the position of Vice President of the Republic, as well as of State Governors or Mayor, on the day of their nomination for the election.
Presidential election
It is the technique used by the electoral medium to choose a president, generally this is different from that used to choose legislatures. Presidencies are almost always unipersonal positions and, therefore, proportionality between the majority and minorities cannot be claimed. The office of the executive also carries various powers and commitments.
"> Loading…Functions of a president
1. It is the president who must comply with the Constitution and also enforce it, in addition to the various laws. It is he who must provide for the defense and security of the nation.
2. The President of the Republic is in charge of exercising command of the Armed Forces of the Nation. Besides this, it must also sanction and enforce the laws.
3. Among its obligations, it must also present bills to the Congress of the Republic, which has the right of veto with respect to the laws issued by it.
In the case of the President of Mexico and according to the Constitution of that country, the presidential functions are the following:
- The promulgation and execution of the laws made by the deputies and senators.
- Appoint the consuls or colonels, who must have the approval of the Senate.
- Appoint and remove members of the cabinet.
- After ratification by the Senate, appoint the Attorney General of the Republic.
- Declare war and activate the Armed Forces on behalf of Mexico, to maintain national security and peace.
- Call for extraordinary elections of Congress.
- Grant pardons to inmates, as well as privileges to inventors or discoverers.
- Send the Income Law initiative to congress, as well as the Federation Expenditure Budget Project.
- Regulate the use and extraction of groundwater and establish which are the reserved areas.
- Grant concessions for the use and exploitation of resources that are the domain of the nation, except for telecommunications and radio broadcasting.
- Prosecute crimes, exercise criminal action and intervene as part of amparo trials.
In the case of Croatia, this is a sovereign state using a parliamentary system of government, with the powers of the national government divided between its executive, legislative and judicial branches.
The president of Croatia is elected for a maximum period of two to five years through popular votes in accordance with the constitution and these are some of his functions:
- He or she is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and ambassadors.
- The Croatian president is also responsible for coordinating the operations of the national government and safeguarding the independence and territorial integrity of the country.
- In addition to leading the government, the president can call Croatian parliamentary elections and referendum on an agreement with the prime minister he designates.
- The president, in consultation with the prime minister, appoints the security and intelligence agency. Since their independence, six presidents have served the Croats.
Presidents of Mexico
The independence processes aroused a wave of enthusiasm in many Mexican and Caribbean citizens, but their hopes had to face, throughout the 19th century, numerous problems inherited from the colony.
After the signing of independence, Mexico has gone through various stages, in total it has had approximately 65 presidents who have been in charge of this country.
Some of these presidents are:
1. Guadalupe Victoria. 1824 - 1833
In 1824 Mexico was endowed with a Republican Constitution that, inspired by the French and American models and devised by representatives of the middle class, established the separation of the three powers and structured the country according to a federal model that divided Mexico into 19 states, each one with its own constitution and governing body.
Shortly after, the constituent congress called for presidential elections, resulting in the winner and first president of Mexico, Guadalupe Victoria, who obtained the support of the United States and Great Britain.
Immediately the centralist and federalist political parties emerged, agglutinated in Masonic lodges, and political instability continued at a growing rate until 1833 when López de Santa Anna became president.
2. Antonio López de Santa Anna 1833 - 1846
He acted as a true caudillo, controlling Mexican policies between the years 1833 and 1846, at which time he was exiled after the final loss of Texas, New Mexico and California, which passed to the United States. between 1853 and 1855 he returned to power as dictator until he was dismissed by the Ayutla junta.
3. Benito Juarez. 1858 - 1872 and Lerdo de Tejada 1872 - 1876
These presidents set out to modernize the country after so many years of war. Among his plans were the diversification of agriculture, the establishment of industry, the construction of a single communications infrastructure, and above all the generalization of education.
The economic plans did not materialize in their entirety, although the construction of the railway line began and the country was partially pacified. The servitude of agricultural laborers was stopped, workers' associations were promoted, and elementary, free, compulsory and secular education was established.
4. Porfirio Díaz 1876 - 1911
The liberal stage ended abruptly with the rise of General Porfirio Díaz, whose dictatorial government continued until the revolution of 1910. His authoritarian regime was characterized by the repression of freedoms and insurrectionary attempts, the persecution of banditry and the crushing of the indigenous peoples who claimed the right to possess their lands.
5. Plutarco Elías Calles 1924-1928
In 1893 he obtained the title of teacher of primary instruction. Between 1899 and 1903 he devoted much of his time to journalism. In 1911 he was appointed commissioner of Agua Prieta and in 1912 he fought the Orozco rebellion. The following year he joined the constitutional revolution under Álvaro Obregón.
During the government of Venustiano Carranza he held the Secretariat of Industry, Commerce and Labor. He led the rebellion in Agua Prieta in 1920. During the government of Álvaro Obregón he held the Ministry of the Interior and from there he became president of the Republic in 1924.
He tried to consolidate the political life of the country and promote economic activities. His reform plan caused pressure from the US government and led to the Cristero rebellion. In 1928 he supported Obregonist reelection and also participated in armed uprisings that he managed to quell.
When Obregón died and his presidential term ended, he became the most important political figure in the country: controlling successive governments until 1934, when he founded the National Revolutionary Party.
"> Loading…6. Cárdenas, Lázaro 1934-1940
He joined the revolutionary forces in 1913 and rose to become a general. He was governor of his native state, Michoacán, in 1928, and held other political positions before being, with the support of Plutarco E. Calles, president-elect. After a bitter conflict, Cárdenas, in 1936, sent Calles into exile and organized a vigorous campaign of socialization of industry and agriculture based on the constitution of 1917. The large properties were divided and distributed to the small farmers of the ejido system and many foreign properties, especially oil fields, were expropriated.
Cárdenas, determined to make Mexico a modern democracy, became a problem for large landowners, industrialists and foreign investors, but, himself a mestizo, he became a hero for the native peoples and the Mexican working classes.
He resigned from his post at the end of his term, acting in accordance with his desire for democratic and orderly constitutional processes. He was called up to public service as Minister of National Defense. His political influence as the leader of the Mexican left continued in the years after World War II.
7. Adolfo López Mateos, 1958 - 1964
A lawyer, he became active in the government party. He served as Senator in 1946 and as Minister of Labor in 1952, during this time he resolved more than 13,000 disputes. As president, he fostered industrial growth and diversification, attracted large amounts of foreign capital, and presided over an economic boom.
He instituted profit distribution for workers and promoted land reform. Maintaining close relations with the United States, he negotiated the return to Mexico of a 437-acre (177-hectare) border strip along the Texas border. After retiring as president, he headed the committee that organized the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City.
8. Carlos Salinas de Gortari 1988 –1994
A Harvard-educated political economist, he became minister of planning and budget (1982–87) and succeeded Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado as president in 1988. A member of the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) since his student days, he became the first PRI presidential candidate to face competitive elections.
Although the Salinas government was praised for its economic reforms, it lost some of its luster when his brother Raúl was arrested and convicted in 1995 for the murder of an Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) official in 1994 and then 1996 accused of massive misappropriations.. After Carlos Salinas responded by criticizing the Mexican government, he was pressured into exile, only returning to Mexico in 2000. Raül's 1995 conviction was overturned in 2005, and in 2006 he was acquitted (in Switzerland) of money laundering charges.
9. Vicente Fox. 2000 - 2006
The candidate of the National Action Party (PAN), Vicente Fox Quesada, was elected the 62nd president of Mexico on July 2, 2000, defeating Francisco Labastida of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Fox entered politics in the 1980s and in 1995 he was elected governor of the central state of Guanajuato.
His personal charisma and his promises of change and economic development led to his easy election as president in what was called the "fairest" election in Mexican history. After his mandate, he was replaced by President Felipe Calderón on December 1, 2006. The 2000 elections were the first in seven decades in which the PRI candidate did not win the presidency.
10. Enrique Peña Nieto 2012 - 2018
He was elected on July 1, 2012 and assumed the position of 57th president of Mexico on December 1, 2012. He grew up in the State of Mexico in a politically connected family, joined the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) at age 18, he studied law and business and went to work in politics.
During his ascent, Nieto served in different administrative areas for the State of Mexico, ending as a close aid to Governor Carlos Salinas de Gortari. When Gortari left office, Nieto was elected to succeed him in 2005, and he held that position until 2011.
As the popular governor of the State of Mexico, he was pushed onto the national stage, and as soon as his term ended, Nieto announced his candidacy for the presidency. Nieto won with 37.6% of the votes, despite talking about his infidelities during his first marriage, his verbal errors throughout the campaign and his critics who ridiculed him as a pretty face with more hairstyle than intellect.
He succeeded as Felipe Calderón's successor in December 2012, promising to take a new course in Mexico's drug war and promising economic development.
