President is a title held by many leaders of organizations, companies, trade unions, universities, and countries. Etymologically, a "president" is one who presides, who sits in leadership (from Latin pre- "before" + sedere "to sit"; giving the term praeses). Originally, the term referred to the presiding officer of a ceremony or meeting (i.e., chairman), but today it most 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, chosen by the legislature or by a special electoral college. It is also often adopted by dictators.

History

main: History of president As an English word, the term was originally used to refer to the presiding officer of a committee or governing body in Great Britain. Early examples are the President of the Exchequer ("presidentis" in the original Latin, from the Dialogue concerning the Exchequer, 1179), the presidents of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge (from 1464), and the founding President of the Royal Society (William Brouncker, 1660).

Later this usage was applied to political leaders, including the leaders of some of the Thirteen Colonies (originally Virginia in 1608); in full, the "President of the Council". The first president of a country was George Washington, the President of the United States. In America the title was "upgraded" from its earlier use for the President of the Continental Congress, the "officer in charge of the Continental Congress" since 1774. As other countries deposed their monarchies and became republics, president was commonly adopted as the title for the head of state. The first European president was the president of France, a post created in the Second Republic of 1848. The first president of an internationally recognized African state was the President of Liberia in 1848. Today, most republics have a President as their head of state.

Presidential systems

In states with a presidential system of government, the president exercises the functions of Head of State and Head of Government, i.e. he or she directs the executive branch of government.

Presidents in this system are either directly elected by popular vote or indirectly elected by an electoral college.

In the United States of America, the president is indirectly elected by the Electoral College made up of electors chosen by voters in the presidential election. In most U.S. states, each elector is committed to voting for a specified candidate determined by the popular vote in each state, so that the people, in voting for each elector, are in effect voting for the candidate. However, in four close U.S. elections (1824, 1876, 1888, 2000), the candidate with the most popular votes still lost the electoral count.

In Mexico, the president is directly elected for a six-year term by popular vote. The candidate who wins the most votes is elected president even if he or she does not have an absolute majority. In Mexico, every presidential election will always be a non-incumbent election. The 2006 Mexican elections had a fierce competition, the electoral results showed a minimal difference between the two most voted candidates and such difference was just about the 0.58% of the total vote. The Federal Electoral Tribunal declared an elected President after a controversial post-electoral process.