根据美国宪法，美国总统为美利坚合众国的国家元首及政府首脑。作为美国行政分支和美国联邦政府之首，总统为该国影响力和地位最高的公职。美国总统同时还是**总司令。该职位由选举人团（或在选举人团无法通过绝对多数时，由美国众议院）间接选举产生，任期四年。在1951年美国宪法第二十二修正案通过之后，任何人都不得当选总统超过两次，任何人在他人当选总统任期内担任总统职务或代理总统超过两年，不得当选总统超过一次。若在任总统死亡、辞职或被罢免，由副总统接替其职务。总统必须年满35岁，在美国居住14年以上，且为“自然出生”的美国公民。

Under the United States Constitution, the President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States. As chief of the executive branch and face of the federal government as a whole, the presidency is the highest political office in the United States by influence and recognition. The president is also the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces. The president is indirectly elected to a four-year term by an Electoral College (or by the House of Representatives, should the Electoral College fail to award an absolute majority of votes to any person). Since the ratification of the Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1951, no person may be elected president more than twice, and no one who has served more than two years of a term to which someone else was elected may be elected more than once. Upon the death, resignation, or removal from office of an incumbent president, the vice president assumes the office. The president must be at least 35 years of age, has to have lived in the United States for 14 years, and has to be a "natural born" citizen of the United States.