U.S. CONSTITUTION

ARTICLE 2, SECTION 2 - THE PRESIDENT SHALL BE COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE ARMY AND NAVY OF THE UNITED STATES...

Short Version -- This is a summary of the important issues covered in this section of the U.S. Constitution. 

  • The President is commander in chief of the Army, Navy, and militia.
  • The President has the power to grant reprieves and pardons.
  • The President has the power to make treaties with the consent of two-thirds of the Senate.
  • With the Senate's consent, the President appoints ambassadors, Supreme Court judges, and other federal officers.
  • When the Senate is not in session, the President can make temporary appointments to offices requiring Senate confirmation.

Long Version -- This is the text of the Actual U.S. Constitution. 

The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.

He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law: but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.

The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session.