Article II · Section 2 of 4
What the President can do
Article II: The President
The one-line version
The President's powers: military command, pardons, treaties, and appointments with Senate approval.
Section 2 in plain English
The President is Commander in Chief of the armed forces. This includes state militias when they are called into national service.
The President can ask the heads of executive departments for written opinions about their work.
The President can grant pardons and reprieves for federal crimes, except in impeachment cases. A pardon forgives a crime. A reprieve delays a punishment.
The President can make treaties with other countries, but two-thirds of the senators present must approve.
The President nominates ambassadors, Supreme Court justices, and other top federal officials. The Senate must approve them. Congress can let the President, the courts, or department heads appoint lower-level officials alone.
When the Senate is in recess, meaning on a break, the President can fill open positions. These recess appointments end when the Senate's next session ends.
Original text, 1788
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 Offences 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.