Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the Constitution sets these requirements to hold the office of President:

  • The President must be a natural-born citizen of the United States.
  • The President must be at least thirty-five years old.
  • The President must have been a permanent resident in the United States for at least fourteen years.

Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment disqualifies those who swore an oath to support the Constitution, and later rebelled against the United States.

I propose the following amendment to tighten the requirements, in hopes that these requirements would lead to the election of someone who actually has experience running a government, not just success in winning elections.

SECTION 1. In addition to the requirements established by Article II, Section 1, Clause 5, and other amendments to this Constitution, the President and Vice-President must meet one or more of the following qualifications:

a) The individual may have held the office of Governor of a state or commonwealth, and served at least one complete term in that office, and have not been convicted of a felony pertaining to his service in that office.

b) The individual may have served as the principal Officer of a executive Department for a time span amounting to no less than six years.

c) The individual may have no less than 10 years of active service in any branch of the United States military, without dishonorable discharge. (This needs to be clarified, as the Constitution does not explicitly define "the United States military.")