Background
In democratic countries, the head of state or the head of the executive branch of government, is often called the president. Presidents are usually elected to office by a democratic election. Elections may depend upon a candidate, or a person who is seeking presidential office, winning the popular vote. Likewise, elections can also depend on the candidate winning a certain proportion of a vote as determined by election guidelines. For example, in the United States, presidential candidates must win a majority of votes as allocated by the electoral college, which depends upon the candidate winning the popular vote in individual states rather than in the nation at large. By contrast, in France a candidate must win over 50% of the popular vote to be elected to office. This means that if there are more than two candidates in the race and they split the popular vote, there is often a runoff election to determine who becomes the president.
U.S. Presidential Candidates
The United States has generally embraced a two party political system, in which two primary candidates seek the office of president. Historically, the two parties have changed many times, but elections have usually involved a conservative and a liberal party — in modern days, the Republican and Democratic parties. There are some notable exceptions in which third party candidates had an impact on elections, such as the candidacy of Theodore Roosevelt in 1912 and Ross Perot in 1992, but by and large candidates must have the backing of a major party in order to be influential. The benefits of party membership include a pre-existing voter base, but perhaps more significantly, access to a fundraising network. The endorsement of a political party ensures that presidential candidates have access to a powerful network of political strategists and wealthy donors.
The importance of financial resources cannot be underestimated when talking about United States presidential candidates. Presidential campaigns cost substantial amounts of money because candidates need print, radio, and television ads, as well as large staffs of campaign organizers, in order to be successful. However, in recent years the role of fundraising has increased, as campaign contributions have grown. Political action committees, commonly known as PACs, are groups of donors and advocates who band together to fund advertisements and events on behalf of candidates. The 2010 Supreme Court decision in the case of Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission further paved the way for large campaign contributions by allowing unlimited contributions to so-called "super PACs," or political action committees that are not directly connected to candidates. As a result of the decision, there is no limit on the size of allowable campaign contributions. Super PACs generally support a candidate by attaining large contributions for expensive television ads. Since they are not directly tied to candidates, super PACs often produce attack ads, or negative ads against opposing candidates, that the primary parties would not explicitly endorse.
As a result of the cost of presidential campaigns, many U.S. presidential candidates tend to be wealthy. However, there are other restrictions on candidacy that also impact who runs. The U.S. Constitution requires that candidates are natural-born U.S. citizens who are at least 35 years old at the time of election. Unofficially, presidents tend to be educated at elite institutions, and only one U.S. president has practiced a religion other than that of the mainstream protestant faith (John F. Kennedy was Catholic). Some evidence indicates that historical candidacy trends may be changing, though. For example, President Barack Obama was the first non-white U.S. president to be elected. Also, 2012 Republican candidate Mitt Romney is Mormon, which is considered by many to be a fringe protestant denomination. While no women have been elected to the highest office in the U.S., Hillary Clinton's ran in 2008, and in 2016 was the Democratic Party's first female nominee, indicating the "glass ceiling" may soon be shattered.