2016 United States presidential election

== Background ==
{{further|United States presidential election}}
[[File:President Barack Obama.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[incumbent]] in 2016, [[Barack Obama]]. His second term expired at noon on January 20, 2017.]]

[[Article Two of the United States Constitution|Article Two]] of the [[United States Constitution]] provides that the [[President of the United States|President]] and [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] of the United States must be [[Natural-born-citizen clause|natural-born citizens]] of the United States, at least 35 years old, and residents of the United States for a period of at least 14 years.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/spakovsky-canaparo-california-ballot-law-unconstitutional-trump-political-attack |title=Spakovsky and Canaparo: California can't pick who runs for president. New law just an attack on Trump |last=Spakovsky |first=Hans von |date=September 22, 2019 |publisher=[[Fox News]] |access-date=March 29, 2020}}</ref> Candidates for the presidency typically seek the nomination of one of the political parties, in which case each party devises a method (such as a [[primary election]]) to choose the candidate the party deems best suited to run for the position. Traditionally, the primary elections are [[indirect election]]s where voters cast ballots for a slate of party delegates pledged to a particular candidate. The party's delegates then officially nominate a candidate to run on the party's behalf. The general election in November is <!-- R: put Trump first, he received more electoral votes (in the first column) -->also an indirect election, where voters cast ballots for a slate of members of the [[Electoral College (United States)|Electoral College]]; these electors in turn directly elect the president and vice president.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.archives.gov/electoral-college/provisions |title=Legal Provisions Relevant to the Electoral College Process |date=September 5, 2019 |website=National Archives |access-date=March 29, 2020}}</ref>

President [[Barack Obama]], a [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrat]] and former [[United States Senate|U.S. senator]] from [[Illinois]], was ineligible to seek reelection to a third term due to the restrictions of the American presidential term limits established by the [[Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twenty-second Amendment]]; in accordance with Section{{nbsp}}1 of the [[Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twentieth Amendment]], his term expired at noon [[Eastern Time Zone|eastern standard time]] on January 20, 2017.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stout |first1=Christopher Timothy |last2=Le |first2=Danvy |date=October 8, 2012 |title=Living the Dream: Barack Obama and Blacks' Changing Perceptions of the American Dream |journal=Social Science Quarterly |volume=93 |issue=5 |pages=1338–1359 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-6237.2012.00915.x |issn=0038-4941}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |date=2008 |title=Inaugural Address of PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA |journal=The Black Scholar |volume=38 |issue=4 |pages=2–5 |doi=10.1080/00064246.2008.11413464 |jstor=41069357 |s2cid=147680023 |issn=0006-4246}}</ref>

Both the Democratic and Republican parties, as well as third parties such as the Green and Libertarian parties, held a series of [[United States presidential primary|presidential primary elections and caucuses]] that took place between February and June 2016, staggered among the 50 states, the [[District of Columbia]], and [[Territories of the United States|U.S. territories]]. This nominating process was also an indirect election, where voters cast ballots for a slate of delegates to a political party's [[United States presidential nominating convention|nominating convention]], who in turn elected their party's presidential nominee. Speculation about the 2016 campaign began almost immediately following the 2012 campaign, with ''[[New York (magazine)|New York]]'' magazine declaring that the race had begun in an article published on November 8, two days after the 2012 election.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Amira |first1=Dan |title=Let the 2016 Campaign Season Begin! |url=https://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2012/11/let-the-2016-campaign-season-begin.html |access-date=July 5, 2015 |work=[[New York (magazine)|New York]] |date=November 8, 2012}}</ref> On the same day, ''[[Politico]]'' released an article predicting that the 2016 general election would be between Clinton and former [[Governor of Florida|Florida Governor]] [[Jeb Bush]], while an article in ''[[The New York Times]]'' named [[List of Governors of New Jersey|New Jersey Governor]] [[Chris Christie]] and Senator [[Cory Booker]] from [[New Jersey]] as potential candidates.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Martin |first1=Johnathon |last2=Haberman |first2=Maggie |title=Back to the future: Clinton vs. Bush? |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2012/11/back-to-the-future-clinton-vs-bush-083550 |access-date=March 22, 2017 |publisher=[[Politico]] |date=November 8, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Barbaro |first1=Michael |title=After Obama, Christie Wants a G.O.P. Hug |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/20/us/politics/after-embrace-of-obama-chris-christie-woos-a-wary-gop.html |access-date=July 5, 2015 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 20, 2012}}</ref>