The president-elect of the United States is the candidate who has presumptively won the United States presidential election and is awaiting inauguration to become the president. There is no explicit indication in the U.S. Constitution as to when that person actually becomes president-elect, although the Twentieth Amendment uses the term "President-elect", thus giving the term "president-elect" constitutional justification.假设根据第十二修正案的规定，在新国会宣誓就职后的一月第三天之后，美国选举团对投票的国会认证明确地确认了成功的候选人为官方总统-根据美国宪法选举。作为一个非正式的术语，媒体至少至少在19世纪后半叶以来就一直在媒体上使用，并且至少从1790年代开始就一直在政客使用。即使在选举之夜，政客和媒体也将这个词应用于预计的获胜者，而最终失败的人很少被这样提及。虽然选举日在 11 月初举行，但由选举委员会成员正式投票选举团于 12 月中旬举行，然后通常在 1 月 20 日举行总统就职典礼（宣誓就职）。唯一与赢得总统选举的人直接相关的宪法规定是他们可以宣誓就职。 The Presidential Transition Act of 1963 empowers the General Services Administration to determine who the apparent election winner is, and provides for a timely and organized sequence for the federal government's transition planning in cooperation with the president-elect's transition team;它还包括为"明显成功的候选人"提供办公空间。按照惯例，在选举至就职期间，候任总统积极准备履行总统职责，并与即将离任（或跛鸭）总统合作，确保总统职责的顺利交接。 Since 2008, incoming presidents have also used the name Office of the President-elect to refer to their transition organization, despite a lack of formal description for it.

Incumbent presidents who have won re-election for a second term are generally not referred to as presidents-elect, as they are already in office and are not waiting to become president. A sitting vice president who is elected president is referred to as president-elect.

Richard Paul Pavlick（1887年2月13日 - 1975年11月11日）是来自新罕布什尔州的退休邮政贸易贸易贸易劳工，他是追踪参议员和美国总统约翰F.肯尼迪的，意图暗杀他。 1960 年 12 月 11 日，在佛罗里达州的棕榈滩，帕夫利克准备用炸药炸毁肯尼迪和他自己来实施暗杀，但由于肯尼迪与他的妻子杰奎琳和他们的两个年幼的孩子在一起，所以推迟了这次企图。

他在能够进行另一次尝试之前被捕。