President

The President is the title given to the elected leader of the Magical Congress of the United States of America (MACUSA), the governing body for the wizarding community in the United States. The role is the American equivalent of the British Minister for Magic. (Pottermore) The office of the President is located within the MACUSA headquarters, magically concealed inside the Woolworth Building in New York City. (film)

As the head of MACUSA, the President holds significant executive power and is responsible for upholding magical law and protecting the secrecy of the American wizarding world, governed by Rappaport's Law for much of its history. Their duties include:

• Presiding over major governmental meetings and trials. (film)
• Directing the actions of various departments, particularly the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and its Aurors. (film)
• Making critical decisions during national emergencies, such as the threat posed by an Obscurus in 1926 and the escape of Gellert Grindelwald. (film)
• Authorizing severe sentences for those who gravely endanger the International Statute of Secrecy, including, in some historical instances, capital punishment. (film)

The office of President was established with the founding of MACUSA in 1693, following the Salem Witch Trials, to create a structured and secure government for North American witches and wizards. (Pottermore) Known Presidents include:

• Josiah Jackson: A war-hero wizard who was elected as the first President of MACUSA. He was considered a militant leader who was instrumental in recruiting and training the first American Aurors. (Pottermore)
• Elizabeth McGilliguddy: A famed President who served during the American Revolutionary War. She presided over the contentious 1777 'Country or Kind?' debate, ultimately declaring that the American wizarding community was part of its new country and would not intervene in the Muggle war. (Pottermore)
• Seraphina Picquery: The President of MACUSA from 1920 to 1928. A formidable and stern witch from Savannah, she was in office during the events of the Obscurus incident in New York and the initial conflict with Gellert Grindelwald on American soil. (film, Pottermore)

The concept of a wizarding “President” and the entire structure of MACUSA were introduced and developed for the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them film series and its supplementary materials on the Pottermore (now Wizarding World) website. The title does not appear in the original seven Harry Potter novels in a wizarding context. The only mention is a passing reference by the Muggle Prime Minister in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, where he recalls his predecessor being flustered after a visit from Cornelius Fudge and mentioning “the President of somewhere-or-other.”