Leadership

The American Legion is led by its national commander, five national vice commanders and six national constitutional officers. The national commander and vice commanders help compose the National Executive Committee (NEC) and play vital roles during the national convention, the Legion’s annual meeting to establish programs and make changes to the organization’s constitutions and bylaws.

National Commander

The national commander is the executive head of The American Legion, with full power to enforce provisions of the Legion’s constitution, bylaws and resolutions of the national convention, which meets each year to govern the organization. Each national commander serves a one-year term, after which a new one is elected at the convention; five national vice commanders are also elected annually.

National Constitutional Officers

In addition to the national commander and vice commanders, six national constitutional officers are appointed annually by vote of the National Executive Committee. They are the adjutant, treasurer, judge advocate, historian, chaplain and sergeant-at-arms. Officers elected by the national convention take office upon adjournment and serve until the end of the next convention.

National Vice Commanders

Elected at the national convention, five vice commanders act as representatives of the national commander. They may preside over meetings of the National Executive Committee or the national convention, and perform other duties for the commander. No two vice commanders can be chosen from the same department during the same year.

National Executive Committee

The national commander, five national vice commanders, one National Executive Committeeman and one alternate elected by each department comprise the National Executive Committee. Past national commanders are considered life members; they can join the debate on issues but have no vote. The NEC has the Legion’s administrative power, responsible for drafting an annual budget, approving contracts and signing off on Legion spending. NEC members are delegates with full voting power during the Legion’s Fall and Spring meetings in Indianapolis, and during the national convention. In short, the NEC serves as the organization’s board of directors.

National Convention

The Legion’s largest annual meeting is the national convention. Each of the Legion’s 55 departments (one in each state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, France, Mexico and Philippines) is entitled to a minimum of five voting delegates to the national convention. A department is granted one extra delegate, a member in good standing, for each 1,000 members (or major fraction thereof) 30 days before the convention. The five annually elected vice commanders round out the group of delegates present.

The national convention delegates alone have the authority to approve changes to the Legion’s constitution and bylaws. It is also responsible for passing programs that determine the course of the Legion, setting membership dues for the upcoming year, and electing the national commander and vice commanders, who serve until the next convention.