The president's office was established when India became a democracy on January 26, 1950, when its legislation went into effect. The president is chosen informally by an election system consisting of both chambers of India's Parliament, as well as the state legislatures of any one of the country's provinces and territories, who are all elected democratically.

Even though Article 53 of the Indian Constitution states that the president may workout his main system or through a subordinate authority, all of the president's executive powers are, in practice, tried to exercise by the prime minister (a delegated authority) with the assistance of the Council of Ministers. The president is required under the laws to act on the prime minister's and cabinet's recommendations as long as it does not contradict the constitution.

A man can be re-elected as president as many times as the Indian constitution allows. It is theoretically possible to be re-elected to the highest office an infinite number of times. There are no limitations in this case. The minimum age for being the president is 35 years and the maximum is 75 years. The Indian Constitution, under Article 57, specifies the requirements for re-election to the office of President of India.

The president is the country's first citizen. As part of his oath, the president's principal responsibility is to preserve, safeguard, and defend the Indian constitution and law (Article 60 of the Indian constitution). The president is in charge of all independent constitutional bodies. All of his acts, recommendations, and regulatory responsibilities over India's executive and legislative branches must be utilized to protect the constitution. There is no legal restriction to the president's actions being challenged in court.