Introduction. The constitutional and legal characteristic of the status of any body begins with identifi cation of its place in the system of power. It is this element that is permanently (continuously, incessantly) in the focus of the study of presidential power. Theoretical analysis. It is noted that the next constitutional reform of the Russian statehood is determined by a certain stage in the transformation of the presidential power, namely its modernization, constitutionalization and, ultimately, institutionalization. Empirical analysis.