According to micky <
[email protected]>:
Why is the Speaker 3rd in line for the Presidency. If Potus and the VP
die, the presidency changes, these days, from Democratic to Republican.
I thought they amended the Constiution early on to prevent this sort of
thing (by having the P and VP from the same party.)
Nope. The Constitution originally said that each elector cast two
votes, with the person getting the most votes becoming President and
the runner-up becoming vice president. In the 1780s there were no
parties yet. But by 1800 there sure were, with pairs of candidates
running as a slate, the plan being that one elector would not vote for
the VP candidate as happened in 1796. Except in 1800 he forgot, or
screwed up, or something, Jefferson and Burr got the same number of
electoral votes even though everyone knew J was supposed to be pres
and B to be VP, The election went to the House, and it was a huge
mess. The 12th amendment adjusted to reality with separate votes for P
and VP. In practice they always run as a slate but there is no
requirement they do so.
The Constitution says that if the prsident dies, the "Powers and
Duties" shall devolve on the Vice President, but it wasn't clear
whether thaat meant he became President or was just Acting President.
When W. H. Harrison died, Tyler insisteed he was President and
pointedly ignored anyone who addressed him as acting president. (He
was known as His Accidency.) It wasn't until the 25th Amendment in
1967 that the Constitution specifically said that the VP becomes
President, although by 1848 when Taylor died, Fillmore became
President, with no arguemnt that he was just acting.
If the P dies and
before a new VP is confirmed the VP dies, the presidency can change
parties. What is this, England? Have there been efforts to change
this?
The Constitution says that Congress says who becomes President if
there is neither a President nor a Vice President. An act in 1792 made
the Senate president pro tem the temporary president until a special
election the following year. Another act in 1886 made the cabinet
secretaries become president, in the order the departments were
created. In 1957 they changed it to speaker, president pro tem, then
cabinet.
The argument for the cabinet is that they're likely to continue the
President's policies, the argument for the Speaker and pro tem is that
they are elected rather than appointed. Pick your poison.
--
Regards,
John Levine,
[email protected], Primary Perpetrator of "The Internet for Dummies",
Please consider the environment before reading this e-mail.
https://jl.ly
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