Question: Presidental Succession

uafan4life · January 19th, 2009, 11:00 AM

DISCLAIMER: This is purely a hypothetical question, and I want to be sure to emphasize that I wish no ill will on any President, former President, President elect, or Presidential candidate.

I don't post over here, but I've heard allusions to the, umm, passion of posters on the board, so I wanted to try to make sure I wasn't misunderstood here.

Ok. Yesterday a buddy of mine and I were talking and came up with a question that we couldn't answer. Neither could the checkout lady at Wal-Mart (big surprise there). Anyway, there was a blurb in the paper he was reading about some whack jobs talking about assassinating Obama before the inauguration.

The question was this: If Barrack Obama (or any President elect, for that matter) was, God forbid, assassinated after being elected but prior to being sworn into office who would become President?

The two obvious choices would be either his Vice President elect, as would be the case after he was sworn in, or the Presidential candidate who came in second in the election, as if it had occurred prior to the election. A third, yet less likely, option would be to hold an emergency election.

Does anybody know the exact procedure in such an instance?

bamanut_aj · January 19th, 2009, 11:18 AM

if the President-elect dies before he is sworn in? I have no idea whatsoever. I'm guessing the VP.

NYBamaFan · January 19th, 2009, 11:27 AM

Biden become president:

	Quote:
	If the President-elect dies before noon January 20, the Twentieth Amendment states the Vice President-elect becomes President. In cases where there is no President-elect or Vice president-elect, the Amendment also gives the Congress the authority to declare an Acting President until such time as there is a President or Vice president. At this point the Presidential Succession Act of 1947 would apply, with the office of the Presidency going to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, followed by the President pro tempore of the Senate and various Cabinet officers.

jthomas666 · January 19th, 2009, 11:32 AM

nm...

DiamondDust · January 19th, 2009, 11:33 AM

Yeah, and if I'm not mistaken, Biden will be sworn-in before Obama.

Tidewater · January 19th, 2009, 11:37 AM

	Quote:	NYBamaFan
	Biden become president:

The XX Amendment is simply a construction, the meaning of which is entirely elastic.
Maybe when the drafters and ratifiers wrote that the Vice-President elect would become president, the really meant that the most popular person in America would become President. Maybe the most recent winner of American Idol?

Then again, why should we be bound by the decisions of a bunch of racist white guys back in the 1930s?

NYBamaFan · January 19th, 2009, 11:45 AM

	Quote:	Tidewater
	The XX Amendment is simply a construction, the meaning of which is entirely elastic. Maybe when the drafters and ratifiers wrote that the Vice-President elect would become president, the really meant that the most popular person in America would become President. Maybe the most recent winner of American Idol? Then again, why should we be bound by the decisions of a bunch of racist white guys back in the 1930s?

Well, it is open to interpretation...

RammerJammer14 · January 19th, 2009, 01:43 PM

	Quote:
	If the President-elect dies before noon January 20, the Twentieth Amendment states the Vice President-elect becomes President. In cases where there is no President-elect or Vice president-elect, the Amendment also gives the Congress the authority to declare an Acting President until such time as there is a President or Vice president. At this point the Presidential Succession Act of 1947 would apply, with the office of the Presidency going to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, followed by the President pro tempore of the Senate and various Cabinet officers.

President Pelosi...

Pluck and Grit · January 19th, 2009, 01:57 PM

	Quote:	Tidewater
	The XX Amendment is simply a construction, the meaning of which is entirely elastic. Maybe when the drafters and ratifiers wrote that the Vice-President elect would become president, the really meant that the most popular person in America would become President. Maybe the most recent winner of American Idol? Then again, why should we be bound by the decisions of a bunch of racist white guys back in the 1930s?

On the issue of succession in the event of a President-elect's death, it is clear that the VP-elect becomes president. But the amendment is murkier on some other issues, such as what happens if the President-elect "shall have failed to qualify," which some people are pushing for with this birth certificate thing. In that case, it seems to pretty much be left up to Congress to decide what to do, with the VP-elect acting as a temporary President until Congress does whatever it is that they're going to do about it.

Crimson Speed · January 19th, 2009, 02:10 PM

Correct me if I am wrong. I'm thinking the presidential pecking order is:
B. Obama
J. Biden
N. Pelosi
H. Clinton

Or, does the Supreme Court Chief Justice enter the mix?

If true, this is scary.

uafan4life · January 19th, 2009, 02:13 PM

	Quote:	Tidewater
	Maybe when the drafters and ratifiers wrote that the Vice-President elect would become president, the really meant that the most popular person in America would become President. Maybe the most recent winner of American Idol?

The sad thing is that they probably wouldn't do much worse than those that we have or could have elected over the past 15-20 years.

I don't get into political discussions too much, but the problems with our government can be summed up in one word: politicians.

I'm with George Washington on my political views. As long as we have a party system (especially a two-party system) and bribery is considered legal by referring to it as "lobbying" or "interest groups" then our government will, by definition, be run by corruption.

But then again what do I (or did George Washington) know?

Pluck and Grit · January 19th, 2009, 02:16 PM

	Quote:	Crimson Speed
	Correct me if I am wrong. I'm thinking the presidential pecking order is: B. Obama J. Biden N. Pelosi H. Clinton Or, does the Supreme Court Chief Justice enter the mix? If true, this is scary.

The President Pro Tempore of the Senate is ahead of the Secretary of State in the order, so the order of succession is....

B. Obama
J. Biden
N. Pelosi
R. Byrd
H. Clinton

The next 14 people in line are cabinet secretaries, but since they haven't all been named/confirmed yet (for that matter, Clinton has yet to be officially confirmed) I can't name them by name yet.

bamanut_aj · January 19th, 2009, 02:18 PM

	Quote:	Tidewater
	The XX Amendment is simply a construction, the meaning of which is entirely elastic. Maybe when the drafters and ratifiers wrote that the Vice-President elect would become president, the really meant that the most popular person in America would become President. Maybe the most recent winner of American Idol? Then again, why should we be bound by the decisions of a bunch of racist white guys back in the 1930s?

LOL!