Since 1841, when Vice President John Tyler accepted the oath to make him president following the death of the elected president, the vice president has been second in the presidential line of succession. The second in line, after the vice president was the leader of the Senate. [13] Including the secretary of state was unacceptable to most Federalists, who did not want the then secretary of state, Thomas Jefferson, who had become the leader of the opposition Democratic-Republicans, to follow the vice president in the succession, and many objected to including the chief justice due to separation of powers concerns. Have fun!). The United States has a determined hierarchy for the presidential line of succession. The pro tempore of the Senate was designated as the first in line to replace the president if he or the vice president died without warning while in office under the original succession laws. Who determined the existence of an inability? 16. Should all three of these individuals be disqualified or incapacitated, the presidential line of succession turns to the Presidential Cabinet, starting with the Secretary of State and working its way through the Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Defense, Attorney General, Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Health and Human Services, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Secretary of Transportation, Secretary of Energy, Secretary of Education, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and finally the Secretary of Homeland Security. [6][14], The Presidential Succession Act of 1886 (Full text) established succession to include the members of the president's cabinet in the order of the establishment of the various departments, beginning with the secretary of state,[D] and stipulated that any official discharging the powers and duties of the presidency must possess the constitutional qualifications to hold the office. Sign up for notifications from Insider! Presidential succession is referred to multiple times in the U.S. Constitution: Article II, Section 1, Clause 6, the 12th Amendment, 20th Amendment, and 25th Amendment. The changes took place in 1792, 1886, 1947, and 1967. This legislation updated an earlier succession statute established during Washingtons first presidential term in 1792. 19 Vacancy in offices of both President and Vice President; officers eligible to act", "Essays on Amendment XXV: Presidential Succession", "Woodrow Wilson: Life After The Presidency", "Thomas R. Marshall, 28th Vice President (19131921)", "Vice President of the United States (President of the Senate)", "William Harrison: Death of the President", "Abraham Lincoln: Death of the President", "Warren G. Harding: Death of the President", "Richard Nixon: Life After the Presidency", "How many other vice presidents have temporarily taken over presidential powers? The 25th Amendment outlines how a vacancy for the vice-president will be resolved. For the purposes of keeping track of the number of vice presidents as we go, we therefore drop from 46 potential VPs (which would mirror the 46 presidents) to 38 VPs. The presidential election takes place on the second Tuesday of November of every fourth year. He or she is indirectly elected by an electoral college to a maximum of two four-year terms. Since 1789 there have been eighteen instances of the vice presidency becoming vacant;[31] during those periods, the persons next in line to serve as acting president were: In 2003, the Continuity of Government Commission suggested that the succession law has "at least seven significant issues that warrant attention," specifically: In 2009, the Continuity of Government Commission commented on the use of the term "Officer" in the 1947 statute, The language in the current Presidential Succession Act is less clear than that of the 1886 Act with respect to Senate confirmation. On July 18, 1947, he signed legislation resurrecting the old 1792 statute but elevating the speaker above the Senate president pro tempore in the hierarchy. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. The first is that acting officials cannot be considered in line for succession. In order for the presidential line of succession to be exhausted, 18 people would have to be disqualified, incapacitated, or killed, which would be extremely unlikely. : In the novel Trinitys Child,a Soviet nuclear attack on Washington knocks out everyone above the Interior Secretary, who was in Louisiana during the attack, and hes sworn in. Here's who's in line after President Donald Trump. The Secretary of AgricultureCurrent office-holder:Tom Vilsack, the 30th and 32nd Agriculture Secretary, serving under both Obama and Biden.First to hold the office:Norman Jay Coleman, 1889 (under 22nd President Cleveland)Random info: Before the Department of Agriculture was created in 1889 and Norman Jay Coleman was made its first Secretary, we had a Commissioner of Agriculture founded in 1862, because apparently the Civil War wasnt distracting enough. Speaker Kevin McCarthy. The first formal law regarding the matter was passed in 1792, and another was passed in 1886. [47] It again became a real possibility three years later, when, with the vice presidency vacant, Johnson as president was impeached by the House of Representatives and faced removal from office if convicted at trial in the Senate. The Senate Pro-TemporeCurrent office-holder: Patrick LeahyFirst to hold the office: John Langdon, 1789Random info: The Senate Pro-Tem is the longest-serving Senator from the majority party. The United States Constitution says that the vice president of the United States is the person who will replace the president if the president is not able to continue. (We have spoken to acting secretaries who told us they had been placed in the line of succession.)[65]. "[12][16], The 1947 act has been modified several times, with changes being made as the face of the federal bureaucracy has changed over the ensuing years. Prior occasions were when Dick Cheney took over, and one occasion when George H.W. This typically is most noticeable during the State of the Union, when one Cabinet member is absent in an undisclosed location. Experts say its time for a change. Third in the line of succession is Sen. Patrick Leahy, 82, a Vermont Democrat and the president pro tempore of the Senate, who is recovering from a surgery he had on Tuesday after a hip replacement. Instead, she had merely been the Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, who is NOT in the line of succession, an original sin from which the show never recovered.). A concern that the line of succession can force the presidency to abruptly switch parties mid-term, as the president, speaker, and the president pro tempore are not necessarily of the same party as each other. 9. The latter, upon McKinleys assassination six months into his second term, quickly became our, Richard Nixon ran with Spiro Agnew for both his winning elections, but Agnew resigned in his second term and was replaced by Gerald Ford, who then ascended upon Nixons resignation. It was also established that if a vice president became disabled or otherwise unable to serve, the president would designate a successor for Senate approval. As a result, the presidential succession line defines who becomes president if the one who was elected dies. A change for the presidential line of succession, Sign up for a weekly roundup of thought-provoking ideas and debates. The Speaker of the House and President Pro Tempore rank high on the list thanks to the 1947 Act of Presidential Succession, which was championed out of concern that the president could potentially appoint his or her successor if the Cabinet members are ranked first. Allies nations are reportedly discussing Ukraine's presidential line of succession in case President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is captured or killed. Speaker of the House. ", "For 85 minutes, Kamala Harris became the first woman with presidential power", "The 16th Presidential Inauguration: Zachary Taylor, March 5, 1849", "The Election of 1940 and the Might-Have-Been that Makes One Shudder", Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, "The forgotten man who almost became President after Lincoln", "Speaker Albert Was Ready to Be President", "George Clinton, 4th Vice President (18051812)", "John Tyler, Tenth Vice President (1841)", "William Rufus King, 13th Vice President (1853)", "Five little-known men who almost became president", "Chapter 2: A Question of Succession, 1861-1889", "These 11 People Came Close to Being President of the United States ", "Three Speakers Of The House Who Were "A Heartbeat Away" From The Presidency! The first succession legislation was passed in 1792, with the Vice President placed first in the succession line, followed the President Pro Tempore of the US Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives. [9] In October 1973, the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew made House Speaker Carl Albert first in line to succeed President Richard Nixon but only briefly, as Gerald Ford was sworn in as vice president on December 6, 1973. This could have been the line of presidential succession behind Vice President Kamala Harris when the new Congress convenes in January: Nancy Pelosi, 82, and Dianne Feinstein, 89. In 1886, after the death of Vice President Thomas A. Hendricks, Congress passed a law that took out the leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives from the line of succession. Johnson had been the vice president for Abraham Lincoln. (Note that these are accurate as of April 4, 2022. Subscribe to our newsletter and learn something new every day. Congress enacted the Succession Act of 1886 to ensure that the successor would be of the same political party as the replaced incumbent. A guide to the order in which federal government members assume the powers and duties of the U.S. president upon an elected president's death, resignation, or removal from office. Biden, 79, is fully vaccinated and twice boosted. [2] In the table, the absence of a number in the first column indicates that the incumbent is ineligible. In 1868, during the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, Benjamin Wade was the leader of the Senate. Fixing oversights One of the biggest oversights had to do with when exactly someone becomes president. The Secretary of Homeland SecurityCurrent office-holder: Alejandro Mayorkas, the 7th Homeland Security SecretaryFirst to hold the office:Tom Ridge, 2003 (under 43rd President George W. Bush)Random info: Our newest cabinet position was created in 2003 and then added to the presidential line of succession in 2006.
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