Presidential Succession Act
The Presidential Succession Act (3 U.S.C. § 19) creates the line of ascension to the presidency in the event the President and Vice President are both unable (through death, resignation, removal from office, inability, or failure to qualify) to serve as President of the United States. The act was first conceived in 1792, later modified in 1886, and reached its current incarnation in 1947. While the constitutionality of the act has been questioned, it has never been used in the history of the United States, but has created circumstances where a non elected official could have become President had the sitting President been unable to remain in office. The ratification of the 25th Amendment has now almost guaranteed that the act will never be used.
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Line of succession
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The current (2009) line of succession to the Presidency is the Vice President, Speaker of the House, President pro tempore of the Senate, Secretary of State, 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 Secretary of Homeland Security. The Cabinet officers are in line with the creation of the departments, with one exception: the Secretary of Defense. Even though the Defense Department was created in 1947 (after the Labor Department) it effectively replaced the War Department and took its place in the line of succession. Should another Cabinet post be created, it would probably be added to the end of the line, though Congress has the right to place it anywhere in the line it wants.
History
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The Presidential Succession Act was in 1792. It established the President pro tempore after the Vice President, followed by the Speaker of the House. The 1792 act came the closest to being used when President Andrew Johnson, who became President upon the assassination of Abraham Lincoln (leaving the Vice Presidency vacant), was almost removed from office by the Senate. The failure to remove Johnson by one vote kept Senator Benjamin Wade (R, OH) from becoming President.
The act was changed in 1886, removing the Congressional office holders from the line, and placing the Cabinet officers in line with the order of their departments' creation, starting with the Secretary of State. The change was widely accepted, as six Secretaries of State had gone on to become President, while only one Congressional officer---Speaker of the House James K Polk---had gone on to become President.
In 1947, after the death of President Franklin D Roosevelt, the act was amended to its current state. The Congressional officers were reinstated, although the Speaker of the House took precedent over the President pro tempore of the Senate, followed by the Cabinet secretaries in the order of Cabinet post creation. When the Department of Homeland Security was created in 2002, Congress considered placing the Secretary higher in the line of succession, but ultimately decided against it.
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Theories/Speculation
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Some political scholars have wondered whether the Presidential Succession Act is constitutional. The question revolves around two clauses in the US Constitution. Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 states that in the event the elected President is unable to perform his duties, the Vice President will perform the duties. The clause does not state that anyone becomes President should the office become vacant. This clause actually caused controversy when William Henry Harrison became the first President to die in office. A huge debate arose over whether Vice President John Tyler became President, or would simply act as President until another could be elected. Tyler became President by taking the oath of office, and every Vice President since then has done the same when a sitting President has died. The 25th Amendment specifically states that when the Presidency is vacant, the Vice President becomes President.
Article I, Section 6, Clause 2 states that a member of Congress cannot hold an office in the executive branch at the same time. Should the President and Vice President both die, the Speaker of the House immediately becomes President, regardless of when the oath of office is administered. Since the Speaker could not be both a member of the executive branch (President) and Congress at the same time, this automatically prevents any member of Congress to be in the Presidential line. Most scholars agree that should the event ever arise, the immediate resignation of the Speaker from their Congressional seat would preclude any legal challenge to the ascension.
25th Amendment
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After President John Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, Congress and the states moved quickly to ratify the 25th Amendment. The amendment has four sections. Section One explicitly states that when the Presidency becomes vacant, the Vice President becomes President. Section Two states that a President may appoint a Vice President who can take office upon a majority vote from both houses of Congress. Sections Three and Four allow for temporary removal of the President, and the temporary placement of the Vice President as acting President. It is Section Two that most affects the line of succession. Providing that a President can appoint a Vice President almost assures that the line of succession never extends beyond that office. For example, when Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned, President Richard Nixon appointed Gerald Ford, who became President when Nixon resigned. Likewise, Ford appointed Nelson Rockefeller who would have become President should anything have happened to Ford. Neither Ford nor Rockefeller (prior to becoming Vice President) held positions in the line of succession.
Considerations
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The Presidential Succession Act has created interesting circumstances over the years. On September 11, 2001, the then Speaker of the House and President pro tempore were escorted to "secure locations" in order to guarantee the line of succession. Any time the President meets with the Speaker of the House, President pro tempore of the Senate, and the Cabinet (during the State of the Union address, for example), one member of the line of succession does not attend and is generally kept in a "secure location" in the event of a catastrophic attack on the event. This person, known as the "designated survivor," would become President should the rest of the line perish in an attack. In 2009, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates was the "designated survivor" during President Barack Obama's inauguration.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit US Army
