US Politics Generic Question Non Political

[goodwoodrw]

My son and I were discussing the US elections, when he asked a couple of questions I didn't have the answer to.
1. IF the President dies or thrown out of office very early in his term is there a new election, or does the VP reign for the rest of the term?
2. If the President and VP perish who is next in line for the leadership?

[histgamer]

1.

If the President is more than halfway through his term then the VP serves out the remainder of the term but that does not count against his term limit. In the USA you can only be president for 2 terms (4 years each).

If the President is less than halfway through his term then the VP serves out the remainder but it does count against his term limit so he would be limited to just 1 term of his own.

William Henry Harrison was President for only about a month before dying of Pneumonia, there was no re-election.

2.

The list of succession is as follows.

1. President
2. Vice President.
3. Speaker of the House
4. President Pro Tempore of the Senate
5. Secretary of State
6. Secretary of the Treasury
7. Secretary of Defense
8. Attorney General
9. Secretary of the Interior
10. Secretary of Agriculture
11. Secretary of Commerce
12. Secretary of Labor
13. Secretary of Health and Human Services
14. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
15. Secretary of Transportation
16. Secretary of Energy
17. Secretary of Education
18. Secretary of Veterans Affairs
19. Secretary of Homeland Security

The only exception to the line provided in the law states that to ascend to the Presidency, the next person in line must be constitutionally eligible. Any person holding an office in the line of succession who, for example, is not a naturally-born citizen cannot become President. In this case, that person would be skipped and the next eligible person in the line would become President.

[goodwoodrw]

Thanks for the reply

[junk2drive]

How it works

Pres=your crazy uncle
House=you
Senate=your wife

Your crazy uncle can tell you how to run your life but you can do as you please as long as your wife agrees.

[OldSarge]

President Gerald Ford was the first U.S. President to become president without the electoral college after first VP Agnew resigned and then President Nixon resigned. President Lyndon B. Johnson was VP under President Kennedy and after the assination he assumed the mantle as President in the famous photo of him being sworn in on AF 1 with Jackie at his side.

BTW, the order of succession is explained by the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

[sterckxe]

ORIGINAL: flanyboy
17. Secretary of Education

In Battlestar Galactica Laura Roslin, Secretary of Education, was only 43th in line

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

[Josh]

Loved that show. WWLRD... What Would Laura Roslin Do?

[RedArgo]

Is there any provision for early elections if one the the non-elected people, like Sec of State, ended up becoming President? It would bother me having someone in the office who wasn't elected to anything. Anyway, hopefully it will never come to that.

[sterckxe]

ORIGINAL: RedArgo
Is there any provision for early elections if one the the non-elected people, like Sec of State, ended up becoming President? It would bother me having someone in the office who wasn't elected to anything. Anyway, hopefully it will never come to that.

You could do worse than have a technocrat president - our Flemish region president didn't get elected but was head of the small businesses association when he got offered a minister job, then moved up, again without taking part in any election - and in all polls a majority of the population thinks he's pretty decent at his job.

Greetz,

Eddy Sterckx

[OldSarge]

ORIGINAL: RedArgo

Is there any provision for early elections if one the the non-elected people, like Sec of State, ended up becoming President? It would bother me having someone in the office who wasn't elected to anything. Anyway, hopefully it will never come to that.

AFAIK, The Presidential Succession Act of 1947 would be the guiding law in such a case. A cabinet member would hold office until such a time as either the House or the Senate were able to elect either a Speaker or President Pro Tempore.

Let us hope that we never have a disaster catsptrophic enough that would require us to put it to the test.

Regards.