George Washington set the precedent of having a two-term presidency. However after FDR won a fourth term, the Congress added the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, formalizing the two-term precedent for presidents. However, not all presidents are able to complete their terms in office. For example, FDR died before the end of his fourth term, Dwight Eisenhower became disabled after a heart attack, and Nixon resigned after the Watergate scandal. In these cases involving the death, disability, or leaving office before the end of term, the 25th Amendment outlines the succession of the presidency. In the amendment, it states that the vice president assumes the president position if the president is dead or left the office. This is also the case if the vice president and the cabinet deem the president to be disabled. If the disabled president challenges the issue, the decision is left to the Congress. If there is no vice president at the time, next in line to the presidency is the Speaker of the House, then the Senate pro tempore, and finally the thirteen cabinet officers beginning with the Secretary of State. The 25th Amendment also outlines how to select the vice president when the office is vacated. The president nominates a vice president candidate who then must be approved by both houses of Congress by a majority vote. The line of succession for the president also applies to the vice presidency starting with the Speaker of House. Additionally, the 25th Amendment states how a recovering president can reclaim their position as president.
The first president, George Washington, established a two term presidency that remained for 150 years. In the 1930s and 1940s, however, Franklin D. Roosevelt ran successfully in four elections. Despite Roosevelt's popularity, negative reaction to his long tenure in office ultimately led to the pasage of the 22nd Amendment. It limits presidents to two four-year terms. A vice president who succeeds a president due to death, resignation, or impeachment is eligible for a total of ten years in office: two years of a president's remaining term and two elected terms, or more than two years of a president's term followed by one elected term. Impeachment is the first step in a formal process to remove a specified official from office. The House is empowered to vote to impeach the president by a simple majority vote. The Senate then acts as a court of law and tries the president for the charged offenses. A two-thirds majority vote in the Senate on any court contained in the articles of impeachment is necessary to remove the president from office. Also, the 25th Amendment was added to the Constitution in 1967 to establish procedures for filling vacancies in the office of president and vice president as well as providing for procedures to deal with the disability of a president. This Amendment also contains a section that allows the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to deem a president unable to fulfill his duties.
George Washington set the precedent of having a two-term presidency. However after FDR won a fourth term, the Congress added the 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, formalizing the two-term precedent for presidents. However, not all presidents are able to complete their terms in office. For example, FDR died before the end of his fourth term, Dwight Eisenhower became disabled after a heart attack, and Nixon resigned after the Watergate scandal. In these cases involving the death, disability, or leaving office before the end of term, the 25th Amendment outlines the succession of the presidency. In the amendment, it states that the vice president assumes the president position if the president is dead or left the office. This is also the case if the vice president and the cabinet deem the president to be disabled. If the disabled president challenges the issue, the decision is left to the Congress. If there is no vice president at the time, next in line to the presidency is the Speaker of the House, then the Senate pro tempore, and finally the thirteen cabinet officers beginning with the Secretary of State. The 25th Amendment also outlines how to select the vice president when the office is vacated. The president nominates a vice president candidate who then must be approved by both houses of Congress by a majority vote. The line of succession for the president also applies to the vice presidency starting with the Speaker of House. Additionally, the 25th Amendment states how a recovering president can reclaim their position as president.
ReplyDeleteThe first president, George Washington, established a two term presidency that remained for 150 years. In the 1930s and 1940s, however, Franklin D. Roosevelt ran successfully in four elections. Despite Roosevelt's popularity, negative reaction to his long tenure in office ultimately led to the pasage of the 22nd Amendment. It limits presidents to two four-year terms. A vice president who succeeds a president due to death, resignation, or impeachment is eligible for a total of ten years in office: two years of a president's remaining term and two elected terms, or more than two years of a president's term followed by one elected term.
ReplyDeleteImpeachment is the first step in a formal process to remove a specified official from office. The House is empowered to vote to impeach the president by a simple majority vote. The Senate then acts as a court of law and tries the president for the charged offenses. A two-thirds majority vote in the Senate on any court contained in the articles of impeachment is necessary to remove the president from office. Also, the 25th Amendment was added to the Constitution in 1967 to establish procedures for filling vacancies in the office of president and vice president as well as providing for procedures to deal with the disability of a president. This Amendment also contains a section that allows the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to deem a president unable to fulfill his duties.
Note that when the vice president assumes the duties of the president under the provisions of the 25th amendment, he is ACTING president only.
ReplyDeleteIf there is a disagreement between the president and vice president about the president's ability to serve, Congress decides with a 2/3 vote.