posted
Elections have (as far as I now) always been scheduled- even in extreme circumstances (death of a President) there is the line of succession wherein the Vice-President fills the role next in line.
As the VP office was for decades a "do nothing" position, this led to some seriously crappy partial term Presidents. I dont know of a time where the line of sucession went any further than the VP's office. No one's ever killed both the President and VP- usually the two are not together publicly and when they are (usually campaigning) the security is notably increased.
The current line of fuckos is:
President: George W. Bush
Dick Cheney, Vice President Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the House of Representatives Ted Stevens, President pro tempore of the Senate Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State John W. Snow, Secretary of the Treasury Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense Alberto Gonzales, Attorney General At least there's some padding before we get a forced "Rumsfeld/Gonzalez" administration.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
I suppose Gerald Ford is the closest example, as he was never elected (if a VP is ever really elected? Doesn't he just share the bill? Does a Presidential candidate HAVE to nominate a VP candidate?), just confirmed by the Senate as replacement VP for Nixon, I think. . . Yes, just checked, and the House confirmed it too. Prior to that he was just House Minority Leader.
posted
Hmmm...I think they have to run with a VP now. The "do nothing days" was a result of original setup for Presidential elections - the VP was the runner-up for President!
Obviously having a second in command from another political party was a bad idea (as by-partisan governing has never worked here) and (even with both positions being held by the same party) the job became a figurehead post for decades -until Eisenhower was VP and hated it snough to change the nature of the office.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
Er, do you mean "until Nixon was Eisenhower's VP?"
Also, if I read the Wikipedia chart right (and if the entry is itself right), Truman never had a VP at all, and Johnson didn't have one for the remainder of Kennedy's term? Oh, I see, the 25th Amendment wasn't ratified until 1967, requiring there to be a VP?
posted
Actually I meant "Teddy Rooseveldt". Duh- I watched documebteries on both men last week and my mind was a tad confused... that show "The Presidents' rocks, but a marathon will scramble your brain with information overload. Teddy hated the position of "do nothing Vice President" and almost left office because of it, but it would have killed his political aspirations.
Googling found that there has been several times with no vice-president.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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posted
Ahh, Alben Barkley. Gnarls' dad, obviously. I read the Wikichart wrong - Truman had no VP for his first term (or the remainder of Roosevelt's fourth, in actuality).
posted
If I've got this right, the fundamental difference between US and UK elections is that we vote for the party, but you vote for the person, correct?
-------------------- Yes, you're despicable, and... and picable... and... and you're definitely, definitely despicable. How a person can get so despicable in one lifetime is beyond me. It isn't as though I haven't met a lot of people. Goodness knows it isn't that. It isn't just that... it isn't... it's... it's despicable.
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
This will really mess you up...in the presidential race, we vote for electors who then vote for the president.
A person could win the popular vote but loose the Electoral College and loose the election.
-------------------- Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war. ~ohn Adams
Once again the Bush Administration is worse than I had imagined, even though I thought I had already taken account of the fact that the Bush administration is invariably worse than I can imagine. ~Brad DeLong
You're just babbling incoherently. ~C. Montgomery Burns
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Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
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posted
Alben Barkley also had the best exit line ever. On 30 April 1956, Barkely was giving a speech at Washington and Lee University in Virginia. He proclaimed, "I would rather be a servant in the House of the Lord than to sit in the seats of the mighty." He then promptly had a massive coronary & keeled over dead.
In terms of presidental succession, there is no "moving up the ranks;" that is, the Speaker does not automatically become VP, the pres pro tem does not become the Speaker, etc. With a vice presidential vacancy anyone can be appointed to the job by the president, subject to congressional approval, of course. As I recall, so far the only time this has happened has been the whole Gerald Ford fiasco, where he was appointed, & then he appointed Nelson Rockefeller.
-------------------- "The French have a saying: 'mise en place'—keep everything in its fucking place!"
Registered: Jun 2000
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posted
Article II Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution explains the whole Electoral College thing.
quote: The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by Ballot for two Persons, of whom one at least shall not be an Inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they shall make a List of all the Persons voted for, and of the Number of Votes for each; which List they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the Seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate.
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That that should clear things up.
-------------------- Great is the guilt of an unnecessary war. ~ohn Adams
Once again the Bush Administration is worse than I had imagined, even though I thought I had already taken account of the fact that the Bush administration is invariably worse than I can imagine. ~Brad DeLong
You're just babbling incoherently. ~C. Montgomery Burns
Registered: Mar 1999
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posted
Now I've cheered up a little from my grumpy mood at the weekend, I'd like to point out that actually, the Americans don't even vote for the electoral college.
Shik
Starship database: completed; History of Starfleet: done; website: probably never
Member # 343
posted
Hmf. That article states that "The shortest President elected to office was James Madison (5'4", 1.62 m); the shortest President to originally enter the office by means other than election was Teddy Roosevelt (5'8", 1.74 m)."
posted
I recall during the last Presidentail debate, one of the stupid things both parties agreed on was that neither candidate would wear risers or stand on a platform to appear taller.
Biz-arre.
-------------------- Justice inclines her scales so that wisdom comes at the price of suffering. -Aeschylus, Agamemnon
Registered: Aug 2002
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