United States presidential line of succession
Widely considered a settled issue during the late 20th century, the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 demonstrated the potential for a decapitation strike that would kill or incapacitate multiple individuals in the presidential line of succession in addition to many members of Congress and the federal judiciary.
[11] The statute provided that the presidential successor would serve in an acting capacity, holding office only until a new president could be elected.
In addition to the president pro tempore and the speaker, both the secretary of state and the chief justice of the Supreme Court were also suggested.
[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,[C] and stipulated that any official discharging the powers and duties of the presidency must possess the constitutional qualifications to hold the office.
[12] The president pro tempore and Speaker were excluded from the new line, and the provision mandating a special presidential election when a double vacancy arose was also dropped.
[7] Then, in November 1885, Grover Cleveland faced a similar situation, following the death of Vice President Thomas A. Hendricks, as the Senate and the House had not convened yet to elect new officers.
[15] The Presidential Succession Act of 1947 (Full text ), which was signed into law on July 18, 1947,[12] restored the speaker of the House and president pro tempore of the Senate to the line of succession—but in reverse-order from their 1792 positions—and placed them ahead of the members of the Cabinet, positioned, as before, in the order of the establishment of their department.
Its most recent change came about in 2006, when the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act added the secretary of homeland security to the presidential line of succession.
[21] Many around him—including John Quincy Adams,[19][22] Henry Clay[23] and other members of Congress,[22][23] along with Whig party leaders,[23] and even Tyler's own cabinet[22][23]—believed that he was only acting as president and did not have the office itself.
[21] Nonetheless, Tyler adhered to his position, even returning, unopened, mail addressed to the "Acting President of the United States" sent by his detractors.
Due to this lack of clarity, later vice presidents were hesitant to assert any role in cases of presidential inability.
The agreement also contained a provision whereby Eisenhower could declare his own inability and, if unable to do so, empowered Nixon, with appropriate consultation, to make the decision.
Moved forward as a consequence of President Kennedy's November 1963 assassination, this informal plan evolved into constitutional procedure a decade later through Sections 3 and 4 of the Twenty-fifth Amendment, which resolved the uncertainties surrounding presidential disability.
There was potential for such a double vacancy when John Wilkes Booth assassinated President Abraham Lincoln in 1865, as Vice President Andrew Johnson was also targeted (along with Secretary of State William Seward and possibly General Ulysses S. Grant) as part of Booth's plot to destabilize the Union government.
