Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search
13 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
What are the laws on a former President becoming a VP.....question ... (Original Post) bkkyosemite May 2016 OP
S/he would be ineligible if the President left office because third terms are prohibited. n/t TonyPDX May 2016 #1
Thanks wasn't thinking that far.. You are right! bkkyosemite May 2016 #2
Not exactly right rock May 2016 #3
There is nothing in the text about having to be Warren Stupidity May 2016 #7
See my follow-up rock May 2016 #9
Yes your link makes the same mistake. Warren Stupidity May 2016 #11
I suggest you go to google rock May 2016 #12
Follow-up rock May 2016 #4
Not really. The text is quite clear that it prohibits Warren Stupidity May 2016 #5
Possible exceptions: sofa king May 2016 #6
Thank you all for your answers. So...do you think she will try to make him her VP if bkkyosemite May 2016 #8
It used to be said that edgineered May 2016 #10
If he's VP, who will earn the big bucks making speeches? JustABozoOnThisBus May 2016 #13

rock

(13,218 posts)
3. Not exactly right
Sat May 14, 2016, 11:33 AM
May 2016

A person may be elected two terms to the presidency but no more. However he/she may server as president 10 years, so that if elected as VP he/she can ascend to presidency and serve for up to two more years (a replacement must be found it that term is longer).

 

Warren Stupidity

(48,181 posts)
7. There is nothing in the text about having to be
Sat May 14, 2016, 11:52 AM
May 2016

replaced if a person would serve more than ten years. If a former two term president was the Vice President and the president died immediately after inauguration, he could serve all four years.

rock

(13,218 posts)
9. See my follow-up
Sat May 14, 2016, 12:01 PM
May 2016

As usual when politicians do it, it's complicated (they live in fear that somebody will discover what they're doing).

 

Warren Stupidity

(48,181 posts)
11. Yes your link makes the same mistake.
Sat May 14, 2016, 12:48 PM
May 2016

The text of the amendment does not say that.


Section 1.

No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.

Section 2.

This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states within seven years from the date of its submission to the states by the Congress.

There is nothing in the text that specifies that a person has to be replaced a the end of their 10th year. It isn't there. The situation of a two term president serving as vice president and replacing the president is not explicitly covered. Heck that person could have already done a full ten years the other way - the LBJ route, and manage a total of 14 years.

rock

(13,218 posts)
12. I suggest you go to google
Sat May 14, 2016, 12:58 PM
May 2016

and search for: How Many Years Can a Person Serve as President of the United States?

 

Warren Stupidity

(48,181 posts)
5. Not really. The text is quite clear that it prohibits
Sat May 14, 2016, 11:37 AM
May 2016

being elected to more than two terms. It says nothing about succession. For example LBJ was eligible to run again in 68 but chose not to.

sofa king

(10,857 posts)
6. Possible exceptions:
Sat May 14, 2016, 11:47 AM
May 2016

Here is the full text of Section One of the 22nd Amendment:

Section 1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.

____________

As you can see, there is a window of opportunity there, "two terms or ten years." A President can't be elected to the office of the President more than twice, but if she's inherited the office through succession, and held it for less than two years, she can run and be elected twice more.

Thus, Lyndon Johnson was in a position to serve over nine years, if he were reelected in 1968, but he chose not to run again that year. (Harry Truman was specifically excepted by the technical language of the Amendment and could have run repeatedly after his second term, and threatened to do so, in fact, but did not.)

The office of the Vice President is a separate office and a (very technically) separate election, which is why Johnson could run twice more. Some have argued that a two-term President can run as Vice President, and can serve for two years if s/he accedes to the office again. If that person becomes President or Acting President again, the term would automatically run out at the two-year (ten year total) mark, and the next in line would take over, if the former President/VP took over with more than two years left in the term.

Furthermore, there is no term-limit on the Vice Presidency, so Al Gore and Joe Biden and even GHW Bush are all available to run as VP again and run for reelection if they accede to the office (with the two-year reservation for GHWB). Dick Cheney showed to everyone's loss how important a Vice President can be in the presence of an idiot man-child President. For an obvious incompetent like Donald Trump, selecting a former President as his VP would be a wise publicity move, if there were one alive who would do it.

And then there were the legal research efforts of Ronald Reagan, who in his lucid moments thought it would be great if he stayed President. I don't know where the write-up of it is, but Reagan's people tried first to get the Amendment rescinded, then argued that they didn't actually have to do that, but I don't know what the witchcraft was they planned to use to annul the 22nd. It's possible that they planned a two-step maneuver where he stood as VP and then took over after the election.

bkkyosemite

(5,792 posts)
8. Thank you all for your answers. So...do you think she will try to make him her VP if
Sat May 14, 2016, 12:00 PM
May 2016

she won the GE. And can a husband be a VP of a wife...must be something in the rules about families and President and VP?

JustABozoOnThisBus

(23,338 posts)
13. If he's VP, who will earn the big bucks making speeches?
Sat May 14, 2016, 04:25 PM
May 2016

You expect them to live on just a Prez salary plus a Veep's pittance?

Latest Discussions»Retired Forums»2016 Postmortem»What are the laws on a fo...