2. Role of the Vice President 2 Constitutional Duties: Preside over Senate, cast a tie-breaking vote Assume the duties of the president Death, resignation, impeachment
3. Vice President Throughout most of US history, VP’s have done relatively little Recently, VP’s have become more involved and powerful (Cheney)
4.
5.
6. “Balancing the Ticket” VP’s are often chosen based on their ability to appeal to a different segment of the population Geographically Politically Still the same party, but slightly different ideas Personality – Make the president look smart? Personalcharacteristics – Gender, racial, even religious VPs also may be chosen to fill a perceived weakness with presidential candidate.
7. “Balancing the Ticket” Can you figure out how these VP candidates “balanced” their “tickets”? Geographically? Politically? Personality? Personal Characteristics?
8. A Heartbeat Away… So the VP is next in line, and one of his major functions is just to be ready in case the President can’t be President. But what happens if both the President and the VP are unable to serve at the same time? We have a plan for who would take over if that should happen… It’s called, the “Order of Succession”…
9. The Order of Succession to the Presidency What does “Order of Succession” mean? Definition: the order in which officials fill the office of the president in case of a vacancy How was the order determined? Article II of the Constitution Acts of Congress The 25th amendment. Constitution- Article II, Section 1 Establishes that the VP assumes duties of the President **Leaves many questions unanswered-how long, new VP?
10. Presidential Succession Act (1947) Established the current “order of succession” –list of positions (in order) of who would take over the presidency Vice President Speaker of the House President pro tempore of the Senate Secretary of State Secretary of the Treasury Secretary of Defense Attorney General - 11 other Cabinet departments follow, last is dept. of homeland security
11. Line of Presidential Succession Vice President – Joe Biden Speaker of the House- Nancy Pelosi President pro tempore of the Senate - Robert Byrd Secretary of State-Hillary Rodham Clinton Secretary of the Treasury- Timothy Geithner Secretary of Defense- Robert Gates Attorney General- Eric Holder … …
12.
13.
14. Pop Quiz: What are the original 3 “formal” Constitutional requirements for the President? List 4 common characteristics of past presidents. What government position have many president’s held just prior to becoming president? (answers may vary) Give an example of one duty performed by the President. What are the only 2 constitutional duties of the Vice President? After the VP, list the next 3 positions in the OoS. Describe what happens if the VP position becomes vacant. **Bonus Question:…
