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Presidential Succession
Act of 1792
Early in the Second Congress, on February 20, 1792, the Senate joined the House in passing
the Presidential Succession Act—a compromise measure that placed in the line of succession its president pro tempore,
followed by the House Speaker.
The framers of the Constitution of the United States had left Congress with considerable responsibility for resolving questions about the new government's structure and
operations. Considering the high rates of serious illness and early death in late eighteenth-century America,
one of the most pressing among those questions was, "Who would become president if both the president and vice president died
or were otherwise unavailable to serve during their terms of office?" The Constitution provides only that Congress may pass
a law "declaring what Officer shall then act as President."
In 1791, a House committee recommended that this duty fall to the cabinet's senior member—the
Secretary of State. Federalist senators objected because they had no desire to see Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson, leader
of the growing Anti-federalist opposition, placed so close to the presidency. Others proposed the Senate's president pro tempore,
reasoning that as this official succeeded the vice president in presiding over the Senate, he should also succeed the vice
president in performing the duties of the presidency. This plan attracted opposition from those who assumed the president
pro tempore would remain a senator while temporarily performing duties of the presidency and feared the arrangement would
upset the balance of powers between the two branches. Others suggested the Chief Justice of the United States or the Speaker of the House of Representatives. At an impasse, Congress
adjourned for nine months, thereby risking governmental paralysis in the event of presidential and vice-presidential vacancies.
Early in the Second Congress, on February 20, 1792, the Senate joined the House in passing
the Presidential Succession Act—a compromise measure that placed in the line of succession its president pro tempore,
followed by the House Speaker.
Years later, in 1886, Congress responded to longstanding uneasiness with this arrangement
by removing its two officers from the line of succession and substituting the president's cabinet members, by rank, beginning
with the Secretary of State. This troublesome issue received yet another revision in 1947 (Presidential Succession Act of 1947), when Congress inserted the Speaker of the House and Senate president pro tempore,
in that order, ahead of the president's cabinet.
Reference: Feerick, John D. From Falling Hands: The Story of Presidential Succession. New York: Fordham University Press, 1965.
Highly
Recommended Viewing: The History Channel Presents The Presidents (DVD: 6 Hours). Description:
THE PRESIDENTS is an unprecedented eight-part survey of the personal lives
and legacies of the remarkable men who have presided over the Oval Office. From George Washington to George W. Bush, THE PRESIDENTS
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Cronkite, David Brinkley, Wesley Clark, Bob Dole, and former President Jimmy Carter. Continued below...
Viewed within
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Recommended Reading: U.S. Presidents for Dummies (408 pages). Description: Forty-three Americans, as of 2002, have held the office of President of the
United States. Each has a story, be it
one of vision, accomplishment, conflict, scandal, triumph, or tragedy. And each story is at the center of the national story,
a part of what we all experience. History buffs find endless fascination – and a greater understanding of
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you’ll appreciate U.S. Presidents for Dummies. Continued below...
Written in a lively style by a history professor at the University of Texas, this fun guidebook
of chief executives is packed with information, factoids, and memorable quotes. Inside, you’ll find out which president: Promised to only serve one term, and kept
his word! Was a great
person but a rotten president Campaigned
on nothing but image – in the nineteenth century! May be the most underrated president in history Had his own distributor bringing liquor to the White House – during
Prohibition! Appointed
the first female cabinet member Pushed through the first civil rights legislation
after the end of the Civil War Said
of himself, “I am a man of limited talents from a small town. I
don’t seem to grasp that I am president.” U.S. Presidents for Dummies offers a wealth of knowledge
on what it takes to be the leader of the free world, and who has stepped up to the challenge. Dividing the ranks of presidents
into chronological groups for a broader, historical understanding of the office, this book discusses:
The birth and evolution of the presidency
Ineffective presidents
Forgettable presidents
Working up to the Civil War
Reconstruction presidents
Becoming a force in the world
Instituting the Imperial Presidency
Today’s changing dynamics and the Presidency
A treasury of information, this book features an easy-to-comprehend
style and sharp historical analysis. Sidebars, photos, timelines, and best and worst lists make U.S. Presidents for Dummies
a historical blast to read and a must-have for understanding the state of both yesterday’s and today’s union.
Recommended
Reading: The
Complete Book of U.S. Presidents--6th Edition: Includes Material through 2005 (Complete Book of U.S. Presidents)
(848 pages). Description: This is the consummate guide to the political
and personal lives of every U.S. president
through Bill Clinton. Arranged chronologically, The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents
elaborates not only on the major accomplishments and events of their terms, but also on less well-known details such as personalities,
careers before the presidency, Supreme Court appointments, hobbies, ethnic backgrounds, and even extramarital affairs. Continued
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Well-organized
and packed with details, the book also includes a bibliography on each executive, including books written by and about them,
along with useful and entertaining appendixes on the political composition of every Congress, presidential curiosities (such
as the uncanny similarities between the lives and deaths of Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy), and a ranking of presidents.
Whether you want to know the opponent of James Monroe in the election of 1816 or read some of Harry S. Truman's more memorable
quotes, this is a most complete and thorough reference to each commander-in-chief.
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need to know: the major impact of their lives and the legacies they left behind; their personalities and personal habits;
their early lives; their family backgrounds, siblings, children, friends, and foes. Continued below...
In addition,
The First Ladies Fact Book surpasses typical references, featuring selections of the most intimate correspondence of each
first lady, from letters to their families to letters to their presidential husbands. Delightful surprises abound, including
little-known information about the women’s hobbies, style of dress, habits of socializing, and peculiarities. The more
than 700 evocative photographs include sixteen pages of color photography of first-lady fashion, making it a wonderful combination
of solid reference and eye catching visual history.
Recommended
Reading: The
Presidents Fact Book: A Comprehensive Handbook to the Achievements, Events, People, Triumphs, and Tragedies of Every President
from George Washington to George W. Bush (Hardcover: 772 pages). Description:
The Presidents Fact Book is the definitive guide to the political and personal lives of every U.S. President through George
W. Bush. It is a complete chronological review of the chief executives: their major accomplishments and gaffes, their cabinets
and legislation, their personalities and families, and much more. And it includes enlightening biographies of each of the
first ladies, providing an intimate look at the presidents' personal lives. Continued below...
It is illustrated
with 1,000 helpful photographs and illustrations throughout, and it features selections of the most significant
primary documents of each administration, as well as thousands of little-known presidential facts. Whether you're interested
in the uncanny similarities between Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy, the shortest president (James Madison), or the members
of FDR's first cabinet, The Presidents Fact Book is the ideal resource--for comprehensive research or compulsive browsing.
Recommended
Viewing: John Adams (HBO Miniseries) (2008) (501 minutes). Description: Based
on David McCullough's bestselling biography, the HBO miniseries John Adams is the furthest thing from a starry-eyed look at
America's founding fathers and the brutal path to independence. Adams (Paul Giamatti),
second president of the United States,
is portrayed as a skilled orator and principled attorney whose preference for justice over anti-English passions earns enemies.
But he also gains the esteem of the first national government of the United States, i.e., the Continental Congress, which
seeks non-firebrands capable of making a reasoned if powerful case for America's break from England's monarchy. The first
thing one notices about John Adams' dramatizations of congress' proceedings, and the fervent pro-independence violence in
the streets of Boston and elsewhere, is that America's roots don't look pretty or idealized here. Some horrendous things happen
in the name of protest, driving Adams to push the cause of independence in a legitimate effort
to get on with a revolutionary war under the command of George Washington. But the process isn't easy: not every one of the
13 colonies-turned-states is ready to incur the wrath of England,
and behind-the-scenes negotiations prove as much a part of 18th century congressional sessions as they do today. Continued
below...
Besides this
peek into a less-romanticized version of the past, John Adams is also a story of the man himself. Adams' frustration at being
forgotten or overlooked at critical junctures of America's early development--sent abroad for years instead of helping
to draft the U.S. constitution--is detailed.
So is his dismay that the truth of what actually transpired leading to the signing of the Declaration of Independence has
been slowly forgotten and replaced by a rosier myth. But above all, John Adams is the story of two key ties: Adams'
54-year marriage to Abigail Adams (Laura Linney), every bit her husband's intellectual equal and anchor, and his difficult,
almost symbiotic relationship with Thomas Jefferson (Stephen Dillane) over decades. Giamatti, of course, has to carry much
of the drama, and if he doesn't always seem quite believable in the series' first half, he becomes increasingly excellent
at the point where an aging Adams becomes bitter over his place in history. Linney is marvelous,
as is Dillane, Sarah Polley as daughter Nabby, Danny Huston as cousin Samuel Adams, and above all Tom Wilkinson as a complex
but indispensable Ben Franklin.
NEW!
Recommended Reading: John
Adams, by David McCullough (Simon &
Schuster). From Publishers Weekly: Here a preeminent master of narrative
history takes on the most fascinating of our founders to create a benchmark for all Adams
biographers. With a keen eye for telling detail and a master storyteller's instinct for human interest, McCullough (Truman;
Mornings on Horseback) resurrects the great Federalist (1735-1826), revealing in particular his restrained, sometimes off-putting
disposition, as well as his political guile. The events McCullough recounts are well-known, but with his astute marshaling
of facts, the author surpasses previous biographers in depicting Adams's years at Harvard, his early public life in Boston and his role in the first Continental Congress, where he helped
shape the philosophical basis for the Revolution. McCullough also makes vivid Adams's actions
in the second Congress, during which he was the first to propose George Washington to command the new Continental Army. Continued
below...
Later on, we
see Adams bickering with Tom Paine's plan for government as suggested in Common Sense, helping push through the draft for
the Declaration of Independence penned by his longtime friend and frequent rival, Thomas Jefferson, and serving as commissioner
to France and envoy to the Court of St. James's. The author is likewise brilliant
in portraying Adams's complex relationship with Jefferson, who ousted him from the White
House in 1800 and with whom he would share a remarkable death date 26 years later: July 4, 1826, 50 years to the day after
the signing of the Declaration. (June) Forecast: Joseph Ellis has shown us the Founding Fathers can be bestsellers, and S&S
knows it has a winner: first printing is 350,000 copies, and McCullough will go on a 15-city tour; both Book-of-the-Month
Club and the History Book Club have taken this book as a selection.
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