Should the President of the United States become physically or mentally incapacitated, or in the event of death, there is a protocol for who is next in charge of running the country.
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| Who's In Charge? |
The Twenty-Fifth Amendment, a revision of the 1947 Presidential Succession Act, was passed in 1963 after the death of President Kennedy. Since the President chooses his own Cabinet, the selections are not always seasoned or experienced Statesmen. Looking back in time, it might have been a good idea, to make a crash course available to incoming Cabinet members, especially those with little or no experience in their appointed position.
In 1981, Americans learned exactly how a less experienced Cabinet member handled an emergency.
On March 30, 1981, there was an attempted assassination of the life of President Ronald Reagan. He was rushed into surgery. Vice President George H.W. Bush was on Air Force Two on his way back from Texas and was not immediately available to be sworn in for the time that the President was under anesthesia.
Chaos ensued and Alexander Haig, the Secretary of State, took a question from a reporter who asked "Who's in charge?" Haig answered "I am in control here." He actually thought he was in charge but his critics thought he was making a grab for power. Since 1981, the general concensus was that he simply didn't know what he was doing.
It pays to know one's job description and the details of the emergency plan.
The Order of Succession
- The Vice President is first in line. If the event of the President's death, he or she automatically becomes President.
- The Speaker of the House of Representatives is next in line should the President and the Vice President both become incapacitated.
-The President Pro Tempore is next in line should the above three become incapacitated or die in office.
This person's main concern is to stand in for the Vice President when he or she is not available (for example: out of the country, sick, in other meetings, etc.) The person holding this title is always the Senator of the party that has the Majority in the Senate, who has the longest record of continuous service, and is confirmed by a vote by the Senate. However, the only function this Senator cannot do when standing in for the Vice President in the Senate is cast a tie-breaking vote because only the Vice President has that authority. (Hmm, but yet this person in third in line for succession to the Presidency, which intelligent minds may agree, has a far greater authority to make decisions for a whole nation, but doesn't have the authority to cast a tie-breaking vote in the Senate.)
- The Secretary of State is next in line.
- The Secretary of Treasury
- The Secretary of Defense
- The Attorney General
- The Secretary of the Interior
- The Secretary of Agriculture
- The Secretary of Commerce
- The Secretary of Labor
- The Secretary of Health and Human Services
- The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
- The Secretary of Transportation
- The Secretary of Energy
- The Secretary of Veterans Affairs
- The Secretary of Homeland Security
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