The Presidential Procedural Amendments Quiz

Answer: It went to the candidate who finished second in the vote for president

The Constitution originally called for the electors to each vote for two candidates and the one who finished second would become vice president. This worked fine for the first three elections but then as party politics started to take hold, all the electors who voted for Jefferson also voted for his running mate, resulting in a tie which had to be resolved by the House of Representatives.

The Twelfth Amendment called for the electors to vote for the president and vice president separately.

Answer: Aaron Burr

Aaron Burr was one of the most controversial figures in the early part of the 19th century. Although he was just supposed to be Thomas Jefferson's running mate in the 1800 election, he refused to step aside when the Constitutional flaw was revealed that resulted in the electoral tie. Instead, the election went to the House of Representatives where Burr was almost elected president.

During his term as vice president, he fought a duel with former Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton. Later, after leaving the vice presidency, he was charged with treason. His trial resulted in an acquittal.

Answer: March 4

When the Constitution was first ratified, the president and congressmen from the states farthest from the capital needed several weeks of travel time to reach the capital. However, by the 1930s, transportation had progressed to the point where this delay was no longer necessary.

Answer: True

Prior to the Twentieth Amendment, the outgoing (lame duck) congress was responsible for choosing the new president and vice president since the new congress wasn't seated until the same day as the president was inaugurated.

In the two elections that went to the House of Representatives, 1800 and 1824, it was the outgoing House that voted for the new president which meant the results of the most recent election cycle did not factor in.

This provision of the Twentieth Amendment was not used in the twentieth Century as none of the twentieth century presidential elections went to the House of Representatives.

Answer: 2

Prior to the passage of the Twenty-second Amendment, the president was allowed to serve as many terms as they were elected. However, it wasn't until Franklin Roosevelt was elected to a third term in 1940 that anyone was elected a third time.

Answer: False

If the new president serves for more than two years of their predecessor's term (i.e. two years and one day), then the partial term counts against the two term maximum. However, if they take over for less than two years of the term, it does not count against them.

Thus Lyndon Johnson was eligible to be elected in 1968 since he took over during the second half of Kennedy's term. However, if Gerald Ford had won the 1976 election, he would not have been eligible in 1980 since he took over during the first half of Nixon's second term.

Answer: Dwight Eisenhower

Although Truman took over during the first half of Roosevelt's fourth term and was reelected in 1948, the amendment explicitly stated that it did not apply to the current officeholder. Thus, Truman was eligible to run again in 1952 but did not receive his party's nomination.

Answer: It wasn't. The office remained vacant until the next presidential election

Prior to the ratification of the Twenty-fifth Amendment, there were several occasions where there was no vice president for an extended period of time due to the death of the vice president or the fact that the president had died and the vice president had ascended to the presidency. In one case the vice president, John Calhoun resigned shortly before his term was over because of policy disagreements with President Andrew Jackson.

On several occasions the office of vice president was vacant for over 3.5 years due to the death of either the president or the vice president during the first few months of the term.

Answer: Ronald Reagan

Ronald Reagan temporarily transferred power to George H.W. Bush while he underwent a planned surgery. Later, George W. Bush did the same thing on two occasions when he was undergoing a colonoscopy.

Answer: None, it is specified by an act of Congress

Aside from the vice president succeeding the president, the Constitution only states that Congress has the authority to create a law to determine the acting president until a new one can be elected.

In 1868, the country came very close to having to go to the next in line for the Presidency when Andrew Johnson came one vote away from being impeached. There was no vice president at the time as Johnson had succeeded to the Presidency when Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. This was long before the Twenty-fifth Amendment had been ratified (or proposed) so the president did not yet have the authority to appoint a new vice president and the office remained vacant.