CSNbbs

at age 93. He was the only unelected President in US history. May he rest in peace.

CountryRedHawk Wrote:He was the only unelected President in US history.

I'd like to see you try to convince moveon.org of that.

Great Man. I met him at the BiCentennial in Traverse City Michigan.

(I was a kid)

CountryRedHawk Wrote:at age 93. He was the only unelected President in US history. May he rest in peace.

Unelected??

Appointed by Nixon, before he resigned.

Zip81 Wrote:

CountryRedHawk Wrote:at age 93. He was the only unelected President in US history. May he rest in peace.

Unelected??

He was appointed as Vice-President by Nixon to replace Spiro Agnew, who had some legal problems and resigned.

LakelandRocket Wrote:Appointed by Nixon, before he resigned.

Gotcha.. he was appointed vice president (with Senate confirmation) and became president by constitutional successon when Nixon resigned.

Ford, John Tyler, Andrew Johnson and Chester Arthur were all presidents but never elected.


My senior year in high school we had a mock election. Gereald Ford soundly defeated Jimmy Carter. Too bad the nation didn't see it that way. He was the right president at the right time.

He was the first president that I saw in person at the Akron-Canton airport during the 1976 campaign.

May he rest in peace.

Zip81 Wrote:

LakelandRocket Wrote:Appointed by Nixon, before he resigned.

Gotcha.. he was appointed vice president (with Senate confirmation) and became president by constitutional successon when Nixon resigned.

Ford, John Tyler, Andrew Johnson and Chester Arthur were all presidents but never elected.


My senior year in high school we had a mock election. Gereald Ford soundly defeated Jimmy Carter. Too bad the nation didn't see it that way. He was the right president at the right time.

He was the first president that I saw in person at the Akron-Canton airport during the 1976 campaign.

May he rest in peace.

Not true! If memory serves, all but Ford were elected Vice President. Ford was never elected to the Vice Presidentcy and never elected to the Presidency. I think Tyler, Johnson, and Arthur were all elected to terms as President after serving the remainder of their predecessors.

Tough year for Mich football fans. First Bo, now Ford.

CountryRedHawk Wrote:

Zip81 Wrote:

LakelandRocket Wrote:Appointed by Nixon, before he resigned.

Gotcha.. he was appointed vice president (with Senate confirmation) and became president by constitutional successon when Nixon resigned.

Ford, John Tyler, Andrew Johnson and Chester Arthur were all presidents but never elected.


My senior year in high school we had a mock election. Gereald Ford soundly defeated Jimmy Carter. Too bad the nation didn't see it that way. He was the right president at the right time.

He was the first president that I saw in person at the Akron-Canton airport during the 1976 campaign.

May he rest in peace.

Not true! If memory serves, all but Ford were elected Vice President. Ford was never elected to the Vice Presidentcy and never elected to the Presidency. I think Tyler, Johnson, and Arthur were all elected to terms as President after serving the remainder of their predecessors.

Incorrect. Tyler, Johnson and Arthur took office as president on the death of the president before them. They were never elected president having either lost or deciding not to run.

They were elected as vice presidents, but that's not what my post was about. It was about presidents who were never elected president. That's why Teddy Roosevelt, Truman and Coolidge were not included because they were elected president in their own right.

By unelected I meant Ford was never ELECTED to any office relating to the president. He was appointed to the Vice-Presidency, and made President due to Nixon's resignation. Never elected. Period.

And he did a damned good job for the short time he was in the presidency.

CountryRedHawk Wrote:I think Tyler, Johnson, and Arthur were all elected to terms as President after serving the remainder of their predecessors.

I agree with you on President Ford.

I was just setting you straight on the above quote.

I believe Ford was the first president to serve under the terms of the 25th amendment. I think the outgoing president nominates someone who then has to be confirmed by the house and senate. In the case of a president being unable to fulfill his term the constitution has an order of succession to fill the office: vice pres.; speaker of the house; secratary of state; etc.. Ford was never elected to an office that was a part of that succession and I think that's what was meant by unelected. edit: Ford was minority leader of the house so I'm not sure if that is in the chain of succession.

RocketJeff Wrote:I believe Ford was the first president to serve under the terms of the 25th amendment. I think the outgoing president nominates someone who then has to be confirmed by the house and senate. In the case of Johnson, obviously Kennedy couldn't have nominated him and besides, I think the 25th amendment was ratified after his death. In the case of a president being unable to fulfill his term the constitution has an order of succession to fill the office: vice pres.; speaker of the house; secratary of state; etc.. Ford was never elected to an office that was a part of that succession and I think that's what was meant by unelected.

I have never heard of this and it sounds very unconstitutional. When a president is no longer able to hold office, the vice president becomes president.

Under the scenerio you propose, what if the president nominates someone other than the vice president? That just doesn't sound right.

Ford was picked by Nixon for VP (with sentate approval). When Nixon resigned, the VP, Ford, became president. That's how it went down.

Also, how can one be "unelected" if they were never "elected" in the first place? The point I believe was that Ford is the only person to hold the office of both VP and P and never elected to either office...which of course is correct.

Zip81 Wrote:I have never heard of this and it sounds very unconstitutional.

If it's the 25th amendment it is by definition constitutional. ;-) I might have the facts wrong and hopefully someone who knows can correct me, but I'll look it up when I get time.

I think the reason I confused you is because I left out the fact that Spiro Agnew was removed from the vice presidency because he was a tax cheater. that's how Ford was nominated to the vice presidency and then the presidency when Nixon resigned. I hope that clears it up a little.

I didn't have time to read it but here's a link I found:
25th Amendment

RocketJeff Wrote:I think the reason I confused you is because I left out the fact that Spiro Agnew was removed from the vice presidency because he was a tax cheater. that's how Ford was nominated to the vice presidency and then the presidency when Nixon resigned. I hope that clears it up a little.

I'm well aware of Agnew's situation. Section 2 of the 25th Amendment was also used when Ford picked Nelson Rockefeller to be his vice president.

I think I took your posting as saying a president can nominate his successor without that successor first being vice president.

Yes, a president can nominate someone to be vice president per section 2 of the 25th Amendment.

I think we're talking about the same thing but going down different roads to say it. ;-)

I think they added section 2 in there after Kennedy was shot. LBJ went two years withough a vp. Truman went 4 years without a vp after FDR died. You can see how that can throw a monkey wrench into the succession thing. Here's a fact: We have gone without a vp for 20 percent of our history.

Here's a link to the 25th Amendment that's easier to read.

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/const...endment25/

Zip81 Wrote:Here's a fact: We have gone without a vp for 20 percent of our history.

Does that include Cheney?

The reason you were confused by my post is because I put events out of time. The way I put it sounded like Nixon nominated Ford to the vp after he resigned, which he didn't. Sorry for the confusion. I think the 25th amendment came about to clarify the ascendancy to succession because of the way Johnson took charge after the Kennedy assasination, but I'm not sure.