Electing the Vice President (1804) –Candidates run as a team –Same eligibility requirements as POTUS –Inhabitant clause –VP chosen by Senate Only presidents have served two full terms –Obama will be the if he finishes his 2 nd term VP have become POTUS – VP have taken office upon death of the POTUS – after resignation of POTUS – VP have followed POTUS they served – VP was elected eight years later THE VICE PRESIDENCY: STEPPING STONE OR MILLSTONE?

Selecting the VP –Attract voters/appease party factions –North/South –Urban/rural –Liberal/moderate –Young/old –Shore up perceived weaknesses of candidate –Domestic/foreign policy –Morality –Socioeconomic

The Job of the Vice President ………………………………………………….. "My country has in its wisdom contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived."

The 25th Amendment (1967) VP becomes POTUS If VP is vacant POTUS nominates a candidate –Confirmed by a majority vote of both houses POTUS may temporarily relinquish power to VP –Letter to Speaker and PPT (until letter to the contrary) VP and Majority of Ex Dept heads vote for VP to be acting POTUS

#Office 1Vice President and President of the Senate 2Speaker of the House of Representatives 3President pro tempore of the Senate 4Secretary of State 5Secretary of the Treasury 6Secretary of Defense 7Attorney General 8Secretary of the Interior 9Secretary of Agriculture 10Secretary of Commerce 11Secretary of Labor 12Secretary of Health and Human Services 13Secretary of Housing and Urban Dev. 12Secretary of Transportation 13Secretary of Energy 14Secretary of Education 15Secretary of Veterans Affairs 16Secretary of Homeland Security Current presidential line of succession, as specified by the Presidential Succession Act of 1947 (3 U.S.C. § 19).