A West Wing episode showed the Speaker of the House resigning his seat to assume the presidency for a period. When that period ends, he can't just return to his seat but must be elected. However, special elections take a minimum of about 2 months. Many Senators run for president w/o resigning. Can an acting President concurrently run for a house seat (if he were a Senator, appointment by gov or state leg. is possible) and get elected. Then he can hold that election in abeyance until AFTER leaving the presidency and can THEN be sworn in. The FL DOElections defers to US AG who has not responded in 6-8 months. Probably this is governed state by state--where can I find an overview? In about 2 years with no answer from one state, I don't wish to attempt to do this for all 50 states. BTW, while the SOH has always been a member, it is not so required. Therefore the former member after leaving an acting presidency, could be reelected to be the SOH (even without holding a congressional seat)!
216733
no.  that episode of w/w was incorrect.
664569
I agree - he would be an excellent President for as long as he chose to serve, however it's not up to him. The Constitution would have to amended, as it currently does not allow anyone to serve more than two elected terms in office, so he will have to retire as of January 20, 2009. Currently, the longest tenure that anyone could serve in office would be three terms - that is if the President died on Inauguration Day, his Vice President would be eligible to serve out the rest of that term, plus two more terms, if he were to be elected on his own. This came about in the late 1940's and early 1950's, as Republicans wanted to prevent anyone from serving as long as Franklin D. Roosevelt did (who served just a tad more than 12 years, dying early in his 4th term).
383723
Yes he can.. Andrew Johnson was elected to the Senate after his term was over, and John Quincy Adams served in the House of Representatives. Usually however they don't.. if they serve 2 terms they usually retire and we pay for them to live in the lap of luxury the rest of their life :)
315048
If no candidate receives an absolute electoral majority for President, then the new House of Representatives is required to go into session immediately to vote for President. In this case, the top three electoral vote getters for President are the candidates for the House of Representatives to select from, and the House votes en-bloc by state for this purpose (that is, one vote per state, which is determined by the majority decision of the delegation from that state; if a state delegation is evenly split that state is considered as abstaining). This vote would be repeated if necessary until one candidate receives the votes of more than half the state delegations—at least 26 state votes, given the current number, 50, of states in the union.
44199
You dont want a single person in government becoming too powerful, that is why you need to put restrictions on just how long they can hold power.\n\nGeorge Washington set a precident on only serving two terms and then stepping down.  After that all following presidents only served two terms (althgough some tried for more) until FDR.  Franklin Roosevelt was elected for 4 terms in a row (dying a few months into his 4th).\n\nAfter FDR, the 22nd ammendment was passed in 1951 limiting the president to two terms.\n"No person shall be elected to the office of president more than twice, and no person who has held the office of president, or acted as president, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected president shall be elected to the office of president more than once."\n--22nd ammendment to the US constitution.
497239
Unless he and his inside little group have attached legislation to the outrageous crap they have just enacted (the covert disassembling of the constitutional law disallowing the use of US Armed Forces against their own people)  ---that allows him to run for a THIRD term---he will not be able to run again for the office of President\nBUT--with the use of his new laws---he can always opt to run for the country's very first DICTATOR position !!!!
43712
Yes, a 2-term President can become Vice President.\n\nMost former presidents seem to get away from politics after their presidency though.  They make a ton of money in the private sector and on the lecture circuit.  And anyway, it's sort of like taking a demotion.\n\nMost Vice Presidents only take the job because it gives them an inside track on gaining support (as well as funding)to become president.
15988
I hope we have a woman President soon. She'll probably won't have the just-nuke-them attidute. I bet she'll concentrate more on the important topics- health care, education, the economy, social security, etc. I'm not going to name anyone but i'd say in this upcoming election or the next. It will probably be someone that has already held several office. Not the wife of a politician or Oprah. I think what most people don't realize when they say Oprah for President is that she's never held any political office before. How can you become President w/out even doing this? I would love to have Oprah be a senator or a governer and then run for office. I think she'll do a teriffic job at it.
357181
They're called "Term Limits" and they can be voted on. The way politics work is that one builds their reputation by acheiving different levels of office until they reach their goal. Some people want to be President, so they run for treasurer, then Mayor, then Govenor, then Representative, then Senator, and then finally President. Maybe not that extensive, but that's what they do. Term limits are there so that incumbents don't hold a position until they die. Some states have term limits, some don't. I support term limits, thus, I will vote yes on term limits on a ballot whenever I see them. Tell congress to pass term limits on Congressman! We need it!
465919
Seriously? Of course each State has two Senators. Depending on the year a Senator was elected, he/she is up for reelection six years later. Not every Senator wins election in the same year, so they will not all be up for reelection in the same year.
612458
In order for a person to become President, he or she must be a natural-born citizen of the United States, be at least 35 years of age, and have resided in the United States for at least 14 years. Once elected, the President serves a term of four years and may be re-elected only once. \ncheck out this website for more info Hope this helps
39107
This is baffling me as well. I'm not feeling well enough for indepth reading, but one of these might answer your question. \n\nMy best understanding at the time is that the senate, however much of it, appoints a presiding officer, but, if that's correct, from where I do not know. \n\nFoxNews has a judicial analyst, Andrew P. Napolitano, who might be able to answer your question. I do not know his e-mail address, nor can I find a home page for him. Hopefully, an e-mail to him through the FoxNews website will result in an answer your question if the resources I gave do not.
442867
At the federal level:\n\nAll executive branch members except for the President and Vice President.  If the vice presidency is vacant, the president may appoint a vice president under the 25th Amendment.\n\nAll judicial branch members (justices/judges).\n\nSenators and Representatives are traditionally elected, though state governors can fill Senate vacancies by appointment.  ALL Representatives are elected, without exception.
510004
The Constitution set the term for a Congressman at 2 years so every two years, the whole House must be re-elected.  Senators serve for 6 years and their elections were split into thirds so 1/3 of the Senators has to run every two years.  It helps to keep a balance between stable administration and allow the people to express their concerns on a regular basis.
668922
The 22nd Amendment says that a person can not be elected President more than twice.  It also says that any person who, though not elected, holds the office or acts as President (for example, a Vice-President upon the death of the President) for more than two years can only be elected once.  Any person in the office for six years would have either: (a) been elected once, served four years, been re-elected, and be two years into their second term, or (b) have succeeded to the office at least two years into the prior President's term and have been re-elected to a full term.  In neither case would that individual be eligible to be elected President or hold that office again.
396008
House of Representatives is kind of like the house of commons in the UK.  It is just one of the houses of congress with the senate being the other, the senate is kind of like the house of lords.  Since not all states joined the union at the same time not all Representatives get elected at the same time.  The senate works on 6 year terms, that is why 33% comes up every two years.
321515
House - no.  It may actually happen in the next two elections due to the relationship of the Senate with Bush and the dwindling ratings.\n\nSenate - might happen in the next election, for the closeness many Senators have to Bush.  But this might also take two elections.\n\nPresidency - who knows.  Depends on who the candidates are.  I likely see another Elephant.\n\nSupreme Court - it is neither Democatic or Republican.  It is neither conservative or liberal.  Their appointments are made by Presidents who have favored their views, but in the case of Sutter and Kennedy, they can drastically change when on the Court.