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====Continuity of government and peaceful transitions of power==== {{See also|List of United States presidential assassination attempts and plots|l1=United States presidential assassination attempts and plots|United States federal government continuity of operations}} In ''Federalist No. 68'', Alexander Hamilton argued that one concern that led the Constitutional Convention to create the Electoral College was to ensure [[Peaceful transition of power|peaceful transitions of power]] and [[continuity of government]] during [[United States presidential transition|transitions between presidential administrations]].{{sfn|Rossiter|2003|p=410}}{{efn|"It was ... peculiarly desirable to afford as little opportunity as possible [in the election of the President] to tumult and disorder. ... [The] precautions which have been so happily concerted in the system under consideration, promise an effectual security against this mischief. The choice of ''several'', to form an intermediate body of Electors, will be much less apt to convulse the community, with any extraordinary or violent movements... [As] the Electors, chosen in each State, are to assemble and vote in the State in which they are chosen, this detached and divided situation will expose them much less to heats and ferments, which might be communicated [to] them [by] the People, than if they were all to be convened at one time, in one place."}} While recognizing that the question had not been presented in the case, the [[Supreme Court of the United States|U.S. Supreme Court]] stated in the majority opinion in ''[[Chiafalo v. Washington]]'' (2020) that "nothing in this opinion should be taken to permit the States to bind electors to a deceased candidate" after noting that more than one-third of the cumulative faithless elector votes in U.S. presidential elections history were cast during the [[1872 United States presidential election|1872 presidential election]] when [[Liberal Republican Party (United States)|Liberal Republican Party]] and [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] nominee [[Horace Greeley]] died after the [[Election Day (United States)|polls were held]] and vote tabulations were completed by the states but before the Electoral College cast its ballots, and acknowledging the petitioners concern about the potential turmoil that the death of a presidential candidate between Election Day and the Electoral College meetings could cause.<ref>{{ussc|name=Chiafalo v. Washington|volume=591|year=2020|docket=19-465|slip=16β17}}</ref><ref>{{cite report|last=Shelly|first=Jacob D.|date=July 10, 2020|title=Supreme Court Clarifies Rules for Electoral College: States May Restrict Faithless Electors|publisher=Congressional Research Service|page=3|url=https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/LSB/LSB10515|access-date=July 10, 2023}}</ref> In 1872, Greeley carried the popular vote in 6 states ([[1872 United States presidential election in Georgia|Georgia]], [[1872 United States presidential election in Kentucky|Kentucky]], [[1872 United States presidential election in Maryland|Maryland]], [[1872 United States presidential election in Missouri|Missouri]], [[1872 United States presidential election in Tennessee|Tennessee]], and [[1872 United States presidential election in Texas|Texas]]) and had 66 electoral votes pledged to him. After his death on November 29, 1872, 63 of the electors pledged to him voted faithlessly, while 3 votes (from Georgia) that remained pledged to him were rejected at the Electoral College vote count on February 12, 1873, on the grounds that he had died.{{sfn|Neale|2020b|p=4}}{{sfn|Senate Journal 42(3)|pp=334β337}} Greeley's running mate, [[B. Gratz Brown]], still received the 3 electoral votes from Georgia for vice president that were rejected for Greeley. This brought Brown's number of electoral votes for vice president to 47 since he still received all 28 electoral votes from Maryland, Tennessee, and Texas, and 16 other electoral votes from Georgia, Kentucky, and Missouri in total. The other 19 electors from the latter states voted faithlessly for vice president.{{sfn|Senate Journal 42(3)|p=346}} During the [[Presidential transition of Abraham Lincoln|presidential transition]] following the [[1860 United States presidential election|1860 presidential election]], [[Abraham Lincoln]] had to arrive in Washington, D.C. in disguise and on an altered train schedule after the [[Pinkerton (detective agency)|Pinkerton National Detective Agency]] found evidence that suggested a [[Baltimore Plot|secessionist plot to assassinate Lincoln would be attempted in Baltimore]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Donald|first=David Herbert|author-link=David Herbert Donald|year=1996|title=Lincoln|publisher=Simon and Schuster|location=New York, New York|pages=273β279|url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=fuTY3mxs9awC}}|isbn=978-0-684-82535-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Holzer|first=Harold|title=Lincoln President-elect: Abraham Lincoln and the Great Secession Winter, 1860-1861|year=2008|page=378|publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-0-7432-8947-4}}</ref> During the [[Presidential transition of Herbert Hoover|presidential transition]] following the [[1928 United States presidential election|1928 presidential election]], an [[Argentines|Argentine]] anarchist group plotted to assassinate [[Herbert Hoover]] while Hoover was traveling through [[Central America|Central]] and [[South America]] and crossing the [[Andes]] from [[Chile]] by train. The plotters were arrested before the attempt was made.<ref name="LifeHH">{{Cite book |last=Jeansonne |first=Glen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0SDIAAAAQBAJ&q=Good+will+tour |title=The Life of Herbert Hoover: Fighting Quaker, 1928-1933 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-137-34673-5 |location=New York |pages=44β45 |access-date=May 20, 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Museum Exhibit Galleries, Gallery 5: The Logical Candidate, The President-Elect |url=http://hoover.archives.gov/exhibits/Hooverstory/gallery05/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306153100/http://hoover.archives.gov/exhibits/Hooverstory/gallery05/ |archive-date=March 6, 2016 |access-date=February 24, 2016 |publisher=Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum |location=West Branch, Iowa}}</ref> During the [[Presidential transition of Franklin D. Roosevelt|presidential transition]] following the [[1932 United States presidential election|1932 presidential election]], [[Giuseppe Zangara]] attempted to assassinate [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] by gunshot while Roosevelt was giving an impromptu speech in a car in [[Miami]], but instead killed [[Mayor of Chicago|Chicago Mayor]] [[Anton Cermak]], who was a passenger in the car, and wounded 5 bystanders.{{sfn|Continuity of Government Commission|2009|pp=31β32}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Picchi |first=Blaise |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/38468505 |title=The Five Weeks of Giuseppe Zangara : The Man Who Would Assassinate FDR |date=1998 |publisher=Academy Chicago Publishers |isbn=9780897334433 |location=Chicago |oclc=38468505 |pages=19β20}}</ref> During the [[Presidential transition of John F. Kennedy|presidential transition]] following the [[1960 United States presidential election|1960 presidential election]], [[Richard Paul Pavlick]] plotted to assassinate [[John F. Kennedy]] while Kennedy was vacationing in [[Palm Beach, Florida]], by detonating a dynamite-laden car where Kennedy was staying. Pavlick delayed his attempt and was arrested and [[Involuntary commitment|committed]] to a mental hospital.<ref name=postman>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M9_BSXV_s_4C&dq=richard+paul+pavlick&pg=PA164|isbn=9780313364754|title=Killing the President: Assassinations, Attempts, and Rumored Attempts on U.S. Commanders-in-Chief: Assassinations, Attempts, and Rumored Attempts on U.S. Commanders-in-Chief|last1=Oliver|first1=Willard|last2=Marion|first2=Nancy E.|publisher=ABC-CLIO|year=2010}}</ref><ref name=children>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nxDyGK-iLiYC&dq=richard+paul+pavlick&pg=PA48|isbn=9781581129847|title=The Fine Art of Executive Protection: Handbook for the Executive Protection Officer|last=Hunsicker|first=A.|publisher=Universal-Publishers|year=2007}}</ref><ref name=hate>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rFE7nTO-iLcC&dq=richard+paul+pavlick&pg=PA89|isbn=978-1-60819-247-2|title=Brothers in Arms: The Kennedys, the Castros, and the Politics of Murder|last1=Russo|first1=Gus|last2=Molton |first2=Stephen|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA|date=2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Greene|first=Bob|title=The man who did not kill JFK|date=24 October 2010|publisher=[[CNN]] |url=http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/10/24/greene.jfk.arrest/}}</ref> During the [[Presidential transition of Barack Obama|presidential transition]] following the [[2008 United States presidential election|2008 presidential election]], [[Barack Obama]] was targeted in separate security incidents by [[List of United States presidential assassination attempts and plots#Barack Obama|an assassination plot]] and [[Security incidents involving Barack Obama#Maine "dirty bomb" threat|a death threat]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Dirty Bomb parts found in Slain man's home|date=February 10, 2009 |url=http://bangordailynews.com/2009/02/10/politics/report-dirty-bomb-parts-found-in-slain-mans-home/}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Jeff Zeleny |last2=Jim Rutenberg |date=December 5, 2009 |title=Threats Against Obama Spiked Early |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/06/us/06threat.html |url-access=subscription}}</ref> after an [[Barack Obama assassination plot in Denver|assassination plot in Denver]] during the [[2008 Democratic National Convention]] and an [[Barack Obama assassination plot in Tennessee|assassination plot in Tennessee]] during the election were prevented.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Piazza |first1=Jo |last2=Meek |first2=James Gordon |last3=Kennedy |first3=Helen |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2008/08/27/2008-08-27_feds_trio_of_wouldbe_obama_assassins_not.html |title=Feds: Trio of would-be Obama assassins not much of "threat" |work=[[Daily News (New York)|New York Daily News]] |date=August 27, 2008 |access-date=September 1, 2008}}</ref><ref name="ABC1027">{{cite news |last=Date |first=Jack |url=https://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/Vote2008/story?id=6122962&page=1 |title=Feds thwart alleged Obama assassination plot. |work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |date=October 27, 2008 |access-date=October 28, 2008}}</ref> During the [[Presidential transition of Joe Biden|presidential transition]] following the [[2020 United States presidential election|2020 presidential election]], as a result of then-president [[Donald Trump]]'s false insistence that he had won the election, the [[General Services Administration]] did not declare Biden the winner until November 23.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Herb |first=Kristen Holmes,Jeremy |date=2020-11-23 |title=First on CNN: Key government agency acknowledges Biden's win and begins formal transition {{!}} CNN Politics |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/23/politics/transition-biden-gsa-begin/index.html |access-date=2024-07-29 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref> The subsequent [[January 6 United States Capitol attack|attack on the United States Capitol]] on January 6 caused delays in the [[2021 United States Electoral College vote count|counting of electoral votes]] to certify Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election, but was ultimately unsuccessful in preventing the count from occurring.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Winsor |first1=Morgan |last2=Pereira |first2=Ivan |last3=Mansell |first3=William |date=January 7, 2021 |title=4 dead after US Capitol breached by pro-Trump mob during 'failed insurrection' |website=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/capitol-breached-protesters/story?id=75081629 }}</ref> Ratified in 1933, Section 3 of the 20th Amendment requires that if a [[President-elect of the United States|president-elect]] dies before [[United States presidential inauguration|Inauguration Day]], that the [[Vice President-elect of the United States|vice president-elect]] becomes the president.{{sfn|Neale|2020b|pp=5β6}}{{sfn|Rossiter|2003|p=564}} Akhil Amar has noted that the explicit text of the 20th Amendment does not specify when the candidates of the winning presidential ticket officially become the president-elect and vice president-elect, and that the text of Article II, Section I and the 12th Amendment suggests that candidates for president and vice president are only formally elected upon the Electoral College vote count.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Amar|first=Akhil Reed|year=1995|title=Presidents, Vice Presidents, and Death: Closing the Constitution's Succession Gap|journal=Arkansas Law Review|publisher=University of Arkansas School of Law|volume=48|pages=215β221|url=https://openyls.law.yale.edu/bitstream/handle/20.500.13051/5398/Presidents__Vice_Presidents__and_Death____Closing_the_Constitution_s_Succession_Gap.pdf|access-date=July 3, 2023}}</ref> Conversely, a 2020 report issued by the [[Congressional Research Service]] (CRS), stated that the balance of scholarly opinion has concluded that the winning presidential ticket is formally elected as soon as the majority of the electoral votes they receive are cast, according to the 1932 House committee report on the 20th Amendment.{{sfn|Neale|2020b|pp=5β6}} If a vacancy on a presidential ticket occurs before Election Dayβas in [[1912 United States presidential election|1912]] when [[List of United States Republican Party presidential tickets|Republican nominee for Vice President]] [[James S. Sherman]] died less than a week before the election and was replaced by [[Nicholas Murray Butler]] at the Electoral College meetings, and in [[1972 United States presidential election|1972]] when [[List of United States Democratic Party presidential tickets|Democratic nominee for Vice President]] [[Thomas Eagleton]] withdrew his nomination less than three weeks after the [[1972 Democratic National Convention|Democratic National Convention]] and was replaced by [[Sargent Shriver]]βthe internal rules of the political parties apply for filling vacancies.{{sfn|Neale|2020b|pp=2β3}} If a vacancy on a presidential ticket occurs between Election Day and the Electoral College meetings, the 2020 CRS report notes that most legal commentators have suggested that political parties would still follow their internal rules for filling the vacancies.{{sfn|Neale|2020b|pp=3β4}} However, in 1872, the [[Democratic National Committee]] did not meet to name a replacement for Horace Greeley,{{sfn|Neale|2020b|p=4}} and the 2020 CRS report notes that presidential electors may argue that they are permitted to vote faithlessly if a vacancy occurs between Election Day and the Electoral College meetings since they were pledged to vote for a specific candidate.{{sfn|Neale|2020b|pp=3β4}} Under the [[Article Two of the United States Constitution#Clause 6: Vacancy and disability|Presidential Succession Clause of Article II, Section I]], Congress is delegated the power to "by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected."{{sfn|Rossiter|2003|p=551}}{{efn|Section 1 of the [[Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution|25th Amendment]] superseded the text of the Presidential Succession Clause of Article II, Section I that stated "In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President". Instead, Section 1 of the 25th Amendment provides that "In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President." Section 2 of the 25th Amendment authorizes the president to nominate a vice president in the event of a vacancy subject to confirmation by both houses of Congress.{{sfn|Neale|2020a|pp=6β7}}{{sfn|Rossiter|2003|p=567}}}}{{efn|In 1841, the death of [[William Henry Harrison]] as president caused debate in Congress about whether [[John Tyler]] had formally succeeded to the Presidency or whether he was an acting president. Tyler took the [[Oath of office of the president of the United States|oath of office]] and Congress implicitly ratified Tyler's decision in documents published subsequent to his ascension that referred to him as "the President of the United States". Tyler's ascension set the precedent that the vice president becomes the president in the event of a vacancy until the ratification of the 25th Amendment.{{sfn|Neale|2020a|pp=3β4}}}} Pursuant to the Presidential Succession Clause, the [[2nd United States Congress]] passed the [[Presidential Succession Act#Presidential Succession Act of 1792|Presidential Succession Act of 1792]] that required a [[By-election|special election]] by the Electoral College in the case of a dual vacancy in the presidency and vice presidency.{{sfn|Continuity of Government Commission|2009|pp=25β26}}{{sfn|Neale|2020a|p=3}} Despite vacancies in the Vice Presidency from 1792 to 1886,{{efn|For nearly one-fourth of the period of time from 1792 to 1886, the Vice Presidency was vacant due to the [[Assassination of Abraham Lincoln|assassinations of Abraham Lincoln]] and [[Assassination of James A. Garfield|James A. Garfield]] in 1865 and 1881 respectively, the [[List of presidents of the United States who died in office|deaths of Presidents]] William Henry Harrison and [[Zachary Taylor]] in 1841 and 1850 respectively, the deaths of vice presidents [[George Clinton (vice president)|George Clinton]], [[Elbridge Gerry]], [[William R. King]], [[Henry Wilson]], and [[Thomas A. Hendricks]] in 1812, 1814, 1853, 1875, and 1885 respectively, and the resignation of the vice presidency by [[John C. Calhoun]] in 1832.{{sfn|Continuity of Government Commission|2009|pp=66β67}}{{sfn|Neale|2020a|pp=25β26}}}} the special election requirement would be repealed with the rest of the Presidential Succession Act of 1792 by the [[49th United States Congress]] in passing the [[Presidential Succession Act#Presidential Succession Act of 1886|Presidential Succession Act of 1886]].{{sfn|Continuity of Government Commission|2009|pp=26β30}}{{sfn|Neale|2020a|p=4}} In a special message to the [[80th United States Congress]] calling for revisions to the Presidential Succession Act of 1886, President [[Harry S. Truman]] proposed restoring special elections for dual vacancies in the Presidency and Vice Presidency. While most of Truman's proposal was included in the final version of the [[Presidential Succession Act#Presidential Succession Act of 1947|Presidential Succession Act of 1947]], the restoration of special elections for dual vacancies was not.{{sfn|Continuity of Government Commission|2009|pp=32β33; 64β65}}{{sfn|Neale|2020a|pp=4β6}} Along with six other recommendations related to presidential succession,{{sfn|Continuity of Government Commission|2009|pp=45β49}} the [[Continuity of Government Commission]] recommended restoring special elections for president in the event of a dual vacancy in the presidency and vice presidency due to a catastrophic [[Terrorism|terrorist attack]] or [[Nuclear warfare|nuclear strike]], in part because all members of the [[United States presidential line of succession|presidential line of succession]] live and work in Washington, D.C.{{sfn|Continuity of Government Commission|2009|pp=39; 47}} Under the 12th Amendment, presidential electors are still required to meet and cast their ballots for president and vice president within their respective states.{{sfn|Rossiter|2003|p=560}} The CRS noted in a separate 2020 report that members of the presidential line of succession, after the vice president, only become an acting president under the Presidential Succession Clause and Section 3 of the 20th Amendment, rather than fully succeeding to the presidency.{{sfn|Neale|2020a|pp=1β7}}
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