Bill Clinton for Vice President?

[jtb33]

I know I am going to get hammered for this, but I ask only because I saw him come in 7th on the CNN "Veepstakes". What would be the pros/cons for Kerry selecting Bill Clinton as his Vice President?

...and out of sheer curiosity, if he did, and were elected, what would happen if Kerry died while in office? Would Clinton be allowed to be the President again even though he's already served two terms (since the third wouldn't be an "election")?

[taxidriver]

1. i didnt think that was allowed

b/c any job that could make him be president is...unconstitutional or something to that effect.

[LynneSin]

2. Yep - you have to be qualified to be prez in order to be VP

but Clinton is no longer qualified to be president because he's served his maximum terms allowed to be president.

[non sociopath skin]

5. I guess that would be right ....

.. the restriction to two terms would exclude an ex-president who'd be the proverbial "heartbeat away" from the Presidency.

Now Hillary would be another story. Having watched her performance in the Senate confrontation with Rumsfeld, I reckon she could do the job, no sweat.

The Skin

[fryguy]

9. not a constitutional problem

the 22nd amendment only provides that a person shall not be elected to the office of president more that two times (or once if they served more than 2 years of someone else's term). there is nothing about someone being elected to vice-president after serving as president, nor is there any mention of someone serving as president in a manner other than through election following their being elected to two (or one, as the case may be) terms.

http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.amendmentxxii.html

that said, it would surely be a contested issue, but one that would only be necessary to resolve in the unfortunate event that President Kerry is rendered incapacitated and Vice-President Clinton would have to serve as president - the supreme court will not hear a case unless there is an actual controversy.

[HFishbine]

36. Whoo-hoo! Good news!

That means Geroge Bush (the first) is in the running! (He'd help get the republican vote, dontcha know?)

[nini]

3. I think he can be VP

and assume the presidency if Kerry dies or is removed.

But after that he couldn't be re-elected...

I may be wrong, but that's how I understand it.

[jtb33]

6. That's what I thought...

<b>Amendment XXII</b>

<i>Section 1. No person shall be <b>elected</b> to the office of the 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 the President more than once. But this article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.</i>

I take that to mean that he *could* be the VP nomination and be president should somethign heppen to Kerry since he wouldn't have been elected to the position of president.

Now, assuming that it is legal for him to be the VP nom. What are the pros/cons to Bill Clinton on the ticket?

[FarmerOak]

8. Dupe

[jtb33]

10. No, what I quoted is XXII - I checked again

You're thinking of something else (?).

[FarmerOak]

11. My mistake. But Astronomer is right, as you noted. Sorry.

[Bill McBlueState]

4. the last sentence of the 12th amendment...

But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.

pretty much rules out the Big Dog for VP.

[jtb33]

7. Ah...

Good eye. I didn't see that.

I guess my questions are moot then.

Thanks!

[fryguy]

21. he can still be eligible, but not be able to be elected

the requirement for eligibility is in Art. II, Sec. 1

"No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty five years, and been fourteen Years a resident within the United States."

the XII Amendment refers to the selection (election) of the office and the XXII Amendment refers to two-term limits. If the term limitation were to be imputed as a requirement for the office, that would mean that no former president could serve in any capacity that is part of the succession of the office of the president. that would include prohibiting former presidents (who have served two terms) from being in cabinent positions and in the house of representatives (speaker, i think, is second in line) -- i don't think that is the intention of the line in the XII Amendment.

[jtb33]

23. Hmmm... good point!

So now I DO wonder if he's is eligible...

[FarmerOak]

25. He is NOT eligible to be VP, which was the question.

He IS eligible to be in the line of succession... but not VP. SO, to resume the office, he would have to be in the line of succession, and there would have to be no one qualified for the office ahead of him.

[beyurslf]

27. No the 12th amendment stipulates that a person must be constitutionally

eligible to be president (by election or assumption). It means that the VP can not be foreign born (IE Albright, Granholm) or can not have been elected as President twice before (IE Clinton, Carter).

The 12th Amendment does not make any stipulations for others in the line of succession--only for the VP slot. Madeline Albright was the SOS and in line for the Presidency. Of course, if something happened to the Pres, VP, and SOH, then the succession line would have skipped her since she is not eligible to be President. Anyone can hold any of the positions in line for the Presidency---with the exception of the VP slot. The 12th Ammdt was specifically written to address that and require that the person who "is a heartbeat away from the Presidency" is actually eligible to take office.

President Clinton can not be the VP.

[fryguy]

30. I guess that makes sense, but the issue is moot

since i can't imagine clinton would ever consider being second fiddle, nor do i think kerry would want to put him in his whitehouse as vp, even if he could under the constitution......how could someone like clinton go from being president to being vp - i think it would drive him crazy. its not like taft going from the whitehouse to the supreme court, its basically getting a demotion. i suspect clinton would prefer doing something like taking over the leadership of the DNC or some other top position....

...but it is an interesting constitutional debate...

[beyurslf]

12. The 12th Ammendment bars him from being VP.

[fryguy]

22. not necessarily

see my post above....

[Newsman Matt Drudge]

13. Well, he was good for business

Let's face it, I'd still be a nothing, nobody, if not for Clinton's wang, so I'm all for this!

Best,
Matt

[FarmerOak]

14. Matt! Matt! Follow-up!

What can you tell us about his wang? Are you still obsessed with it, or have you moved on?

[Newsman Matt Drudge]

26. I wang Clinton, and have totally wang

Wang Clinton, penis wang. So, I can wang the penis, and Clinton penis the wang. If blue dress the wang, and penis the Clinton, then wang can wang and Clinton will penis the Clinton wang.

Best Wishes,
Matt

[FarmerOak]

33. Matt! Matt! Follow-up!

What about the rumors that Mother Drudge potty-trained you with an electric cattle prod? Does this have any bearing on your wang obsession?

[Newsman Matt Drudge]

34. That is completely false. Completely.

I can't believe that people would say something like that. That is offensive and horrible, and I will set the record straight. This could NOT be further from the truth!

The cattle prod was not electric, I was fire branded.

Best Wishes,
Matt

[jtb33]

16. Is that really Matt Drudge? eom

?

[fryguy]

35. shouldn't newsman be in quotes?

sorta raising the profession of mudraking by labeling yourself as a journalist....

[MallRat]

15. Term limit is 2 terms or 10 years. But...

Amendment XXII:

"No person shall be elected to the office of the 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 the President more than once."

Very odd. It's clear that the Constitution says that Clinton cannot be elected again. However, with regards to the "2 years + 2 terms" provision, the Amendment only addresses the case in which people assume the office without election first (i.e., LBJ, Ford), and THEN get elected later.

It says NOTHING about term limits for a former President who later assumes the Presidency through the order of succession. It seems to me that if a Vice-President Clinton became President during a Kerry administration, he would be permitted to serve out the rest of Kerry's term, regardless of whether it was 2 or 3 years long.

Mind-boggling.

-MR

[MallRat]

17. Oops, the 12th Amendment covered this contingency... sorry.

I guess I'm just talkin' out of my ass again.

Those forefathers thought of everything, didn't they?

:dunce:

-MR

edited to, well, I don't know. I just felt like editing it.

[beyurslf]

28. Not really. Every Amendment after the first 10 were added

later. I suppose the thought of the idea that the Consitution might need to be changed becuase they hadn't thought of everything.

[jtb33]

19. WMass astronomer got it above...

"the last sentence of the 12th amendment...

But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.

pretty much rules out the Big Dog for VP."

[MallRat]

20. 40 lashes with a wet noodle for me.

:spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank:

[LeinesRed]

18. Sec'y of State

he would just be skipped in the presidential succession...like they did with Madame Maddy. God, I like the sound of that! Talk about improving our standing in the world.

[fryguy]

29. did they "skip" maddy?

i thought it was just a question that was mulled over, like it was with kissenger, but no decision was ever made. the order of succession is established within the XXII and XXV Amendments - so it would not have been possible to just "skip" someone anymore that it would be possible for someone to be "added" to the list. the issue would only come up if the first three people on the list - VP, Speaker of the House, President pro Tempore of the Senate - were unable to serve, at which point it would be up to the Supreme Court to resolve the issue if it were to be brought before them. although, I suspect, that if there was a situtation where the President, VP, Speaker and President pro Tempore were rendered in capacitated or dead, it would be of such tragedy and severity that the interest of the country would not be to squabble over constitutional construction, but rather to establish order and leadership.

[beyurslf]

32. I thought it was established that they would have been skipped

if it was ever necessary. It is impossible (or at least untenable) to have every person in the line of succession be eligible since the line of succession covers so many people. The idea that we would ever get the SOS or even past the VP is unimaginable.

[LeinesRed]

37. yes, she wasn't a part of the succession

n/t

[fryguy]

24. but would he do it?

as much as i would love another 4/8 years of clinton, can you really imagine him being second fiddle? or could you imagine Kerry putting himself in a position that his presidency, and legacy, would be shaped largely by the presence and personality of bill clinton? i think, as president, one would want the spot-light to be on them, not their vp....

[FarmerOak]

31. A Roundup Of The Thread So Far!

I'm posting this as a response to the OP, since the various tangents are making me woozy.

NO, Bill Clinton CANNOT be elected or appointed Vice-President of the United States ever again. Amendment XXII makes him ineligible to be elected POTUS, so Amendment XII makes him ineligible to even SERVE as VPOTUS.

YES, Bill Clinton can SERVE two more years as POTUS... but he would have to be in the line of succession as outlined in the Presidential Succession Act of 1947. (NOTE: Presidential succession after VPOTUS is determined by Congress, in accordance with Article II and with sundry Amendments. The SCOTUS has nothing whatever to do with this, no matter what they may think.)

For Bill Clinton to resume the presidency, there would have to exist a condition where there is NO VPOTUS. If there IS a VPOTUS, that person would, by definition, be qualified for the office of POTUS. However, if there were no VPOTUS, and Mr. Clinton were the FIRST person in the line of succession (as defined by Congress,) he could serve two more years before becoming forever ineligible for the office... unless, of course, the Constitution were to again be amended.

(Edited to make it more confusing.)