Current System of US Presidential Succession

History & Culture

Updated July 04, 2017

The US Congress has wrestled with the issue of presidential succession throughout the nation's history. Why? Well, between 1901 and 1974, five vice presidents have taken over the top office due to four presidential deaths and one resignation. In fact, between the years 1841 to 1975, more than one-third of all U.S. presidents have either died in office, resigned, or become disabled. Seven vice presidents have died in office and two have resigned resulting in a total of 37 years during which the office of vice president was completely vacant.

The Presidential Succession System

Our current method of presidential succession takes its authority from:

The 20th Amendment (Article II, Section 1, Clause 6)
The 25th Amendment
The Presidential Succession Law of 1947

President and Vice President

The 20th and 25th Amendments establish procedures and requirements for the vice president to assume the duties and powers of the president if the president becomes permanently or temporarily disabled.

In the event of the president's temporary disability, the vice president serves as president until the president recovers. The president may declare the beginning and end of his or her own disability. But, if the president is unable to communicate, the vice president and a majority of the president's Cabinet, or "...other body as Congress may by law provide..." may determine the president's state of disability.

Should the president's ability to serve be disputed, Congress decides.

They must, within 21 days, and by a two-thirds vote of each chamber, determine whether the president is able to serve or not. Until they do, the vice president acts as president.

The 25th Amendment also provides a method for filling a vacated office of the vice president. The president must nominate a new vice president, who must be confirmed by a majority vote of both houses of Congress.

Until ratification of the 25th Amendment, the Constitution provided that only the duties, rather than the actual title as president should be transferred to the vice president.

In October 1973, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned and President Richard Nixon nominated Gerald R. Ford to fill the office. in August 1974 President Nixon resigned, Vice President Ford became president and nominated Nelson Rockefeller as the new vice president. Although the circumstances that caused them were, shall we say, distasteful, the transfers of vice presidential power went smoothly and with little or no controversy.

Beyond the President and Vice President

The Presidential Succession Law of 1947 addressed the simultaneous disability of both the president and vice president. Under this law, here are the offices and current office holders who would become president should both the president and vice president be disabled. Remember, to assume the presidency, a person must also meet all the legal requirements to serve as president.

The order of presidential succession, along with the person who would currently become president, is as follows:

1. Vice President of the United States -- Mike Pence

2. Speaker of the House of Representatives -- Paul Ryan

3. President pro tempore of the Senate -- Orrin Hatch

Two months after succeeding Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945, President Harry S. Truman suggested that the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate be moved ahead of Cabinet members in the line of succession in order to ensure that the president would never be able to appoint his potential successor.

Both the Secretary of State and other Cabinet secretaries are appointed by the president with the approval of the Senate, while the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore of the Senate are elected by the people. The members of the House of Representatives choose the Speaker of the House. Similarly, the President pro tempore is chosen by the Senate. While it is not a requirement, both the Speaker of the House and the President pro tempore are traditionally members of the party holding the majority in their particular chamber.

Congress approved the change and moved the Speaker and President pro tempore ahead of the Cabinet secretaries in the order of succession.

The secretaries of the president's Cabinet now fill out the balance of the order of presidential succession:

4. Secretary of State -- Rex Tillerson
5. Secretary of the Treasury -- Steven Mnuchin
6. Secretary of Defense -- Gen. James Mattis
7. Attorney General -- Jeff Sessions
8. Secretary of the Interior -- Ryan Zinke
9. Secretary of Agriculture -- Sonny Perdue
10. Secretary of Commerce -- Wilbur Ross
11. Secretary of Labor -- Alex Acosta
12. Secretary of Health & Human Services -- Tom Price
13. Secretary of Housing & Urban Development -- Dr. Ben Carson
14. Secretary of Transportation -- Elaine Chao
15. Secretary of Energy -- Rick Perry
16. Secretary of Education -- Betsy DeVos
17. Secretary of Veterans' Affairs -- David Shulkin
18. Secretary of Homeland Security -- John Kelly