the vice president became part of the cabinet in 1933.
the vice president became part of the cabinet in 1933.
when did the vice president become part of the cabinet?
1933
the words "president elect" appear four times in the constitution, and they didn't appear until 1933, when the twentieth amendment, which contained a provision addressing the unavailability of the president elect to take the oath of office on inauguration day, was ratified. section 3 provides that if there is no president-elect on january 20, or the president-elect "fails to qualify", the vice president-elect would become acting president on january 20 until there is a qualified president. the section also provides that if the president-elect dies before noon on january 20, the vice president-elect becomes president. in cases where there is no president-elect or vice president-elect, the amendment also gives the congress the authority to declare an acting president until such time as there is a president or vice president. at this point the presidential succession act of 1947 would apply, with the office of the presidency going to the speaker of the house of representatives, followed by the president pro tempore of the senate and various cabinet officers.
president-elect of the united states
even after the precedent regarding presidential succession following a president's death was set, there remained ambiguity in the article ii succession clause regarding a disabled president. what constituted an "inability"? who determined the existence of an inability? did a vice president become president for the rest of the presidential term in the case of an inability; or was the vice president merely "acting as president"? during the 19th and first half of the 20th century several presidents experienced periods of severe illness, physical disability or injury, some lasting for weeks or months. during these times, even though the nation needed effective presidential leadership, no vice president wanted to seem like a usurper, and so power was never transferred. after president dwight d. eisenhower openly addressed his health issues and made it a point to enter into an agreement with vice president richard nixon that provided for nixon to act on his behalf in the event that eisenhower became unable to provide effective presidential leadership (nixon did informally assume some of the president's duties for several weeks on each of three occasions when eisenhower was ill), discussions began in congress about clearing-up the constitution's ambiguity on the subject.
vice president of the united states