How to become President of the United States without being elected…
by ismail jadun
So you want to become the leader of the free world, but don’t want to go through those pesky elections? Well, here are a few ways to get yourself into the Oval Office but it won’t be easy. Here we go…
1. Take the path already taken
Wait for the current VP to resign and then convince the current President to appoint you as the new VP. Then wait for the President to resign as well. Now you are President — without being elected!
fyi, this is how Gerald Ford ended up as the 38th president.
2. Take the really hard way
If you can’t convince the President, try convincing Congress to appoint you President pro tempore of the Senate. Then wait for the President and the VP to be removed from office or consider themselves incapacitated under the 25th Amendment. And then, hope the Speaker of the House is also removed from office, was born in another country to non-American parents, or is under 35 years old.
Now, you can become Acting President without having been elected…until the Speaker of the House regains eligibility to become Acting President. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted!
3. Or the scorched earth way
So you managed to get appointed Vice President after the last one left office early but you can’t convince the President to resign early?
If you are really close buddies with a majority of the cabinet, you can invoke section 4 of the 25th amendment. You send a letter to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives telling them that the President is incapacitated and cannot fulfill his duties.
Congrats, you are now Acting President of the United States…until the real President finds out. Now it’s an all-out fight. The real President sends a letter to the Congress telling them that he is fit to lead the country. With that, he immediately assumes the office unless…. the VP & your buddies in the cabinet submits a rebuttal to Congress. You are back as Acting President again. Congress has two days to fly back to Capitol Hill and another 21 days to figure out if the real President is actually unable fulfill the duties of his office. If you manage to convince two thirds of Congress, then you’ll be Acting President for the rest of the term. Whew!
Oh, just do it like everyone else
As you can see, it’s pretty damn difficult to become president without getting elected unless you have really, really, really great friends in Washington, D.C. and a lot of luck. Plus a lot of people would be pretty ticked off at you for subverting the spirit of the Constitution. You might as well run for the office with all the effort you’d be expending getting into the Oval Office — that’s what most Presidents did.
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