Thursday, February 7

And the answer is ...

Edit: you may want to read the post prior to this one (located just below this post) before reading this one. Otherwise, it may be confusing.

"The truth is that no one knows for certain. Since no two-term President has ever tried to become Vice President, there have been no court decisions interpreting the provisions. Unless there is some reason for a court to review the question, all we have to go on is the actual text in the Constitution.

I stand by my original answer which says that although the 22nd amendment bars someone from being "elected" President after two terms, it does not bar them from "being" President again. Since they are not ineligible to "be" president, they are no disqualified by the 12th Amendment. They would not be "elected" again. They would assume the office through succession.

I also believe this is the way a court would interpret it based on more than a decade of legal experience. My experience has been that where there is an area of doubt like this, the courts are likely to allow rather than deny eligibility for democratic reasons. They are also more likely to defer to the wishes of the electorate unless the bar is very explicit, which I do not think is the case here.

Incidentally, USconstitution.net is not a government site. It is written by some guy who, like me, has a BA in Political Science. He has no more authority than I do to render an authoritative decision on this matter."


** this was taken from this website: http://en.allexperts.com/q/Legislation-Presidential-Congressional-337/qualifications-President-Vice-President-1.htm

PeacE

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