If the vice president of the United States resigns, does the person that the president chooses to replace him have to be an elected official or could it go to a civilian?

toughynutter

There is no requirement that an appointed Vice President be an elected official. The must however, be approved by both the house and senate "Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution... Section 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-fifth_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution Mar 17 07, 12:12 AM

star_gazer

He or she must be a US citizen and old enough to be the US president. Mar 17 07, 2:55 AM

Arpeggionist

But how many times in US history has a vice president resigned (or died) in the middle of a presidential term? And in the cases where that happened, was that VP replaced before the beginning of the following term? If the President should be unable to fulfil his presidential duties and there is no VP, the Speaker of the House of Representatives is next in the line of succession. Mar 17 07, 2:29 PM

toughynutter

Arpeggionist 2 and about the same time. Gerald Ford was appointed when Spiro Agnew resigned, When Richard Nixon resigned and he became President, he appointed Nelson Rockefeller. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Ford Who can forget self appointed Alexander Haig "In 1981, after the March 30 assassination attempt on Reagan, Haig asserted before reporters that "I'm in control here" as a result of Reagan's hospitalization. The quotation became seen as an attempt by Haig to exceed his authority. The full quotation is: Constitutionally, gentlemen, you have the president, the vice president and the secretary of state, in that order, and should the president decide he wants to transfer the helm to the vice president, he will do so. As for now, I'm in control here, in the White House, pending the return of the vice president and in close touch with him. If something came up, I would check with him, of course. Haig was incorrect in his interpretation of the U.S. Constitution concerning both the presidential line of succession and the 25th Amendment, which dictates what happens when a president is incapacitated. But the holders of the two offices between the Vice President and the Secretary of State, the Speaker of the House and the President pro tem of the Senate, are required under U.S. law (3 U.S.C. 19) to resign their positions in order for either of them to become acting President--an unlikely event considering that Vice President Bush was merely not immediately available. Haig's statement therefore reflected political reality, if not necessarily legal reality. Haig later said," http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_Haig Mar 17 07, 3:38 PM

star_gazer

Haig soon left his office and was replaced with the much less lower key George Schultz. Its a shame for Haig, he had had a long history of service to the US Government but will be forever remembered for that blunder. Mar 17 07, 4:13 PM

queproblema

There were sixteen vacancies in the vice presidency prior to Agnew's resignation, most recently when Lyndon Johnson filled John Kennedy's office. That prompted anew questions about presidential succession, and the answer was Amendment XXV, adopted in 1967. Wikipedia has an informative article and chart. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vice_President_of_the_United_States#Succession_and_the_25th_Amendment Mar 17 07, 5:38 PM

queproblema

I should have pointed out that in those 16 cases, there was no Vice President until the next election. Mar 17 07, 5:39 PM