President Pro Tempore of the Senate. The office also existed in the Confederate States of America.
Robert Byrd of West Virginia held this position in 2007.
As the people's representative to make various legislation, this gives the members of the senate the honorary position.
President pro tempore President pro tempore President pro tempore
The President Pro Tempore of the Senate is the Vice-President of the United States. One of his jobs in the Senate is to break a possible vote tie.
The Senate
Pro tempore
The President Pro Tempore of the US Senate is the highest ranking Senator in the Senate, and the 2nd highest ranking official of the Senate (the Vice-President is the highest ranking official). Normally the Vice President is supposed to preside over the Senate, but in the Vice President's absence, the President Pro Tempore can preside over the Senate for the VP. However, in modern times, neither the VP or the President Pro Tempore presides - the duty is often delegated to Junior Senators to help them learn parliamentary procedure. Though the job is mandated by the Constitution, the President Pro Tempore is considered by many to be a largely ceremonial job. The President Pro Tempore is also 3rd in line in the succession to the presidency, after the Vice President and the Speaker of the House. The current President Pro Tempore is Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii.
The President Pro-Tempore serves in the Senate. This person presides over the Senate when the Vice-President is not in attendance.
The President pro Tempore of the United States Senate is Patrick Leahy. He is a democrat from the state of Vermont.
There are two different possible answers. Officially, the president pro tempore is to preside. However, that title is now used mainly as an honorific, given to the longest-serving Senator of the majority party. The president pro tempore has the power to appoint another Senator to act as presiding officer for a given day of Senate proceedings.
The president pro tempore is elected by the Senate and is customarily the longest serving senator in the majority party.Originally, the president pro tempore was appointed on an intermittent basis when the vice president was not present to preside over the Senate.