Why is the speaker of the house the third in line to be president?

Answer 1

3 U.S.C. 19 (volume 3 of the United States Code, section 19) makes the Speaker of the House the next in line to be president when no vice president is available. That law was put into place in 1947. In prior incarnations, the president pro tempore of the Senate or the Secretary of State were third in line to be president.


If you wanted a deeper "why" answer, you'd need to go do some research into the legislative history surrounding the 1947 act. You'd need to go to a library with the Statutes at Large and the Congressional Record available, since there aren't free electronic versions that go that far back.

Answer 2

Yes in a way. The speaker would become president only in the case that the president and vice-president left office at the same time or very nearly at the same time. In more likely circumstances, a new vice-president would be appointed if the vice-president either moves up to president or leaves office.

Answer 3

The old rule was that the president pro tempore of the Senate was next in line..

However, the Senate holds the trial if the president is impeached and the pro tempore has a vote in such a trial. He would therefore have a conflict of interest in such a trial- he might be tempted to vote to convict in order to make himself president.

Answer 4

The Speaker is second in the U.S. presidential line of succession after the vice president, but no Speaker has ever acted as president
The Constitution does not require the Speaker to be a Member of Congress, although all Speakers have been members.
1945, President Harry Truman that the speaker be next after the VP. He suggested putting the Speaker of the House and then the Senate President pro tem ahead of the Secretary of State. His rationale was that the President should not be able to choose his own successor.

Answer 5

In the US, the House of Representatives is the part of the federal government very sensitive to the voting public. In fact, because unlike the Electoral College, which votes on the presidency and vice presidency, members of the House are elected by direct voting every two years. With that said, the line of succession in case the US president cannot govern, the vice president becomes the US president. The third place of succession is embodied in the leader of the House, namely the Speaker. This is a representative position as it belongs to the party with the most votes in the House of Representatives.

Answer 6

This is the Presidential Succession act passed in 1947.