# Can an acting president (of the US) do anything the president can or are they just a seat warmer?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-acting-president-of-the-us-do-anything-the-president-can-or-are-they-just-a-seat-warmer/843160>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 8, 2019, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-acting-president-of-the-us-do-anything-the-president-can-or-are-they-just-a-seat-warmer/843160 "2019-11-08T01:37:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2019, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-acting-president-of-the-us-do-anything-the-president-can-or-are-they-just-a-seat-warmer/843160/21 "2019-11-10T01:22:33Z")

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> [@RioRico](#):
>
> Watch for Pence to feed this POTUS extra cheeseburgers.

In that case… Unless someone can muster a majority in both houses, Nancy is next in line after Pence.

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**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2019, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-acting-president-of-the-us-do-anything-the-president-can-or-are-they-just-a-seat-warmer/843160/22 "2019-11-10T01:35:29Z")

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Some say Woodrow Wilson’s wife was Acting President in all but name in the last years of his term.

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**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\
**Post date:** [November 10, 2019, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-an-acting-president-of-the-us-do-anything-the-president-can-or-are-they-just-a-seat-warmer/843160/23 "2019-11-10T07:00:16Z")

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The President [steps down voluntarily in another piece of fiction](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFjHiNdjAz8) even though the Acting President will be from the opposite party. “Leo will know what to do.” The Acting President is immediately faced with a crisis; and if Zoe is dead he’s [“going to blow the hell out of something and God only knows what happens next.”](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9K31aprx9Nc)

I think “God only knows what happens next” sums up the present-day political situation in the U.S.A.

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