# What if Pres/Vice Pres./Speaker of the House died? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 24, 2001, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-pres-vice-pres-speaker-of-the-house-died/89380 "2001-10-24T20:32:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BratGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9f8e36/32.png) [@BratGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BratGirl)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-pres-vice-pres-speaker-of-the-house-died/89380/41 "2001-10-26T06:07:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Colibri \* > \*\*In a catastrophe so far-reaching as to wipe out the entire federal government, _and_ the governors (and lieutenant governors) of 50+ states, I would expect we would see some sort of de facto government by surviving political and military leaders, at least temporarily, rather than anyone worrying about constitutional niceties. And until the Supreme Court is reconstituted, there would be no one to declare anything unconstitutional. \*\* I’ve discussed this idea with a bunch of other people, based on the speculation that wiping out significant portions of the federal government was at least one of the goals of the 9-11 events. I agree with you here. I think that either some general or such would take over, or some elected politician from some state with a nationally known name (or maybe Mayor Guiliani!) would step in to take charge. And because this country is the way that it is, I expect we’d see a call for civil elections at the earliest possible moment. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-pres-vice-pres-speaker-of-the-house-died/89380/42 "2001-10-26T16:23:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BratGirl \* > **I’ve discussed this idea with a bunch of other people, based on the speculation that wiping out significant portions of the federal government was at least one of the goals of the 9-11 events.** If the terrorists had waited a few months, they could have come pretty close to wiping out the entire upper levels of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches by crashing a couple of jet liners into the Capitol during the State of the Union address. If they had also managed to get the “fail-safe” Cabinet member who would not have been in attendance, these questions could have been more than academic. ---
**Author:** ![Richard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Richard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-pres-vice-pres-speaker-of-the-house-died/89380/43 "2001-10-26T18:11:19Z")
> [@](#): > > If the terrorists had waited a few months, they could have come pretty close to wiping out the entire upper levels of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches by crashing a couple of jet liners into the Capitol during the State of the Union address. If they had also managed to get the “fail-safe” Cabinet member who would not have been in attendance, these questions could have been more than academic. When I read “Debt of Honor” by Tom Clancy, where something very similar to that happened, it seemed to me that it was very believable, and I wondered what the authorities might be doing to keep something like that from happening. Of course, I never imagined that terrorists would do it with an airliner full of passengers. ---
**Author:** ![mudpupper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@mudpupper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mudpupper)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-pres-vice-pres-speaker-of-the-house-died/89380/44 "2001-10-26T19:42:53Z")
All I know is that it is guaranteed that somehow, someway, Jesse Jackson will find a way to fit into the picture when replacing any position of authority. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-pres-vice-pres-speaker-of-the-house-died/89380.md?page=2)