# Who would replace VP Cheney? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 5, 2001, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-replace-vp-cheney/56863 "2001-03-05T23:26:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2001, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-replace-vp-cheney/56863/1 "2001-03-05T23:26:49Z")
So it seems Vice President Cheney is back in the ol’ hospital: [http://www.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/03/05/cheney.hospital.02/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/03/05/cheney.hospital.02/index.html) According to a statment form the VP’s office, Mr. Cheney checked himself into the hospital “for repeat cardiac catheterization after experiencing two brief, mild episodes of chest discomfort. This is a non-emergency, precautionary procedure.” Look–the man has had four heart attacks in the last twenty years. We all know how being in high office ages people. it’s a high-stress job. And Mr. Cheney will be busier than perhaps any VP in history, between providing a strong support for the President’s image and making sure he’s at least as influential and active as Veep as Mr. Gore was. (And like him or loathe him, Gore set the bar awfully high.) My guess is he’ll retire within a year. Question for discussion, however, is this: If Mr. Cheney retires during Mr. Bush’s term, who will replace him? I’m leaning toward Colin Powell at the moment. What say ye, o denizens of the GD deeps? ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2001, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-replace-vp-cheney/56863/2 "2001-03-05T23:33:54Z")
Oops–check that. Mr Cheney’s first heart attack was 23 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-replace-vp-cheney/56863/3 "2001-03-06T00:09:47Z")
Beat you to it, andros: [Cheney’s in the hospital again … Who will the new VP be?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=62336) And Colin Powell’s right out. He wouldn’t take the job last summer, so I doubt he’d take it now. ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-replace-vp-cheney/56863/4 "2001-03-06T11:49:27Z")
Cheney will probably also have to break a few straight party-line ties in the Senate. At least for the first two years. That also brings up the point that any senators from states with Democratic governors are probably out of the running as well. ---
**Author:** ![woolly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ebca7d/32.png) [@woolly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woolly)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-replace-vp-cheney/56863/5 "2001-03-06T12:21:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by andros \* > \*\* If Mr. Cheney retires during Mr. Bush’s term, who will replace him? \*\* As a point of clarification for a non-US doper, is the appointment of a new VP absolutely the prerogative of the Prez? Does he need to consult/clear the nominee Congress etc. Are there people who might have a claim based on their current position. Could he appoint his father or Jeb? Is there anybody he can’t appoint? I’m struggling to remember the last time the VP was changed this occurred, has it happened since Agnew? Seeking enlightenment 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2001, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-replace-vp-cheney/56863/6 "2001-03-06T12:32:26Z")
Long answer, courtesy of [Findlaw](http://www.findlaw.com): > [@](#): > > \*\*U.S. Constitution: Twenty-Fifth Amendment > Twenty-Fifth Amendment - Presidential Vacancy, Disability, and Inability \*\* > Amendment Text > Section 1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President. > > 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. > > Section 3. Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President. > > Section 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President. > > Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principle officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office. > > Annotations > Presidential Succession > > The Twenty-fifth Amendment was an effort to resolve some of the continuing issues revolving about the office of the President; that is, what happens upon the death, removal, or resignation of the President and what is the course to follow if for some reason the President becomes disabled to such a degree that he cannot fulfill his responsibilities? The practice had been well established that the Vice President became President upon the death of the President, as had happened eight times in our history. Presumably, the Vice President would become President upon the removal of the President from office. Whether the Vice President would become acting President when the President became unable to carry on and whether the President could resume his office upon his recovering his ability were two questions that had divided scholars and experts. Also, seven Vice Presidents had died in office and one had resigned, so that for some twenty per cent of United States history there had been no Vice President to step up. But the seemingly most insoluble problem was that of presidential inability–Garfield lying in a coma for eighty days before succumbing to the effects of an assassin’s bullet, Wilson an invalid for the last eighteen months of his term, the result of a stroke–with its unanswered questions: who was to determine the existence of an inability, how was the matter to be handled if the President sought to continue, in what manner should the Vice President act, would he be acting President or President, what was to happen if the President recovered. Congress finally proposed this Amendment to the States in the aftermath of President Kennedy’s assassination, with the Vice Presidency vacant and a President who had previously had a heart attack. > > This Amendment saw multiple use during the 1970s and resulted for the first time in our history in the accession to the Presidency and Vice-Presidency of two men who had not faced the voters in a national election. First, Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned on October 10, 1973, and President Nixon nominated Gerald R. Ford of Michigan to succeed him, following the procedures of Sec. 2 of the Amendment for the first time. Hearings were held upon the nomination by the Senate Rules Committee and the House Judiciary Committee, both Houses thereafter confirmed the nomination, and the new Vice President took the oath of office December 6, 1973. Second, President Richard M. Nixon resigned his office August 9, 1974, and Vice President Ford immediately succeeded to the office and took the presidential oath of office at noon of the same day. Third, again following Sec. 2 of the Amendment, President Ford nominated Nelson A. Rockefeller of New York to be Vice President; on August 20, 1974, hearings were held in both Houses, confirmation voted and Mr. Rockefeller took the oath of office December 19, 1974. 1 > > Footnotes > [Footnote 1] For the legislative history, see S. Rep. No. 66, 89th Cong., 1st Sess. (1965); H.R. Rep. No. 203, 89th Cong., 1st Sess. (1965); H.R. Rep. No. 564, 89th Cong., 1st Sess. (1965). For an account of the history of the succession problem, see R. Silva, Presidential Succession (1951). ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2001, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-replace-vp-cheney/56863/7 "2001-03-07T06:05:25Z")
Colin Powell is out, he doesn’t want the job. He had his pick of positions last year, all the way up to President. Right now he’s in the job he wants most, Secretary of State. If he wanted to be VP he’d already be VP. Bush would have to pick a reasonably moderate person, since they’d have to be confirmed by closely split Congress. And he’s therefore much more likely to pick a Senator, since his former colleagues would have a harder time voting against him. It worked for Ashcroft, didn’t it? Or he could pick the Speaker of the House. Except Hastert is another non-entity like Bush…what would be the point of that? Well, there are 50 Republican Senators…start with as your short list. Eliminate those from states with Democratic governors, plus the obviously unsuitable right-wingers, plus the too old, and too annoying. Hmmmm…John McCain? Good choice. Never gonna happen. Anyway, with a little research we could narrow it down to 5 or 6 young moderate republican senators from states with republican governors. Except it’s time for my nap right now… ---
**Author:** ![Esprix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprix/32/7899_2.png) [@Esprix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprix)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2001, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-replace-vp-cheney/56863/8 "2001-03-07T10:25:50Z")
[hijack] For an _excellent_ book, both readable and historical, check out Bland Ambition: A History of the Vice Presidents of the United States. One of the funniest books I’ve ever read. Sadly, it stopped at Quayle - I’d have loved to see what he would have written about Gore! Esprix ---
**Author:** ![RicoLaser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@RicoLaser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RicoLaser)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2001, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-replace-vp-cheney/56863/9 "2001-03-07T11:05:50Z")
I’m sure they’d offer it to Powell, and he would mull it over for a while like he did in '96. Then he’d unceremoniously turn it down and Gov. Tom Ridge of Pennsylvania would get the job. ---
**Author:** ![Esprix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprix/32/7899_2.png) [@Esprix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprix)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2001, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-replace-vp-cheney/56863/10 "2001-03-07T11:18:20Z")
Yes! Please! Rid my home state of him! PLEASE! Esprix ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2001, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-replace-vp-cheney/56863/11 "2001-03-07T19:56:42Z")
I think that this would be the opportunity of a political lifetime for Bush to appoint a woman to be VP. I even think he’d do it. Let’s face it- Powell will never take the job. I don’t blame him. Look for a high-profile congresswoman, governer or other public figure. Think Molinari, Whitman, or what about the new incoming president of Brown University? Late of Smith College, daughter of a sharecropper from TX, very heavily into education for everyone. A minority female VP would go a long way to not only build bridges but hamstring some critics. Maybe it will never happen, but I wouldn’t bet against it. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2001, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-replace-vp-cheney/56863/12 "2001-03-07T20:13:53Z")
My father (a general practioner and general all-around smart guy) gives Cheney two years at most. A doctor interviewed on the News Hour with Jim Lehrer a couple of days ago (who was in no way working on the case) agrees with Dad, saying that Cheney’s outlook is not good. I think it’s a given that he’ll be dead soon. The question really is: does he step down, get replaced, or do we wait 'till he kicks off first? The last seems very irresponsible, to me, seeing as he has a known and prominent history of heart problems. But as to whom–I have no idea. I’m a democrat and honestly don’t know of many republican replacements. (Not that I know of many democratic ones, either, at that.) My vote? Go McCain! Snicks ---
**Author:** ![Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@Chance\_the\_Gardener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chance_the_Gardener)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2001, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-would-replace-vp-cheney/56863/13 "2001-03-08T12:30:10Z")
I don’t think Tom Ridge would get the appointment. Ridge is a moderate **pro-choice** Republican, so I can’t imagine appointing him to such a prestigious position would sit well with the Republican aristocracy. They gave Bush enough crap about appointing Christy Whitman as head of the EPA. I can’t see how one’s stance on abortion has anything to do with environmental policy, but apparently someone does. On the other hand, Ridge will be out of office come 2002, and conservative pro-_life_ Bob Casey, Jr. is said to be a shoe-in to succeed him. Don’t let the fact that Casey is a Democrat confuse you; he’s much farther to the right than Ridge, and even farther to the right of his father, former governor of Pennsylvania and alleged Democrat. McCain as vice president would work wonders for Republican morale, but even if offered, I can’t imagine he’d take the job. It makes Republicans feel good to talk about the possibility of Colin Powell for any high-level post, but he’ll never take it. What about Montana governor Mark Racicot? That would be my first guess. However, if Cheney manages to stick around until the mid-term elections, there will be a great number of former Republican Congresspersons suddenly looking for work. That might be the time to do it—if Cheney can hold out that long.