What happens if no presidential candidate gets 270 Electoral votes?

In an extremely close presidential election it is possible that no candidate could get the needed majority of 270 Electoral votes. The Constitution of the United States makes provision for this scenario.

The Twelfth Amendment (ratified June 15, 1804):

This states in layman’s language that if no one presidential candidate gets the required majority, than the House of Representatives would choose immediately, by ballot, the President. However, it is important to note the vote would be by states, the representation from each state would have one vote. So each Representative does not get one vote, rather each state represented in the House gets one vote.

Again if no one vice-presidential candidate gets a majority of Electoral votes, then the Senate would choose the Vice-President from the two candidates with the most Electoral votes.

This system raises an interesting scenario. If both the presidential and the vice-presidential candidate did not receive a majority of Electoral votes, both would be elected by Congress, the House of Representatives the President, and the Senate, the Vice-President. This election if the Senate stays Democratic and the House stays Republican as expected then the likely scenario in this rare case would be President Romney and Vice-President Biden for the next four years.

What an interesting administration those would be. History consists of what-if scenarios. Some come true and others don’t. Watch closely to see what happens here.

Kennedy Sworn in as President – 50 yrs Ago Today

President Kennedy - official White House photo

 Fifty years ago today John Fitzgerald Kennedy took the oath of office at exactly 12:00 p.m. Eastern time in Washington, DC.

Kennedy’s inauguration signaled a new generation ascending to power. His predecessor, President Eisenhower was of a previous generation and had served 8 years, since 1954-1961.

Kennedy, or JFK as he was affectionally known, was the youngest man ever elected president at age 43. Teddy Roosevelt was younger when he became president, but he became president after McKinley’s assassination.

Kennedy was also the first person of the Roman Catholic faith to be elected to the office.

The other fascination for people was his young family and his war service. He exuded personality and vigor. New ideas and renewed energy brought hope to young people.

When he was elected it was the height of the Cold War. The United States and the USSR had enough nuclear tipped missiles targeted at each other to destroy the world several times over. This wasn’t just an American or a Soviet issue, but a world living in the shadow of destruction. In fact the official policy of both nations was Mutually Assured Destruction or M.A.D. for short. Simply put if one country attacked the other it was assured both would be destroyed. Sounds crazy, but it was a fact that all of us lived with during that period. No wonder people were looking for new ideas and fresh hope.

Although his presidency was short-lived Kennedy began the dialogue with the Soviet Union on disarmament signing the Test Ban Treaty. This was a first step towards reducing nuclear arsenals.

I remember President Kennedy today for those steps he initiated towards reduction of nuclear tensions.

John Kennedy Wins Nomination – 50 years ago

JFK and Caroline in August 1963-White House photo

I can’t let this anniversary pass. On this day in 1960, Senator John F. Kennedy won the Democratic nomination for president at their convention in Los Angeles, California.

Of course, he went on to win the general election in November 1960 by the slimmest of margins to become president-elect. On January 20, 1961 he was sworn in as the 35th president of the United States. He was also the youngest elected president to take office and the first person of the Roman Catholic faith to become president.

Tragically, he became the youngest president (46 years of age) to die in office when he was assassinated on November 22, 1963 while riding in a motorcade through downtown Dallas, Texas.

Coup d’Etat in Canada: The Death of Democracy

The Canadian federal election was held in October this year. The Conservative Party won with the largest minority government in history. The electorate clearly did not support the Liberals or the New Democrats (NDP) based on both the number of seats won and the popular vote.

This week the Liberals, the NDP, and the Bloc Quebecois announced they were forming a coalition to topple the government. The Liberal leader, Stephane Dion, who lost badly in the election and who was forced to announce his resignation effective May 2009 will be the Prime Minister of Canada. This is a bloodless coup. The only thing bleeding today is the Constitution of Canada. 

I thought coup d’etats only happened in banana republics of Central and Southern America, I was wrong. Canada just joined the non-Democracies of the world. I for one intend to never again bother voting in a national election. Not much use is there?  The electorate of this country should be very angry and worried. We are on the slippery slope of dictatorship. I am truly ashamed of my country today. Small minds are destroying the very fabric of Canada.

Shame. Shame. Shame on the politicians of Canada.

Aftermath: Democracy at Its Best

Transition (AP/White House photo)

Americans – Republicans, Democrats or Independents should be proud. Government is transitioning in an organized and peaceful way.

Many governments only change through coups, bloody or bloodless. The people don’t take part in those changes.

I commend President Bush for his and his staff’s cooperation in this process. Sure there are many differences, but in the end all involved are Americans first and foremost.

Thomas E. Dewey: The Impossible Dream

Presidential Candidate Thomas E. Dewey

Several unsuccessful presidential nominees have in fact been renominated by their parties for another try. Most have not succeeded on the second attempt either.

One of these, Republican Thomas Dewey, ran against President Franklin Roosevelt,and President Harry Truman of the Democrats, an unenviable task for any man. Thomas Dewey was just in the wrong place at the wrong time, but he was an interesting man. If he had a weakness as a presidential candidate it was his foreign policy, but that evolved and in his second attempt he was much more of an internationalist.

The Republican Party made him their nominee to run against sitting presidents twice. Once in 1944 against FDR and again in 1948 against Harry Truman.

Dewey was a leader of the liberal wing of the Republican party. He fought the conservative faction lead by Robert Taft.

He was born March 24, 1902 in Owosso, Michigan. Dewey aspired to a professional singing career and had an excellent baritone voice. He had throat problems and decided instead to become a lawyer. Dewey served for many years as a prosecutor and District Attorney in New York City. His nickname was “Gangbuster” for his work against organized crime in the 1930s.

Dewey’s reputation carried him to the governorship of New York state in 1942 and he was elected three times in total. He was a strong supporter of the death penalty while governor. During his 12 years as governor over 90 people were electrocuted under New York state authority.

At age 36, in 1940, he ran for the Republican presidential nomination against Wendell Wilkie who went on to lose to FDR.

Dewey won the nomination in 1944, but was defeated by FDR. He was the first presidential candidate to be born in the 20th century, and also the youngest man to ever win the Republican presidential nomination. Had the public known about the true state of FDR’s declining health, Dewey might well have won the election. However, that’s another story.

The famous headline being held up by Truman

In the 1948 election against FDR’s successor Harry Truman, he was almost unanimously projected to be the winner by all the so-called experts. The Chicago Daily Tribue actually printed several hundred copies declaring “DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN” before election returns showed Truman had won.

Dewey didn’t run for president again, but in 1952 he played a major role in securing the nomination for Dwight Eisenhower.

Thomas Dewey is the only Republican to be nominated for president twice and lose both times. He is also the last presidential candidate to wear permanent facial hair, in his case a moustache.

His last term as Governor of New York expired in 1955. After this he returned to his law practice. He died suddenly of a heart attack on March 16, 1971 while vacationing in Florida. He was 68 years old.

Further Reading:
Thomas Dewey and His Times, Smith, Richard Norton, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1982
Truman Defeats Dewey, Donaldson, Gary A., University Press of Kentucky, 1999

Strange Bedfellows: Early Election Quirk – Part 2

One reader has asked about the results of the faulted selection method for Vice President prior to Amendment XII taking effect for the 1804 election. Before Amendment XII the loser of the presidential election became Vice President. Sometimes this created strange bedfellows as my previous post discussed.

(Left: Aaron Burr, one of the most contentious Vice Presidents – ever.)

Here are the results of the four presidential elections occurring before the amendment (party affiliation in brackets):

1789:
President George Washington (none), Vice President John Adams (none)
Not contentious because after all how could Adams argue that Washington, the Father of His Country, should not be first president of his country.

1792:
President George Washington (none), Vice President John Adams (Federalist)
Adams felt presidents should only serve one term and his also disagreed with Washington’s handling of many issues. A rift developed, but Washington was stuck with Adams.

1796:
President John Adams (Federalist), Vice President Thomas Jefferson (Democratic-Republican) Jefferson held almost complete opposite views on issues of the day. Jefferson stayed away and was hardly seen around Washington during Adam’s term.

1800:
President Thomas Jefferson (Democratic-Republican), Vice President Aaron Burr (Democratic-Republican)
In this election both Jefferson and Burr wanted to be president and even though they were of the same political party, they held widely differing views. They ended up tied with 73 Electoral Votes each. This assured both men of at least one of the highest offices of the land. In accordance with the Constitution, the House of Representatives decided the result for the first time in history. After 36 ballots, the House elected Jefferson president and Burr vice president. Burr refused to remove himself from consideration even after pleading from his and Jefferson’s party. This created animosity between Jefferson and Burr. In addition Alexander Hamilton of the Federalist-controlled House advocated Jefferson as the lesser political evil than Burr. Later while Burr was vice president he killed Hamilton in a duel. This destroyed Burr’s career because Hamilton was very popular. Jefferson did not retain Burr as his vice presidential running mate in the election of 1804, the first one held under the new rules.

Having the loser become vice president and remain as part of the winner’s administration created many problems. Chief of these was the fact the vice president’s primary duty was to preside over the Senate and cast the deciding vote on legislation in the event of a tie. This came back to haunt the presidents several times.

Strange Bedfellows: Early Election Quirk

In the early years of the United States voters balloted for president only, not vice president. Electors were selected to vote in the Electoral College for president. No distinct Electors were to vote for a vice president.

Here was the quirk. The Electors met after the general election in the state capitols and cast their votes for president. The candidate with the most votes became President of the United States, the candidate with the second largest number of votes became Vice President of the United States. If there was a tie, the Senate voted on who would become vice president. A tie for president was decided by the House of Representatives.

So in fact the president was stuck with his opponent in the general election as the vice president in his administration. This was changed with Amendment XII of the Constitution passed by Congress December 9, 1803 and ratified June 15, 1804. Beginning with the election of 1804, there was distinct voting for president and vice president. Each part fielded a presidential and vice presidential candidate.

To illustrate how ridiculous the original concept was let’s look at how some historical election results would have played out if the amendment was never passed. In the cases of presidents who died in office (dio), note the person who would have become president.

1864
President Abraham Lincoln (dio), Vice President George McClelland (a general Lincoln had fired)
1880 President James Garfield (dio), Vice President Winfield Hancock (no Chester Arthur)
1900
President William McKinley (dio), Vice President William Jennings Bryan (no Teddy Roosevelt)
1920
President Warren Harding (dio), Vice President James Cox (no Calvin Coolidge)
1944
President Franklin D. Roosevelt (dio), Vice President Thomas Dewey (no Harry Truman
1960
President John F. Kennedy (dio), Vice President Richard Nixon (no Lyndon Johnson
2000
President George W. Bush, Vice President Al Gore
2004
President George W. Bush, Vice President John Kerry

You get the idea. History would be very different if the Constitution had not been amended to correct this quirk. The consitutional amendment took the vice president from being a political thorn in the president’s side, to a silent partner (very silent in most cases). Certainly vice presidents could still be embarassing to the administration as we will see in future posts.