What if the 25th Amendment had never been passed? President Carl Albert

[Nym90]

The 25th Amendment to the Constitution, passed in 1967, specified that if the office of Vice President fell vacant, the President would appoint a new Vice President. Before this time, the office of VP simply remained vacant until the next election. Most recently this occured in 1963-1965, as Lyndon Johnson had no VP until Humphrey was elected.

Thus, if the President and Vice President both died or resigned in the same term, the Speaker of the House would become President.

Never before in our nation's history had this happened, so the 25th Amendment, had it been in the Constitution earlier, wouldn't have had any direct effect on who would have been President. We would have had a VP during the times in which there was none, but there probably wouldn't have been much impact.

As luck would have it, though, both offices did fall vacant for the first time ever in one term, in 1973 and 1974. If the 25th Amendment hadn't been passed, Nixon would not have had a VP while the Watergate scandal was being revealed, and so upon his resignation, Speaker of the House Carl Albert, a Democrat from Oklahoma, would've become President.

What would the implications of this have been? Would Albert have gotten reelected in 1976? Would he have been better or worse than Gerald Ford? Who would have been the Republican nominee that year (Ronald Reagan?)

Or perhaps Nixon and the Republicans would've fought the Watergate charges much more strongly, knowing that resignation or impeachment and conviction would lead to the Presidency being turned over to the Democrats. Republicans who were willing to vote to remove Nixon might have had second thoughts if it meant a Democrat taking over instead of another Republican.

An interesting scenario to ponder.

[ilikeverin]

What was Carl Albert like?

[Nym90]

Here's some good info on him...

http://www.ou.edu/special/albertctr/archives/exhibit/albert.htm

[Nym90]

[ilikeverin]

He seems good, but not the Presidential type... he almost seems like a Jimmy Carter kind of person... (from what little I know of Jimmy Carter)

[PBrunsel]

I think Carl Albert, due to his popularity as Speaker of the House, would be able to get things passed easily, much like LBJ.

I think his presidency would have been better than Ford's because, although Ford is a nice guy, Albert was a highly inteligent guy.

In 1976 Ronald Reagan would have been the nominee of the Republicans, and I think (sorry Reaganfan) he would lose to President Albert because of the republican fatigue due to Watergate.

[The Dowager Mod]

I'm not too sure albert would have accepted.
which would have meant good old James O. Eastland.

[Nym90]

I don't think someone is allowed to refuse the Presidency if they are next in the line of succession and qualified, are they? I suppose he could be sworn in and immediately resign.

[The Dowager Mod]

it would be perfectly legal to refuse.
albert was very fond of his position and good at it too.
i don't think he ever voiced any presidential aspirations.

[PBrunsel]

it would be perfectly legal to refuse.
albert was very fond of his position and good at it too.
i don't think he ever voiced any presidential aspirations.

That's correct. he is one of the best Speaker of the House we have ever had. He was much better than Gingrich.