Constitutional Question

[Lincoln Republican]

This scenario refers to no President in particular, simply in general.

Here is the scenario:

The outgoing President has served two terms in office and is at the inauguration of the newly elected President.  Of course, the outgoing Vice President is as well at the inauguration.

The President Elect is to be sworn in at noon by the Chief Justice of the United States, who is of course also at the inauguration. 

It is 11:00 A.M., one hour before the swearing in of the new President.

At that time, 11:00 A.M., the outgoing President has a heart attack and dies.

Given this situation

Is the outgoing Vice President sworn in as President and serves as President for 1 hour?

Does the outgoing Vice President simply assume the Presidency for one hour without being sworn in?

In this situation, are there any circumstances under which the President Elect would be sworn in at 11:00 instead of 12 noon?

Comments please.     

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

The swearing in is generally considered a formality, and under the circumstances its unlikely that anything more than a quick private swearing in would be done by the new one-hour President.  The President-elect still needs to wait until noon to take office.

[Ebsy]

I don't think they would swear in the Vice President unless their was a pressing national security emergency decision that literally could not wait an hour. Likely, even if a President had a heart attack at 11, he would not be declared dead for a good while, and after noon, there would be no reason to not just swear in the President-elect.

[Lincoln Republican]

The swearing in is generally considered a formality, and under the circumstances its unlikely that anything more than a quick private swearing in would be done by the new one-hour President.  The President-elect still needs to wait until noon to take office.

True Federalist

In this scenario, with the outgoing Vice President being sworn into office as President for 1 hour, then he or she becomes Acting President only?  Is this correct?

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

The swearing in is generally considered a formality, and under the circumstances its unlikely that anything more than a quick private swearing in would be done by the new one-hour President.  The President-elect still needs to wait until noon to take office.

True Federalist

In this scenario, with the outgoing Vice President being sworn into office as President for 1 hour, then he or she becomes Acting President only?  Is this correct?

That's something historians and trivia buffs would likely debate endlessly.  It probably would depend on when the official word of the President's death was received.

[twistory123]

hmm interesting question
what I believe is that everything has an order, so I think that during that time, no government ... although it is very unlikely to happen in real life ..

[Lincoln Republican]

My own view, with the outgoing President having died, the outgoing Vice President immediately becomes President, even if for just one hour.  He goes down in history as the One Hour President, but he would still be numbered among the Presidents.

He could request the Chief Justice to swear him in, which would be done in the back somewhere out of the view of the public.

I agree the President Elect still waits until noon to be sworn in as the new President.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

The swearing in is generally considered a formality, and under the circumstances its unlikely that anything more than a quick private swearing in would be done by the new one-hour President.  The President-elect still needs to wait until noon to take office.

True Federalist

In this scenario, with the outgoing Vice President being sworn into office as President for 1 hour, then he or she becomes Acting President only?  Is this correct?

That's something historians and trivia buffs would likely debate endlessly.  It probably would depend on when the official word of the President's death was received.

I believe that if that was somebody else than Vice President (Speaker, PPT, Cabinet Secretary), she or he would be oficially Acting President, even if there's a vacancy and no matter for how long (an hour or an entire term). But the Vice President, in case of President's death, resignation, removal from office, automatically becomes President, with or without an oath.

Had Carl Albert succeeded Nixon in 1974, he would have been Acting President as, IIRC, no person other than VP can assume the title of the office upon a midterm succession.

Obama wasn't formally sworn-in until about 12.05 PM, but he automatically assumed the office at noon.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

They're President for an hour regardless of whether they take some silly oath.

Imagine if this had happened.
11:40am: Bush pardons Cheney
11:45am: Bush resigns
11:50am: Cheney sworn in
11:55am: Cheney pardons Bush

[Lincoln Republican]

They're President for an hour regardless of whether they take some silly oath.

Imagine if this had happened.
11:40am: Bush pardons Cheney
11:45am: Bush resigns
11:50am: Cheney sworn in
11:55am: Cheney pardons Bush

Yes, I realize that, that's why I say they could be sworn in, but I did not say they must be sworn in.

When I said he could be sworn in by the Chief Justice, I was thinking that the one hour President may have had his eye on history, and wanted to ensure that history regards him as President beyond dispute in the eyes of the general public.

[The Other Castro]

They're President for an hour regardless of whether they take some silly oath.

Imagine if this had happened.
11:40am: Bush pardons Cheney
11:45am: Bush resigns
11:50am: Cheney sworn in
11:55am: Cheney pardons Bush

In a scenario where Bush would have to pardon Cheney for something, Cheney would have already been impeached and found guilty by Congress, thereafter he would be removed from office. If Bush were to then resign (and I'm assuming this is 2009 right before Obama takes the oath), Pelosi would become Acting President for the next 15 minutes. Pelosi could then pardon Bush if she wanted to, but would probably be too preoccupied with Steny Hoyer trying to steal her speakership while she was distracted with the succession. Obama would then take office and everyone would be very confused.