20. Amendment to the United States Constitution

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The Amendment XX , the 20th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America , contains some details that presidential succession and the regulation of the commencement and completion of the term of office of elected federal bodies concerning. It is also the Lame Duck Amendment ( Lame Duck Amendment known).

The amendment was ratified on January 23, 1933 , but not yet applied under Section 5 to the inauguration of the new President ( Franklin D. Roosevelt ) in 1933.

text

First page of Amendment XX from the National Archives
Second page

English

Section 1.
The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.
Section 2.
The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.
Section 3.
If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President-elect shall have died, the Vice President-elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President-elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President-elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President-elect nor a Vice President-elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.
Section 4.
The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.
Section 5.
Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following the ratification of this article.
Section 6.
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several states within seven years from the date of its submission.

German

Part 1
The terms of office of the President and Vice-Presidents end at noon on the 20th day of January and the terms of office of the Senators and Deputies end at noon on the 3rd day of January of the respective year in which those terms would have ended had this article not been ratified ; then the term of office of their successors begins.
Section 2
The Congress meets at least once a year, starting at noon on the 3rd day of January, unless a different day is determined by law.
Section 3
If the elected president dies at the time set for the beginning of the presidential term, the elected vice-president becomes president. If no president has been elected before the date set for the beginning of the term of office, or if the elected president does not meet the requirements of office, then the elected vice-president takes over the business of the president until a president who is capable of office is determined. In the event that neither an elected president nor an elected vice-president is capable of office, Congress may determine by law who should then be responsible for the business of the president, or determine the procedure by which the person to be responsible is to be selected. The latter then carries out the business until a legally competent president or vice-president has been identified.
Section 4
Congress may legislate for the death of one of the persons from whose midst the House of Representatives may elect a president if it has the right to vote, and in the case of the death of one of the persons from whose midst the Senate elect a vice-president can if he has the right to vote.
Section 5
The first and second sections shall enter into force on the 15th day of October following the ratification of this article.
Section 6
This amendment is ineffective if it is not ratified as an amendment to the constitution by the legislative bodies of three-quarters of the individual states within seven years from the date of its transmission.

history

The purpose of this constitutional amendment was to shorten the time between the election of the President and Congress and the beginning of their terms in office. Under the original constitution, they began their work on March 4th, four months after the election. This pause was necessary in the 19th century to enable the newly elected officials to get their affairs in order and to travel from their place of residence to the capital, Washington DC . In the 20th century, however, the time required for this was significantly reduced.

In addition, the original rule meant that Congress had to hold a meeting every December. In election years, this led to a “lame duck” (“lame duck”) meeting, at which usually only a few decisions were made.

The elected but not yet sworn in President Franklin D. Roosevelt was the target of an unsuccessful assassination attempt by Giuseppe Zangara only three weeks after the ratification of this constitutional amendment , to which the mayor Anton Cermak who accompanied him fell victim. If this attack had cost Roosevelt's life, Section 3 would have applied.

The first inauguration under Section 1 of this Amendment was that of Roosevelt and his Vice President John Nance Garner on January 20, 1937 .

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Web links

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