Online Journalism 5 Facts Project

1. United States Presidential
Line of Succession
By: Michael Pollack-Twomey

2. What could cause this
succession?
• Impeachment
• Resignation
• Death
photo credit: <a
href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/branditressler/1079313492/">la
dybugbkt</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a><a
href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a>

3. The Current 5 in Line

4. 1st: Vice President of the United States
Joe Biden (D)
Age: 69
•First in line behind current
President Barack Obama.
•From Scranton, Pennsylvania
•Served as a U.S. Senator for
Delaware from 1973 to 2009
upon his election to the vice
photo credit: <a
presidency.
href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ba
rackobamadotcom/7798973526/">Bara
ck Obama</a> via <a
href="http://photopin.com">photopin<
•Served as ranking member of
/a><a
href="http://creativecommons.org/lice
Senate Judiciary Committee
nses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a> for 17 years working on
criminal justice issues.
photo credit: <a
href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/frekur/2969695080/">Lsbentz</a
> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a><a
href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a>

5. 2nd: Speaker of the House
John Boehner (R)
Age: 62
•Representative from Ohio’s
8th Congressional District.
•Currently serves as the 61st
speaker of the United States
House of Representatives
•Served as House Minority
Leader (‘07-’11), and House
photo credit: <a
Majority Leader (’06-’07)
href="http://www.flickr.com/phot
os/speakerboehner/5913789446/
">SpeakerBoehner</a> via <a
href="http://photopin.com">phot
•Served as Chairman of the
opin</a><a
href="http://creativecommons.or
House Education and
g/licenses/by-nc/2.0/">cc</a> Workforce Committee (‘01-
photo credit: <a
’06)
href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/speakerboehner/5370664963/">SpeakerBo
ehner</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a><a
href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/">cc</a>

6. 3rd: President Pro Tempore
of the Senate
Daniel Inouye (D)
Age: 88
•Currently serves as a U.S.
Senator from Hawaii
•Currently most senior U.S.
Senator and second longest
serving U.S. Senator
•A World War II Medal of
Honor recipient
photo credit: <a
href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ke
pano/4369338323/">kepanok</a> via <a
href="http://photopin.com">photopin</
•Holds a law degree from
a><a
href="http://creativecommons.org/licen
The George Washington
ses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a>
University Law School
photo credit: <a
href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kepano/4370086966/">kepan
ok</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a><a
href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a>

7. 4th: Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton (D)
Age: 64
•Currently serves as the
United States Secretary of
State
•Served as a U.S. Senator
for the State of New York
(‘01-’09)
•Served as First
photo credit: <a LadyduringBill Clinton’s
href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/valstskanceleja/
7459653160/">Valstskanceleja</a> via <a presidency (’93-’01)
href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a><a
href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-
nd/2.0/">cc</a>
•Received a law degree
photo credit: <a from Yale Law School
href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sskennel/836612585/">sskennel</a
> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a><a
href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a>

8. 5th: Secretary of the Treasury
Timothy Geithner (I)
Age: 51
•Currently serves as the 75th
U.S. Secretary of the Treasury
•Served as the 9th President
of the Federal Reserve Bank
of New York
•Worked for the International
Affairs Division of the U.S.
Treasury Department in 1988
•Served as Vice Chairman of
the Federal Open Market
photo credit: <a
href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/u Committee
sdol/7107268447/">US Department of
Labor</a> via <a photo credit: <a
href="http://photopin.com">photopin href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/thinkoutloud/69683594
</a><a 74/">Think Out Loud</a> via <a
href="http://creativecommons.org/lice href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a><a
nses/by/2.0/">cc</a> href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-

9. Presidents who have assumed
office by succession
• Chester A. Arthur – Death of James Garfield
• Calvin Coolidge – Death of Warren G. Harding
• Millard Fillmore – Death of Zachary Taylor
• Gerald R. Ford – Resignation of Richard Nixon
• Andrew Johnson – Death of Abraham Lincoln
http://www.clf.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Bald_Eagle-Wingspan-1024x7681.jpg

10. Presidents who have assumed
office by succession
• Lyndon B. Johnson – Death of John F. Kennedy
• Theodore Roosevelt – Death of William McKinley
• Harry S. Truman – Death of Franklin D. Roosevelt
• John Tyler – William Henry Harrison
http://media-3.web.britannica.com/eb-media//02/75502-004-47C41965.jpg

11. Some Insight…
“This is an example of how the branches of
government are in fact linked. When all
members of the executive branch are unable
to serve, the next in line is the leader of the
legislative branch. This supports some of the
separation of branches that are a part of the
constitutional system.”
-Ronald Schurin, Associate Professor at
the University of Connecticut
http://www.polisci.uconn.edu/people/faculty/ima
ges/shurin.jpg

12. Sources
• http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/vice-president-
biden
• http://www.speaker.gov/
• http://www.inouye.senate.gov/about-dan/biography
• http://www.state.gov/secretary/c27775.htm
• http://www.biography.com/people/timothy-geithner-
391494