On this day in 1835, America witnessed the first assassination attempt against a President, as Andrew Jackson subdued his own assassin, Richard Lawrence, who fired two weapons, both of which misfired, the odds of such an event being estimated at one in 125,000 attempts!
Sadly, we have witnessed four Presidents assassinated in office—Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy. We have seen two Presidents wounded in assassination attempts—Theodore Roosevelt out of office and Ronald Reagan. We have also seen Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Gerald Ford shot at, with the assassins missing their mark. And we have had direct threats against Harry Truman, Richard Nixon, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush, and other, more indirect threats, against other Presidents.
But Barack Obama has had the greatest number of threats of all, averaging 30 per day, according to an an article in the Huffington Post!
So on this anniversary of the first assassination attempt, a prayer for the safety of our President is in order!
Andrew Jackson gotta love him lol
Richard Lawrence…. The only would be Assassin that had to be protected from the person he was trying to kill LOL
Honestly I think the secret service must be doing a superb job if that many threats are out there towards President Obama. Though I do think the line of Succession after the President is a bit weird. Call me crazy but I sort of see the Secretary of State as like the number three person behind the Vice President. They prob know the most about everything that goes on so I kind of think they should be third in line and NOT anyone from the Senate or Congress. I mean I don’t see it happening but imagine that god forbid President Obama and Vice President Obama are both killed… that would make Boehner President… and that would be a disaster even if he was competent because he is completely in the dark about what is going on in terms of being in control of the Executive branch.
First of all, Ali, let me correct what you said above, as Obama is NOT both President and Vice President! LOL Poor Joe Biden, whose name is sometimes forgotten! LOL
Now to your statement. From 1886-1947, the Presidential Succession Law provided for the cabinet members, starting with the Secretary of State, to be next in line.
But in 1947, the Republican controlled 80th Congress changed the law, which is still in effect today, and provides that the Speaker of the House, and then the President Pro Tempore of the Senate (longest serving member of the majority party), are next in line, followed by the cabinet members. The theory behind this was that the Speaker and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate were “elected”, while the cabinet members are appointed. But this can mean that an opposition party Speaker and or President Pro Tempore can be in line of succession, which does not make sense. Also, the President Pro Tempore is often very old, since he has to have the most seniority, and we have had Strom Thurmond in his 90s as three heartbeats away from the Presidency, as well as Robert Byrd in his 80s and 90s, and recently, Daniel Inouye in his high 80s–now we have Patrick Leahy of Vermont, who is only 72, which is comforting. I wish the law could revert to the one in effect from 1886-1947, but do not bet on it in the present political climate!
Well that is certainly a very embarrassing typo LOL I feel bad because as you know I like Biden a lot. I remember having to memorize the initial succession list for one of your tests, I remember thinking when we covered it how it seemed like we went from better to worse, which is the opposite of progress.
I am with you professor. I honestly think the argument about the cabinet members not be elected officials stupid. We are talking about an incredibly insane situation that has not come close to happening ever, in which the President has either died or resigned and the Vice President then dies or Resigns without a Vice President of his own. I mean in that situation you want someone who knows what they are doing and that is certainly not anyone from congress, especially in modern times.
Plus the cabinet members are approved by congress who is comprised of the representatives that the people elected to make decisions for them, so in a way the ohh they are just appointed line doesn’t work.
But then the only time it would be possible to kill both the President and the Vice President at the same time, would probably be the state of the union address which I have always thought to be a highly stupid move to have a majority of our government in one place that is predetrmined ahead of time XD
There is one other time, Ali, and we just survived it—the inauguration of the President and Vice President, with everyone important there, except one cabinet member, who stays out of DC. This time, it was Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki.