The Twentieth Amendment to the US Constitution , adopted on January 23, 1933 [1] , set the expiration date for Congress and the President.
In particular, the date of the inauguration of the US president after the election instead of March 4 was January 20 . In addition, the amendment stipulated that in the event of the death of an elected president before the inauguration, the elected vice president of the United States should become president .
23 days after adoption, the amendment was almost needed. On February 15, 1933, an assassination attempt was made on the elected President of the United States, Franklin Roosevelt , during which the mayor of Chicago was shot, but Roosevelt was not injured. If the shooter had achieved his goal, then on March 4, the elected vice president John Garner would have replaced the outgoing president Herbert Hoover . On March 4, 1933, the inauguration of Roosevelt and Garner took place - the last such procedure on this day. For the next term, Roosevelt and Garner were sworn in, as amended, on January 20, 1937 .
Text
Translation from the electronic library of the Faculty of History of Moscow State University M.V. Lomonosov [1] :
Section 1. The terms of office of the President and Vice-President expire at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of office of senators and representatives - at noon on the 3rd day of January of that year, when these powers should have expired if this article had not been ratified; and from that moment the terms of office of their successors begin to be calculated.
Section 2. Congress meets at least once a year, and such a meeting begins at noon on the 3rd day of January, unless Congress sets a different day by law.
Section 3. If by the day the term of office of the elected President begins, his death shall occur, the elected Vice-President shall become President. If the President has not been elected by the day on which his term begins, or if the elected President does not meet the requirements for a candidate for this position, then the elected Vice-President shall act as President until the President can meet the specified requirements; and Congress, if neither the elected President nor the elected Vice-President meets the requirements for a candidate for this position, may, by enactment of the law, establish who will perform the duties of the President, or determine the procedure for electing the person who is to perform the duties of the President, and such a person will fulfill the relevant duties until the President or Vice-President can meet the requirements for the candidate for this position.
Section 4. Congress may, through the adoption of a law, provide for measures in the event of the death of any of the persons of whom the House of Representatives, when the right of choice passes to it, elects the President, and in the event of the death of any of the persons of which the Senate, when the right of the choice passes to him, elects the Vice President.
Section 5. Sections 1 and 2 shall enter into force on the 15th day of October after ratification of this article.
Section 6. This article does not enter into force until it is ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by legislatures of three quarters of individual states within seven years after its submission.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Constitution of the United States of America Historical sources in Russian on the Internet (Electronic Library of the History Department of Moscow State University named after MV Lomonosov)