Could Cheney have been some place where the crazies might have killed him?
I GHW Bush becoming VP, at least until jAN 05 possible
I GHW Bush becoming VP, at least until jAN 05 possible
Interestin thought, Cheney killed Sept 11 Daddy Bush vp
- Thread starter Derek Jackson
- Start date
Orville_third
Banned
Cheney could have had a heart attack...or been at the Pentagon on 9/11.
The second part is ASB.
The second part is ASB.
Yes, Cheney could have been at one of the hijackers' target locations and killed when their plane struck.
No, it is not Constitutionally possible for GHW Bush to have become VP had Cheney been killed, nor would the idea even be considered (no one would even jokingly say "why don't you ask your dad to be the new VP.")
I do not see the Constitutional objection. I know there is a law against giving jobs to President's relatives but I do not think this applies to the VP under the 25th amendment
I also know that there would have been a huge problem with the two bushes running together because Texas Electors could not vote for both candidates from their home state but this is under the 25th,
Of course if it happened and seemed to work Daddy Bush could probably find a way to make Coneticut his legal home
You sure about that? It didn't seem to be an issue when JFK made his brother Attorney General, after all. Or did they make a law in response to that?
That aside, I'd agree with the others that making his Bush 41 his VP would probably be a bad idea. In general, having an ex-president as VP is a bad idea, because it tends to seriously blur the lines of authority. Having a parent and an ex-president would be even worse; there would be a lot of people wondering which Bush was actually running things. It doesn't help that Bush 43 tended to defer a fair amount of authority to the VP already.
Caesar Australis, I tend to disagree. Not because Giuliani would be seen as a bad pick, but because Bush would need to nominate a VP almost immediately, and he couldn't justify taking Giuliani away from his position during the crisis.
I expect that in a crisis situation like this, Bush would turn to someone already in his inner circle, with responsibility in the foreign policy area, who had similar gravitas to Cheney. Specifically, Donald Rumsfeld.
Who he would nominate as Secretary of Defense would be somewhat up in the air, though. I expect it would either be a high-ranking Senator or Representative or Paul Wolfowitz, who in his position as Deputy Secretary of Defense was already first in line to step up to the Cabinet from within DoD.
I expect that in a crisis situation like this, Bush would turn to someone already in his inner circle, with responsibility in the foreign policy area, who had similar gravitas to Cheney. Specifically, Donald Rumsfeld.
Who he would nominate as Secretary of Defense would be somewhat up in the air, though. I expect it would either be a high-ranking Senator or Representative or Paul Wolfowitz, who in his position as Deputy Secretary of Defense was already first in line to step up to the Cabinet from within DoD.
Caesar Australis
Banned
You're probably right. Although would Giuliani be obliged to leave New York immediately if he was picked?... surely he could remain until the crisis was over whilst still being VP.
I'm sure he could remain in New York in his new capacity as VP, but there is almost certainly some clause in New York law (be it at the city or state level) that forbids the Mayor from holding another position at the same time. Upon his confirmation as VP, he would have to resign his position as Mayor in favor of the New York City Public Advocate (the renamed position of President of the City Council), who at the time was Mark J. Green.
A possibility, especially since the middle of a national emergency would probably be one of the few times where his sense of duty would outweigh his general disinclination to get too mixed up in politics. However, IIRC the relationship between Bush and Powell was not terribly close even before later events really pushed them apart, so if Bush wants someone from his inner circle...
The only prohibition in the constitution, as was mentioned before already, is that a states electors can only vote for one candidate from their home state (thus, Cheney moved so that the ballots in Texas could say Bush-Cheney and not Bush-Someone else). But, since this is an appointment, and not an election, I don't believe it would apply.
Not that I think this is plausible in any way.
A couple of people have already pointed out that no, it isn't.
Friends, I was wrong.
My mind was wandering in an alt-TL where GHWB had won re-election in 1992, while I was reading this thread yesterday night in OTL. Sorry about that. As Bush "41" only served one term as POTUS there would be no Constitutional reason why Bush "43" could not have selected his dad to be the VPOTUS had Cheney been killed on 9-11.
In 1967, in response to RFK's DOJ tenure, a law was passed forbidding a president's family members serving in their Cabinet. Since the Veep is a member of Cabinet, GHWB would be legally barred. That's without all the political factors making it ASB.
Orville_third
Banned
Mayor Green would be interesting. However, such a law would have to be relatively recent. Mayor Fiorello La Guardia was NYC Mayor and head of the Office of Civilian Defense until not long after Pearl Harbor.
The Vice President is not a member of the Cabinet. He may be invited to Cabinet meetings at the discretion of the President and, in recent history, this has been standard operating procedure. But he is not a member of the Cabinet.