Twentieth Amendment: Changes to Presidential Term and Succession

The 20th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution altered the start dates for the terms of the President, Vice President, and Congress members. It also moved the annual meeting date of Congress from March 4 to January 3 and established a contingency plan if the President-elect passed away between the election and the inauguration.

The 20th Amendment generated little public controversy. In fact, the Supreme Court has never had to decide a case based on it.

The article provides a summary of the 20th Amendment, starting with its text and an explanation of its significance. It proceeds to outline the historical context and the motivations behind Congress's proposal of the amendment.

What the Twentieth Amendment Says

"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.

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.

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.

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.

Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on October 15 following the ratification of this article.

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."

What the Twentieth Amendment Means

The 20th Amendment modified several parts of the U.S. Constitution:

• Article II, Section 1, Clause 1 fixed the term of the president and vice president as beginning on March 4 of the year after an election. The 20th Amendment shortened the original four-month interval to between 73 and 79 days, depending on the November election date. The Presidential Inauguration Day is January 20, the year following a presidential election.
• Article I, Section 4, Clause 2 began each congressional session on the first Monday of December each year. In practice, this meant new members of Congress began their term 13 months after an election. The 20th Amendment changed the start date to January 3 of each year.
• The first Continental Congress met on March 4, 1788. Since then, newly elected senators and representatives began their terms on March 4. The 20th Amendment changed the start date to January 3.
• The Twelfth Amendment originally set March 4 as the date the House had to choose the president due to inconclusive election results. The 20th Amendment allows Congress to change the date of the selection.

The 20th Amendment also added new things to the Constitution, including the following:

• Section 3 deals with when the president-elect dies before the inauguration day. In that case, the vice president-elect becomes president. The vice president-elect also becomes president if no one has met the qualifications to become president.
• Section 4 allows Congress to create rules and procedures for choosing the president or vice president if one dies before assuming office or if no one receives enough votes to assume one or both offices.

Its last two sections specified when it would take effect after ratification and how long the ratification could take.

Why the Twentieth Amendment Matters

When the Senate Judiciary Committee reported the 20th Amendment in 1932, it gave the following justifications for it:

• It allowed the new Congress to perform its duties soon after an election.
• It eliminated the "so-called short session of Congress," otherwise known as lame-duck sessions.
• It allowed the new Congress to choose a president in case of an inconclusive presidential election.

The following section describes these justifications in more detail.

Historical Background of the Twentieth Amendment

Before the 20th Amendment, the president and vice president-elect did not assume their offices for four months after election day. This allowed them to settle their affairs and prepare to assume their respective roles at the White House.

During the early years of American history, it often took several weeks for the nation to find out the presidential election results. The journey to the White House was also lengthy for the president-elect. Similarly, newly elected Congress members encountered these challenges. Consequently, the four-month interval allowed these officials to settle personal affairs and make arrangements for their relocation to Washington, D.C.

Advances in communication and transportation made the four-month grace period less important. By the 1830s, passenger trains allowed faster transportation to and from the capital. In addition, more available media allowed citizens to learn about election results faster.

Despite these advances, the four-month period persisted in the 1900s. However, issues arose when national crises occurred during the four-month grace period. For example, after Abraham Lincoln won the presidential election in 1860, he could not take any action regarding the rising tensions that ultimately led to the Civil War. Similarly, Franklin D. Roosevelt had to wait to begin his plan to get America out of the Great Depression.

Following Roosevelt's election in 1932, Congress promised to address the grace period. In 1933, the states ratified the 20th Amendment. As noted above, it moved the inauguration day to January 20.

Congressional Sessions and the Lame-Duck Problem

As the National Constitution Center notes, before the 20th Amendment, the congressional start times for new members of Congress were "peculiar." The Constitution originally stated that congressional sessions began on the "first Monday of December" unless Congress appointed a different day.

However, Congress set the congressional start date for new officials and members as March 4 each year. This meant that the president, vice president, and members of Congress began and ended their terms on March 4 following their respective elections. Together, new members of Congress would start their first term on December 5, approximately 13 months after their election. Then, they would start their second session on the following March 4.

The 20th Amendment also changed the congressional term start date to eliminate the so-called lame-duck sessions, which gave the Amendment its nickname: the "Lame Duck Amendment."

The term "lame duck" referred to an official who did not win reelection but still had time in office. Knowing that their time was limited and there was no real recourse for their actions, some outgoing representatives effectively "sold" their votes in exchange for future executive positions.

From 1876 to 1924, Congress proposed over 70 amendments to address the lame-duck congressional sessions. However, the House did not pass any of them.

The impetus for the 20th Amendment grew in the 1920s due to President Warren Harding's efforts to pass a bill through a lame-duck Congress. The push to pass the bill represented the potential power of a lame-duck Congress.

The bill proposed to subsidize the construction of cargo ships by private builders. The bill failed, but it became an issue during the 1922 midterm elections. Seven Republican senators and 70 Republican representatives lost their seats following the election.

Harding called a special session to pass the bill through the lame-duck Congress. His plan almost worked. The bill passed the House by a vote of 84 to 17, with most lame-duck representatives voting in its favor. Ten Republicans who voted "yes" on the bill later received presidential appointments. The bill ultimately failed to pass the Senate.

Nebraska Senator George W. Norris opposed the bill. He proposed a constitutional amendment that would shorten the lame-duck period to approximately two months. The amendment received the requisite support from the Senate but not the House.

Norris, however, was undeterred. He proposed the amendment in five consecutive congressional sessions. Notably, Norris was more concerned with a lame-duck Congress than a lame-duck president.

His proposal ultimately became the 20th Amendment, ratified by the states in 1933. Every state legislature eventually ratified the 20th Amendment.

Presidential Elections

Before the 20th Amendment's ratification, the Constitution allowed the "old" Congress to decide inconclusive presidential elections. The 20th Amendment allows the "new" Congress to select the president.

The Twelfth Amendment provides what happens if no presidential candidate receives a majority of electoral votes. In that case, the House must choose the president from among the three candidates who received the most votes. Congress had to choose the president in this manner in 1800 and 1824.

The 20th Amendment's supporters argued that changing the procedure to allow the new Congress to select the president better exemplified a representative democracy. It also warded off any lame-duck representatives who might cast a vote with the intention of receiving an executive position.

Presidential Succession

The 20th Amendment also addressed presidential succession. It states the following:

• If the president-elect dies before taking office, the vice president becomes president.
• Congress can make laws to determine the acting president if the election results are inconclusive.

Congress passed the Presidential Succession Act of 1947 based on the 20th Amendment granted it. The Act provides for a situation in which both the president and vice president-elect fail to qualify for their respective offices by January 20.