Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Hyeon Een]

What would happen if a presidential candidate suddenly died or became incapacitated in some way? Has this ever happened? It hasn't happened in recent history (ever?) but what would happen?

I can't believe either party would be happy with their VP candidate running for President in their wake.. but is there any way they could get out of it? Could they just call a new party convention and maintain the VP candidate but choose a new presidential candidate? (ie Hillary and err.. Romney??)

This is a non-partisan question, I'm genuinely curious. Are there any precedents?

(For the paranoid: No, I'm not planning on killing either of them^^)

[Kuros]

I believe Dick Cheney briefly held control, including authority over the football, while Bush was anaesthetized (sp?) for a colonscopy.

[Gopher]

New candidate, I imagine. No candidate, esp. no vice-presidential candidate, has legal claim to any higher-ranking candidacy or office whatsoever. No succession applies.

I imagine the party in question would hastily nominate a new presidential candidate in such a scenario as you propose.

[Ya-ta Boy]

It's never happened so far. It would be up to the party to decide what to do. I'm sure there is something in the parties' by-laws to take care of the situation.

The most likely scenario would be for the convention to reconvene and nominate in the old-fashioned way where a series of ballots are conducted until a winner emerges.

[ontheway]

Although this has never happened for Presidential candidates, it has happened numerous times for candidates for other offices, probably in every state.

Generally, parties have rules to nominate replacement candidates. Not every state allows such substitutions, and they can only be made within certain legal time frames. There comes a point when the ballots have been printed and the state will deny the option of substitution. In that case the deceased candidate stands for election alongside the living candidates.

In several cases, deceased candidates have been elected, and in those cases, the state laws for replacement of deceased public officials will kick in.

In the case of Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates, one of the advantages of the Electoral College System is that you are NOT voting for P/VP in any case. The actual candidates being chosen are the Presidential Electors who represent the candidate and/or the Party. So, if the deceased Presidential candidate should carry a state, the Electors who are the actual candidates to have been elected can vote for the National Party's subsititute Presidential nominee.

I haven't checked the Ds and Rs bylaws, but it is probably mentioned that the National Committee or some other person or group would designate a replacement candidate in such a circumstance.

[Jandar]

The closest precedent I can think of was the Eagleton event of 1972.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Eagleton#Replacement_on_the_Ticket

[sojourner1]

My favorite candidate looks healthy as a young ox. Obama is a very healthy looking man who will NOT fall over dead anytime soon. Bush looks very unhealthy and performed the worst. Clinton still looks very good some 10 years after his presidency who did quite well. Health condition appearance is a major indicator of how good they might really be for the job. Same goes for everyone and this is why every job wants a good looker to fill it.

[Junkyardninja]

....because we all know that great thinking requires a great body. I know I'd never want to hire, say, a physicist unless he seemed all toned and spry. By the way, did you see Stephen Hawking run the 100 meters recently?

[TexasPete]

There was quite a controversy with Alexander Haig when Reagan was shot in 1981.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/04/23/60II/main287292.shtml