THE PRESIDENTIAL LINE OF SUCCESSION: WHO'S NEXT?: Re: Presidential Line of Succession

» Brian Tubbs - Re: Presidential Line of Succession

In response to message posted by pete_prbell:

According to the Constitution, if no candidate for President receives a majority of votes in the Electoral College, then the election goes to the U.S. House of Representatives.

A good trivia question would be how often this has occurred. I think I know, but am not sure.

I do know that the first time this happened was in 1800 when Thomas Jefferson tied with his running mate, Aaron Burr. This led to the 12th Amendment, which fixed the Electoral College to where a separate ballot is cast for President and then another for Vice President. This prevented a tie between running mates.

One of the more controversial episodes where this happened was in 1824, when Alexander Hamilton achieved a plurality of the vote in a 4-way presidential contest. But the election went to John Quincy Adams in the U.S. House of Representatives, once Henry Clay withdrew and gave his support to Adams. Jackson's supporters cried foul and never forgot this. Jackson won the presidency in his own right in 1828.

-- posted by Brian Tubbs