guys, Clinton can not be in Kerry's cabinet...

[greenbriar]

he can not hold any job that puts him in the line of succession.


it would be more of an ambassador's position that would suit him in President Kerry's admin.

[tedoll78]

1. What do you mean..

he can't hold any line-of-succession job?

It'd be perfectly Constitutional..

[MAlibdem]

2. un secretary general

in 2006

[skylarmae]

6. can't - USA member of permanent five - sec counsel n/t

[mopinko]

3. not true nt

[greenbriar]

7. yes true

any one in the cabinet position has to have the qualifications for president.

He can not serve as president due to term limits.

that is why he can not be vice pres either

[soupkitchen]

12. There have been many foreign born cabinet members

Henry Kissinger for one

[tedoll78]

16. Take the time to actually read the Constitution.

Here's the 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution, concerning Presidential term limits. Note the wording (placed in bold).

"No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President when this Article was proposed by Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.

Done reading it? Good. Now note..

There are two routes to the U.S. Presidency:
1) Election
2) Succession

The 22nd Amendment places limits on only one of those. Had the authors of the amendment wanted to limit holding office, they were more than capable of conveying this with an appropriate word choice. Instead, they left the second route open.

[freetobegay]

21. I believe the Constitution says you cannot be elected

More than two terms, line of succession well thats would have to be fought in the courts. Just my 2 cents.

[baldguy]

32. Kissinger was born in Germany

Albright was born in Checkoslovakia.

[serryjw]

33. Can't be true.......

how would you explain Madeline Albright? If need be( obviusly very unlikely) he would bypassed

[Robbie67]

4. UN ambassador sounds better and better

:hi:

[high density]

5. I heard that he wants to take Kofi Annan's job at the UN

(Secretary-General)

[Onlooker]

8. Yes he can

Madeleine Albright was in the line of succession, even though her foreign birth disqualified her from serving as president. I think the rules of succession would just skip over anyone who's not qualified.

[mopinko]

13. yes

[JI7]

9. not true, it just means he would be passed over like Albright

was when she was sec of state.

[Gildor Inglorion]

10. Chief Justice? Wm. Howard Taft was...

GREAT job for a beloved former President.

[atre]

26. Bad idea

Politicians never make particularly effective Justices. Taft is nondescript in the course of American jurisprudence; had he not been President, he would have been the least known Chief Justice in the history of the Court.

It would be much better to draw from the pool of law professors and lower court judges- people who are more well-versed with the law than with the image game of politics. I would love to see Laurence Tribe don a rob, myself, but it may be better to nominate someone less advanced in age so we'll hold the seat longer.

[Hosnon]

11. Clinton

Yea I'm pretty sure he can even be VP. You just can't be elected President more than twice:

Amendment XXII - Presidential term limits. Ratified 2/27/1951. History

1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President, when this Article was proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder of such term.

2. 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 to the States by the Congress.

http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#Am22

[Bill McBlueState]

43. can't be VP

From the twelfth amendment:

"But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States."

Since he's constitutionally ineligible for the office of President, he can't be Vice President. But there's no such restriction on other cabinet positions.

on edit: Given what others have said about the 22nd amendment, it sounds like Clinton could assume the Presidency through succession rather than election. This would certainly be challenged in the courts.

[RunningFromCongress]

14. He wont be in the cabinet, he wants head of UN

that's his deal w/ Kerry, I'll help you get elected and you nominate me to be president of the UN

[madmax]

20. Thought he couldn't be Sec. Gen of the UN

because the US is a permanent member and they are exempt from being Sec. Gen. That's what I read on DU. :shrug:

[crispini]

27. Where did you hear this? Link, please.

IIRC the Thai delegate to the UN is the current fave for next sec'y general. (From another list, which I can't find right now.)

[Maple]

29. Original story in Moonie Times

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20041020-025642-9944r.htm

and the name of the candidate you're looking for is Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai

[crispini]

48. Thanks! n/t

[Zen Democrat]

15. He could hold a cabinet position, but could never assume the presidency.

He would simply be passed over to the next in line. Nixon and Ford had Kissinger as Secretary of State and he could never have been president because he wasn't a natural born citizen.

I think Clinton will be a special envoy that Kerry sends around the world to talk to foreign leaders with secret messages and stuff like that. I don't see Clinton strapped down to a day-to-day administration job.

But the Secretary General of the UN would be spectacular for Bill and for the whole world! He's loved throughout the world.

[tedoll78]

18. Yes, he can assume the presidency.

Read the actual words of the 22nd Amendment. See my post above.

[Hosnon]

22. I Agree

Yes, the words say he can only be 'elected' twice. It seems he would not be passed over in the line.

By the way, where in the line are the cabinet members?

[Robeson]

23. From my reading of it...

...your are correct. It is only referring to the "elected" aspect. Its says nothing regarding to stop someone in the event of a line of succession.

[KBlagburn]

24. Acutally, he can be President.

If it is through the line of succession he can be President again. Read the post above that refer to the 22 adm. It only refers to elected terms.

[serryjw]

34. Yes, and Dean as TM's job

head of the DNC

[NMDemDist2]

17. special envoy to the President (like James Baker does for * )

he can be the "fixer"

perfect yes?

[Maple]

19. Jeepers! When did your cabinet

get to be in any 'line of succession??'

[A Simple Game]

46. I'm glad not to be the only one scratching my head! eom

[glitch]

25. Supreme Court

I wanna see some heads EXPLODE!

[atre]

28. Like I said above

... Clinton would be a terrible choice as a Supreme Court Justice. Clinton may be an extremely intelligent man and he may be a lawyer, but those qualities alone are not sufficient qualifications for a member of the nation's highest court. You want to put your brightest legal minds on the Court; not your brightest minds.

[TankLV]

41. You think Thomas is among those?

You even think the best and brightest in any way shape or form describes bunkerboy - AND HE'S THE PRESIDENT!

Clinton is a layer, and a scholar, and has probably infinitely better legal mind than most of those who've occupied the bench or are currently occupying the bench!

At least we know all except one or two of the current bunch is UNFIT to be there based on your qualifications!

[atre]

44. What? Are you responding to the right post?

I never claimed that Thomas was one of our brightest legal minds. I never mentioned Thomas at all. The fact is that he was carefully selected because of his race, and he has acknowledged as much in his discussions about the evils of affirmative action.

The issue before us is who Kerry should pick to occupy the Court. I guess this is all a matter of "who do I like the most" for people who know very little about the judicial system. As someone familiar with the law, I think that attitude is assinine.

Justices should be selected from your best Judges and Law Professors, people who took their law school careers seriously rather than using it as a stepping stone to a political career. These are the people who appreciate the complexity of the law. Those who use it as stepping stones to political careers should pursue careers in the political arena. John Kerry is another example. While I want nothing more than to see him win this election, I do not think he would make a very good Justice.

This is NOT a commentary on the current members of the Court; it is just a discussion about WHAT WE SHOULD DO WHEN WE GET THE CHANCE TO NOMINATE SOMEONE.

I don't know why I'm bothering with this. Kerry surely understands the difference.

[TankLV]

50. Yes I am, and the fact that you don't understand my reply speaks volumes

Thomas is not qualified to be dog catcher. He has no concept of anything "legal". He is a travisty to justice. Clinton is certainly not worse, and is infinitely better. He's a Rhodes Scholar and has done EVERYTHING well that he has set his mind to do.

That is why I brought his name up.

Don't even get me started on Scalia and the repukes other nominations.

You are insinuating that Clinton would not be among the best and brightest. You are terribly wrong on that one.

[DemFromMem]

30. What about Ford in 1980?

Aside from the fact that the Constitution does not actually prohibit this (see posts above), you may recall the very real world example of Reagan nearly picking Ford in 1980 to be his Veep. He only skipped Ford because Ford was demanding basically a co-presidency and Reagan wanted to run the show. Wish he would have picked Ford and we would not likely be dealing with * right now.

[KBlagburn]

31. Ford only served 2 years. Was never elected to VP or Pres.

22nd admendment wouldnt have applied to Ford at all anyway. And it would not apply to Clinton if he were in Kerry's cabinet.

[DemFromMem]

38. Correct

My point was that there is some precedent for considering an ex-Prez for a position in an Administration.

[omnithrope]

35. He has already said he wants secy. general of the U.N.

This is public.

[Robbie67]

37. well, as others have said, he can't be Sec'y Gen.

Unless he moves to Burundi or some other country that isn't a member of the security counsel.

[genius]

36. The line of succession will just pass over him.

Kissenger was Sec of State under Nixon - after Sec of State was in line for succession.

[Rosco T.]

39. Clinton can not be ELECTED as president again, but he can...

... be in the line of succession.

[soothsayer]

40. He should be Middle East Envoy (and didn't we have a 3 term prez?)

[no name no slogan]

42. FDR served 3 terms, was elected to a 4th...

...and died in the first few months of his fourth term.

After his death, they passed a term limit for the presidency. You could be elected to two terms or serve no more than 10 years. Hence, LBJ could have ran again in 1968, even though he served the last 15 months and was elected in 1964.

[soothsayer]

45. gotcha. Thanks!

[timezoned]

47. Give him Karl Rove's job

Oops, he's President again!

Guess that coup thing REALLY didn't work out for you huh?

[spanone]

49. uh, guys & gals!

[tomfodw]

51. Sure he can, he just can't succeed

Kissinger was Nixon's Secretary of State even though he wasn't eligible to become president.