A Lesson in Succession

Last week, Kadima members voted in a party election to see who would succeed Ehud Olmert, who resigned from the office of Prime Minister. Tzipora Livni won the election and, unless early general elections are called, will run the government for the next 18 months. Roughly 50,000 party members voted to see who would lead a "democratic" nation of 7.3 million; that's less than 1% of the population, less than 2% of eligible voters.

This was consistent with the rules of this travesty that we call a democracy in Israel because the underlying political philosophy is collectivist. Individuals are not elected, parties are. Parties appoint legislators to represent party interests. Individuals don't lead; parties lead. Therefore, technically, no succession was necessary. Of course, de-facto, individuals wield power within Israeli political collectives. The understanding is that the leader of a party that wins the right to form the government becomes the Prime Minister. Thus, when Prince Ehud of the Fat Envelopes resigned, the party collective had replaced him in a way that suited the interests of the party collective, not the public of voting citizens.

The quality of leadership within a system is reflected in its rules of succession. For less than 2% of a population to choose its nation's chief executive is an embarrassing joke on democratic principles. When compared to the rules of succession of the President of the United States, last week's Kadima vote seems worthy of a banana republic.

In the United States, there is never a situation in which a chief executive is directly appointed by a party elite or from a limited primary within a party, unlike the travesty we just witnessed in Israel. When a President cannot continue in his duties, he is succeeded according to the following order of succession.

1. Vice President
2. Speaker of the House of Representatives
3. President pro tempore of the Senate
4. Secretary of State
5. Secretary of the Treasury
6. Secretary of Defense
7. Attorney General
8. Secretary of the Interior
9. Secretary of Agriculture
10. Secretary of Commerce
11. Secretary of Labor
12. Secretary of Health and Human Services
13. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
14. Secretary of Transportation
15. Secretary of Energy
16. Secretary of Education
17. Secretary of Veterans Affairs
18. Secretary of Homeland Security

There are clear constitutional principles behind this ordering. Because U.S. citizens vote for President and Vice-President (VP) as one ticket, there is a civic understanding that the VP, as first in line, represents the principles and policies of the popularly elected executive administration. Also, because of this, the VP actually takes on the title of "President" and appoints a new Vice-President, subject to the approval of Congress. In such a situation, the administration continues to the end of the original term.

In cases of "dual vacancy" (i.e., removal of both President and VP,) successors DO NOT attain the title of President but of "Acting President." Any scenario in which both President and Vice-President would be removed (health, impeachment, assassination, other coincidences) constitutes a time of a "caretaker" administration in a national emergency. Dual vacancies result in a special presidential election held the following November (unless the vacancies occurred after the first Wednesday in October, in which case the election would occur the following year; or unless the vacancies occurred within the last year of the presidential term, in which case the next election would take place as regularly scheduled).

The constitution discourages authorizing the chief executive to appoint a successor who has not been popularly, individually elected. So, after the VP, the next two in line are NOT members of the executive cabinet (who were appointed by the President), but rather the popularly elected senior members of the majority parties of the two houses of Congress, who represent the majority will of the people in lawmaking. Note that if the current Republican-affiliated President and Vice-President become unable to serve, the next two in line of presidential succession (Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi and President pro tempore of the Senate Robert Byrd) happen to be from the rival Democratic Party! Remember, though, that any such succession would be very temporary and considered a "caretaker" measure in a time of national emergency.

The U.S. rules of Presidential succession are an impressive example of respecting the will of the people while responsibly ensuring a continuity of governmental functioning. We can attain the same high standard of public service if we push through the right reforms.