In which situation in American Government could there be a President
and a Vice President of the United States from different political
parties?

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Request for Question Clarification by rainbow-ga on 27 Sep 2005 08:48 PDT

Hi kimig,

Please let me know if this answers your question:

"Under the U.S. Constitution, the members of the U.S. Electoral
College originally voted only for office of President rather than for
both President and Vice-President. The person receiving the greatest
number of votes (provided that such a number was a majority of
electors) would be President, while the individual who was in second
place became Vice President. If no one received a majority of votes,
then the U.S. House of Representatives would choose between the five
highest vote-getters, with each state getting one vote. In such a
case, the person who received the highest number of votes but was not
chosen President would become Vice President. If there was ever a tie
for second, then the U.S. Senate would choose the Vice President.

The original plan, however, did not forsee the development of
political parties. In 1796, for instance, Federalist John Adams came
in first, and Democratic-Republican Thomas Jefferson came second.
Thus, the President and Vice President were from different parties."

http://www.answers.com/topic/vice-president-of-the-united-states

Best regards,
Rainbow

Hello kimig,

One possibility is that: there is a tie in the Electoral College; the
House chooses a President from one party: and the Senate chooses a
Vice President from a different party.

"In a tie, Edwards could be named Bush's VP," by Matthew Eisley, The
(Raleigh, N.C.) News & Observer (October 11, 2004)
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/194630_edwards11.html

See also:

"President Edwards?" by Stephen J. Marmon (October 29, 2004)
The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/29/opinion/29marmon.html?oref=login&ex=1256788800&%2338;en=a55cf721a1a0a0f8&%2338;ei=5088&

Other possibilities are that:

* the Electors choose a President from one party and a Vice President
from the other party

* the Vice President dies; the President nominates a Vice President
from the opposing party; and Congress confirms that choice

These possibilities are foreseeable under the Twelfth and Twenty-Fifth Amendments:

"U.S. Constitution -- Amendment XII"
Legal Information Institute
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.amendmentxii.html

"U.S. Constitution -- Amendment XXV"
Legal Information Institute
http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.amendmentxxv.html

- justaskscott


Search strategy --

Searched on Google for:

"bush edwards"
"bush edwards administration"
constitution

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Request for Answer Clarification by kimig-ga on 27 Sep 2005 17:11 PDT

What about in the year 2000?

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Clarification of Answer by justaskscott-ga on 27 Sep 2005 21:00 PDT

The Bush-Edwards scenario in 2004 could have been a Bush-Lieberman
scenario in 2000.  If the Electoral College had voted 269-269
(presumably due to a defection of Bush electors), then the Republican
House would likely have voted for Bush while the closely divided
Senate might conceivably have voted for Lieberman.  Alternatively, the
Electoral College could have selected a President from one party and a
Vice President from the other party, as noted in my answer.