50-550: The Twentieth Amendment may refer to the: Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution (1933), established some details of presidential succession and of the beginning and ending of the terms of elected federal officials Twentieth Amendment of the Constitution of India (1966), relating to the appointment of judiciary Twentieth Amendment of
100-629: A different day. Section 3. If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President-elect shall have died, the Vice President-elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President-elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President-elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and
150-421: A lame-duck session was required by the Constitution in even-numbered years; the next session was not required until the next December, meaning new members of Congress might not begin their work until more than a year after they had been elected. Special sessions sometimes met earlier in the year, but this never became a regular practice, despite the Constitution allowing for it. In practice, Congress usually met in
200-529: A long session beginning in Decembers of odd-numbered years, and in a short lame-duck session in December of even-numbered years. The long lame-duck period might have been a practical necessity at the end of the 18th century, when any newly elected official might require several months to put his affairs in order and then undertake an arduous journey from his home to the national capital, but it eventually had
250-617: A possible condition for presidential succession in the Presidential Succession Act of 1947 . The Constitution previously had been silent on this point, and this lack of guidance nearly caused constitutional crises on two occasions: when the House of Representatives seemed unable to break the deadlocked election of 1800 , and when Congress seemed unable to resolve the disputed election of 1876 . Section 4 permits Congress to statutorily clarify what should occur if either
300-519: A president-elect is chosen or the president-elect qualifies; previously, the Constitution did not say what was to be done if the Electoral College attempted to elect a constitutionally unqualified person as president. Section 3 also authorizes Congress to determine who should be acting president if a new president and vice president have not been chosen by Inauguration Day. Acting on this authority, Congress added "failure to qualify" as
350-674: A proposed new Constitution for the United States to replace the 1776–1778 Articles. The Confederation Congress received and submitted the new Constitution document to the states, and the Constitution was later ratified by enough states (nine were required) to become operative in June 1788. On September 13, 1788, the Confederation Congress set the date for choosing the new electors in the Electoral College that
400-487: A quorum for the last time; afterward, although delegates would occasionally appear, there were never enough to officially conduct business. The last meeting of the Continental Congress was held March 2, 1789, two days before the new Constitutional government took over; only one member was present at said meeting, Philip Pell , an ardent Anti-Federalist and opponent of the Constitution, who was accompanied by
450-903: A quorum. Nonetheless, the Congress still managed to pass important laws, most notably the Northwest Ordinance of 1787. The country incurred a massive debt as a result of the War of Independence. In 1784, the total Confederation debt was nearly $ 40 million. Of that sum, $ 8 million was owed to the French and Dutch. Of the domestic debt, government bonds, known as loan-office certificates, composed $ 11.5 million, certificates on interest indebtedness $ 3.1 million, and continental certificates $ 16.7 million. The certificates were non-interest bearing notes issued for supplies purchased or impressed, and to pay soldiers and officers. To pay
500-583: The Committee of the States when Congress was in recess and performed other administrative functions. He was not, however, an executive in the way the later President of the United States is a chief executive since all of the functions he executed were under the direct control of Congress. There were ten presidents of Congress under the Articles. The first, Samuel Huntington , had been serving as president of
550-683: The Confederation Congress , formally referred to as the United States in Congress Assembled , was the governing body of the United States from March 1, 1781, until March 3, 1789, during the Confederation period . A unicameral body with legislative and executive function, it was composed of delegates appointed by the legislatures of the several states . Each state delegation had one vote. The Congress
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#1732764851635600-640: The Continental Army , journeyed to Annapolis after saying farewell to his officers (at Fraunces Tavern ) and men who had just reoccupied New York City after the departing British Army . On December 23, at the Maryland State House , where the Congress met in the Old Senate Chamber, he addressed the civilian leaders and delegates of Congress and returned to them the signed commission they had voted him back in June 1775, at
650-585: The Twelfth Amendment's reference to March 4 as the date by which the House of Representatives must—under circumstances where no candidate won an absolute majority of votes for president in the Electoral College —conduct a contingent presidential election . The new date reduced the period between election day in November and Inauguration Day, the presidential transition , by about six weeks. Section 1 also specifies noon January 3 as
700-500: The United States Constitution moved the beginning and ending of the terms of the president and vice president from March 4 to January 20, and of members of Congress from March 4 to January 3. It also has provisions that determine what is to be done when there is no president-elect . The Twentieth Amendment was adopted on January 23, 1933. The amendment reduced the presidential transition and
750-554: The second terms of President Roosevelt and Vice President Garner, on January 20, 1937. As Section 1 had shortened the first term of both (1933–1937) by 43 days, Garner thus served as vice-president for two full terms, but he did not serve a full eight years: his vice presidency spanned from March 4, 1933, to January 20, 1941. Congress of the Confederation The Congress of the Confederation , or
800-436: The " lame duck " period, by which members of Congress and the president serve the remainder of their terms after an election. The amendment established congressional terms to begin before presidential terms and that the incoming Congress, rather than the outgoing one, would hold a contingent election if the Electoral College deadlocked regarding either the presidential or vice presidential elections. Section 1. The terms of
850-783: The British negotiators made on November 30, 1782, and approved by the "Congress of the Confederation" on April 15, 1783, the Treaty of Paris was further signed on September 3, 1783, and ratified by the Confederation Congress then sitting at the Maryland State House in Annapolis on January 14, 1784. This formally ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain and the thirteen former colonies , which on July 4, 1776 , had declared independence. In December 1783, General George Washington , commander-in-chief of
900-736: The Confederation or the Confederation Congress. The Congress of the Confederation opened in the last stages of the American Revolution . Combat ended in October 1781, with the surrender of the British after the Siege and Battle of Yorktown . The British, however continued to occupy New York City, while the American delegates in Paris, named by the Congress, negotiated the terms of peace with Great Britain . Based on preliminary articles with
950-409: The Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President-elect nor a Vice President-elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified. Section 4. The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of
1000-510: The Congressional secretary. Pell oversaw the meeting and adjourned the Congress sine die . The Continental Congress was presided over by a president (referred to in many official records as President of the United States in Congress Assembled ), who was a member of Congress elected by the other delegates to serve as a neutral discussion moderator during meetings. Elected to a non-renewable one-year term, this person also chaired
1050-420: The Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission. Article I, Section 4, Clause 2 of the Constitution states that Congress must meet at least once a year. The default date specified is the first Monday in December, though Congress is empowered to set another date and the president can summon special sessions. The original text of
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#17327648516351100-431: The Constitution of Ireland (1999), provided constitutional recognition of local government Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution of Pakistan (2012) Twentieth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka (2020) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Twentieth Amendment . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change
1150-536: The Constitution set a duration for the terms of federal elected officials, but not the specific dates on which those terms would begin or end. In September 1788, after the necessary nine states had ratified the Constitution, the Congress of the Confederation set March 4, 1789, as the date "for commencing proceedings" of the newly reorganized government. Despite the fact that the new Congress and presidential administration did not begin operation until April, March 4
1200-806: The Continental Congress since September 28, 1779. The Second Continental Congress was meeting at the Old Pennsylvania State House ( Independence Hall ), in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the time the Articles of Confederation entered into force on March 1, 1781, but left after an anti-government protest by several hundred soldiers of the Continental Army in June 1783 . Congress moved its meeting site successively to Princeton, New Jersey ; Annapolis, Maryland ; Trenton, New Jersey , and then in January 1785 New York City , which remained
1250-475: The Continental Congress. Nevertheless, despite its being generally the same exact governing body, with some changes in membership over the years as delegates came and went individually according to their own personal reasons and upon instructions of their state governments, some modern historians would later refer to the Continental Congress after the ratification of the Articles as the Congress of
1300-488: The House of Representatives must elect the president, and one of the candidates from whom it may choose dies, or if the Senate must elect the vice president and one of the candidates from whom it may choose dies. Congress has never enacted such a statute. On February 15, 1933, 23 days after the amendment was adopted, President-elect Roosevelt was the target of an assassination attempt by Giuseppe Zangara . While Roosevelt
1350-526: The March 4 date on which those terms originally were due to expire. Section 5 also resulted in the 73rd Congress not being required to meet until January 3, 1934. The first Congress to open its first session and begin its members' terms on the new date was the 74th Congress in 1935. The first presidential and vice presidential terms to begin on the date appointed by the Twentieth Amendment were
1400-522: The Maryland state capital. The Annapolis Convention in 1786 which included additional state representatives who joined the sessions, first attempted to look into improving the earlier original Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. There were enough problems to bear further discussion and deliberation that the Convention called for a wider meeting to recommend changes and meet the next year in
1450-414: The President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified. Section 2. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d day of January unless they shall by law appoint
1500-542: The Second Continental Congress automatically carried over to the Congress of the Confederation, and had the same secretary as the Second Continental Congress, Charles Thomson . The Congress of the Confederation was succeeded by the Congress of the United States as provided for in the new Constitution of the United States , drafted on September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia , ratified by each of
1550-487: The Twentieth Amendment on March 2, 1932, and the amendment was ratified by the following states. The Amendment was adopted on January 23, 1933, after 36 states, being three-fourths of the then-existing 48 states, ratified the Amendment. Section 1 of the Twentieth Amendment prescribes that the start and end of the four-year term of both the president and vice president shall be at noon on January 20. The change superseded
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1600-576: The beginning of the conflict. With that simple gesture of acknowledging the first civilian power over the military, he took his leave and returned by horseback the next day to his home and family at Mount Vernon near the colonial river port city on the Potomac River at Alexandria in Virginia . Congress had little power, and without the external threat of a war against the British, it became quite difficult to get enough delegates to meet to form
1650-417: The effect of impeding the functioning of government in the modern age. From the early 19th century, it also meant a lame-duck Congress and presidential administration would fail to adequately respond to a significant national crisis in a timely manner. Each institution could do this on the theory that, at best, a lame-duck Congress or administration had neither the time nor the mandate to tackle problems, whereas
1700-424: The election. In that case, Wilson planned to appoint Hughes as Secretary of State , who under the Presidential Succession Act of 1886 was second in the presidential line of succession. President Wilson and Vice President Thomas R. Marshall would have then both resigned, leaving Hughes to become acting president. The plan was never implemented because Wilson was narrowly re-elected . The 72nd Congress proposed
1750-467: The extended lame duck congressional sessions. As a result of this change, if the Electoral College vote has not resulted in the election of either a president or vice president, the incoming Congress, as opposed to the outgoing one, would conduct a contingent election, following the process set out in the Twelfth Amendment. Section 3 further refines the Twelfth Amendment by declaring that if
1800-402: The incoming administration or Congress would have both the time and a fresh electoral mandate, to examine and address the problems the nation faced. These problems very likely would have been at the center of the debate of the just-completed election cycle. This dilemma was seen most notably in 1861 and 1933, after the elections of Abraham Lincoln and Franklin D. Roosevelt , respectively, plus
1850-458: The interest and principal of the debt, Congress had twice proposed an amendment to the Articles granting them the power to lay a 5% duty on imports, but amendments to the Articles required the consent of all thirteen states: the 1781 impost plan had been rejected by Rhode Island and Virginia, while the revised plan, discussed in 1783, was rejected by New York. Without revenue, except for meager voluntary state requisitions, Congress could not even pay
1900-544: The interest on its outstanding debt. The states, meanwhile, regularly failed or refused to meet the requisitions requested of them by Congress. To that end, in September 1786, after resolving a series of disputes regarding their common border along the Potomac River, delegates of Maryland and Virginia called for a larger assembly to discuss various situations and governing problems to meet in Annapolis, Maryland ,
1950-507: The late Spring of 1787 in Philadelphia . The Confederation Congress itself endorsed this and issued invitations for the states to send delegates. After meeting in secret all summer in the Old Pennsylvania State House , which by then was renamed Independence Hall , from the famous actions of there eleven years earlier. The Philadelphia Convention , under the presidency of former General George Washington , issued
2000-572: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Twentieth_Amendment&oldid=1151172728 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Twentieth Amendment ( Amendment XX ) to
2050-558: The newly elected senators and representatives. Under the Constitution at the time, these presidents had to wait four months before they and the incoming Congresses could deal with the secession of Southern states and the Great Depression respectively. In 1916, during World War I , President Woodrow Wilson devised an unorthodox plan to avoid a lame-duck presidency and allow his Republican opponent Charles Evans Hughes to assume presidential powers immediately if Hughes had won
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2100-518: The persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them. Section 5. Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following the ratification of this article. Section 6. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to
2150-408: The president-elect dies before Inauguration Day , the vice president-elect will be sworn in as president on that day and serve for the full four-year term to which that person was elected. It further states that if, on Inauguration Day, a president-elect has not yet been chosen, or if the president-elect fails to qualify, the vice president-elect would become acting president on Inauguration Day until
2200-400: The same day. The result of these scheduling decisions was that there was a long, four-month lame duck period between the election and inauguration of the new president. For Congress, the situation was perhaps even more awkward. Because Article I, Section 4, Clause 2 mandated a Congressional meeting every December, after the election but before Congressional terms of office had expired,
2250-445: The start and end of the terms of members of the Senate and the House of Representatives; the previous date had also been March 4. Section 2 moves the yearly start date of congressional sessions from the first Monday in December, as mandated by Article I, Section 4, Clause 2, to noon on January 3 of the same year, though Congress still can by law set another date and the president can summon special sessions. This change eliminated
2300-562: The states, and adopted by the Congress in 1788. On March 1, 1781, the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union were signed by delegates of Maryland at a meeting of the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia , which then declared the Articles ratified. As historian Edmund Burnett wrote, "There was no new organization of any kind, not even the election of a new President." The Congress still called itself
2350-465: Was created by the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union upon its ratification in 1781, formally replacing the Second Continental Congress . The Congress continued to refer itself as the " Continental Congress " throughout its eight-year history, although modern historians separate it from the two earlier congresses, which operated under slightly different rules and procedures until the later part of American Revolutionary War . The membership of
2400-465: Was deemed to be the beginning of the newly elected officials' terms of office, and thus of the terms of their successors. The Constitution did not specify a date for federal elections, but by the time of the second presidential election in 1792, Congress had passed a law requiring presidential electors to be chosen during November or early December. By 1845, this was narrowed to a single day, in early November. Congressional elections were generally held on
2450-581: Was not injured, had the attempt been successful, then vice president-elect John Nance Garner would have become president on March 4, 1933, pursuant to Section 3. Section 5 delayed Sections 1 and 2 taking effect until the first October 15 following the amendment's ratification. As it was adopted on January 23, 1933, Section 1 shortened the terms of representatives elected to the 73rd Congress (1933–1935), as well as those of senators elected for terms ending in 1935, 1937, and 1939, by 60 days, by ending those terms on January 3 of each odd-numbered year rather than
2500-478: Was set up for choosing a President as January 7, 1789, the date for the Electors to vote for the President as on February 4, 1789, and the date for the Constitution to become operative as March 4, 1789, when the new Congress of the United States should convene. The Congress of the Confederation continued to conduct business for another month after setting the various dates. On October 10, 1788, Congress formed
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