Evening star., 1947-02-07
Presidential Succession

Ii appears tldt the 1tcPupiicaHS III
Congress are in mood to make
haste slowly on the Presidents re-
newed appeal for legislation dras-
tically revamping the Presidential
Succession Act of 1885.
AS the act stands, since there is
no vice president, Secretary of State
Marshall would succeed to the presi-
dency II disaster befell Mr.. Truman.
If it befell Secretary Marshall as
well, Treasury Secretary Snyder
would be the next in line, and SO on
down through the cabinet.
President Truman views this as an
unwholesome situation. He argues
that when there is no vice president
the President has the power, in ef-
feet, to name his successor In the
event of death-a power he regards
as undemocratic. So he would have
the law rewritten to provide that
the Speaker of the House, followed
by the President Pro Tempore of the
Senate, rank after the vice president
in the. line of succession. Within
their own constituencies at least,
these two key members of Congress
face popular vote, whereas a cab
met member faces none at all. For
that reason, in Mr.. Truuan's judg-
ment, they are better fitted to I'LL a
preSidentia1 vacapcv
The President first made this pro-
posal during the last session of Con-
gress, when the Democrats still had
control. The House approved it, but
the Senate let it die. Now, in raising
the issue again, the President leaves
it Squarely up to the Republicans to
decide. Offhand, considering that
Speaker Martin is one of them, it
would seem only natural for them
to act favorably without the slightest
delay. But the seeming thing is not
always the actual thing. In this in
stance, aside from serious questions
of principle, 1948 complications
within the COP tend to make
hesitancy the better part of political
wisdom.
OF course, it is not a matter Of
liking or disliking Speaker Martin.
All House and Senate Republicans
will vow that they hold him in affec-
tionate esteem. At the same time,
though, they have to give thought
to their oncoming national conven-
tion. They have to give thought,
too, to the happily very remote
chance that something may happen
to Mr.. Truman. And giving thought
to that, and to 1948, they must ask
themselves whether it would be good
to tinker with the present law. After
all, there are several presidential
hopefuls among them, and 1t is only
human that these available ones and
their followers should worry a bit
over what would become Of their
dreams If fate suddenly moved the
Speaker into the White House. a.
Moreover, wholly apart from the
intraparty politics involved, the
issue is open to debate on a rea-
sonably high plane, even to the
point of arguing that it may require
constitutional amendment to get
around the fact that the Constitu-
ton limits succession to an "officer"
of the Government and that it is
doubtful whether any member of
Congress is such an Officer" Some
may argue, too, that the Presidents
idea is too narrow and that no action
should be taken until a careful study
has been made, including a study of
what should be done in case Wash
ington and nearly everybody in it
were wiped out in an atomic war.
There are any number of points,
in short, over which the Republicans
can hem and haw and justify delay.
The Presidents proposal makes a
good deal of sense, but it has its
debatable features, and these, to-
gether with politics, may be enough
to kill it off again.