Source: https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/amdt20-S6-2/ALDE_00001006/
Timestamp: 2020-08-05 08:19:39
Document Index: 1899977

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1', '§ 1', '§ 4', '§ 30', '§ 11', '§ 3', '§ 19', '§ 30', '§ 11', '§ 19']

Twentieth Amendment: Doctrine and Practice | Constitution Annotated | Congress.gov | Library of Congress
Home > Browse the Constitution Annotated > Twentieth Amendment > Section 6 > Amdt20.S6.2 Twentieth Amendment: Doctrine and Practice
The exact term of the President and Vice President was fixed by the Constitution, Art. II, § 1, cl. 1, at 4 years, and became actually effective, by resolution of the Continental Congress, on the 4th of March 1789. Since this amendment was declared adopted on February 6, 1933, § 1 in effect shortened, by the interval between January 20 and March 4, 1937, the terms of the President and Vice President elected in 1932.
Section 2 supersedes clause 2 of § 4 of Article I. The setting of an exact hour for meeting constitutes a recognition of the long practice of Congress, which in 1867 was for the first time enacted into permanent law,1Footnote
Ch. 10, 14 Stat. 378. only to be repealed in 1871.2Footnote
Ch. 21, § 30, 17 Stat. 12. See 1 A. Hinds’ Precedents of the House of Representatives § 11 (1907).
When the 3d of January fell on Sunday (in 1937), Congress did by law appoint a different day for its assemblage.3Footnote
Pursuant to the authority conferred upon it by § 3 of this amendment, Congress shaped the Presidential Succession Act of 19484Footnote
Ch. 644, 62 Stat. 672, as amended, 3 U.S.C. § 19. See also the discussion of Presidential Succession under the Twenty-fifth Amendment, infra. to meet the situation which would arise from the failure of both President elect and Vice President elect to qualify on or before the time fixed for the beginning of the new Presidential term.
Jump to essay-1Ch. 10, 14 Stat. 378.
Jump to essay-2Ch. 21, § 30, 17 Stat. 12. See 1 A. Hinds’ Precedents of the House of Representatives § 11 (1907).
Jump to essay-3Ch. 713, 49 Stat. 1826.
Jump to essay-4Ch. 644, 62 Stat. 672, as amended, 3 U.S.C. § 19. See also the discussion of Presidential Succession under the Twenty-fifth Amendment, infra.