[SLB]

Worst case scenario - Bush and Cheney are killed after being re-elected, but before Jan 20th. What happens then? Who will be the Speaker of the House then? Will that change? How long will he serve?

[Squantos]

Defense in depth is the norm.....USSS bullet catchers and TSD sorts are "very" good at what they do backed up by DOD assets like EOD, Spec Op's, DOD Bomb Dog's and WHCA Communications Specialists. And these are just the folks one "see's" if they know what they are looking for.

Stay Safe.......Y

[Space Dawg]

My very uneducated guess-- :)

Assume GWB is elected on Nov 2.

There are several time periods in question to consider if the president-elect dies before inauguration.
1. Between election day and the "meeting of the electors".
2. Between the "meeting of the electors" and the house session to read/tally the electors' votes.
3. Between the house pronouncement and Jan 20.

Time period 1 (between election day and meeting of the electors): The electors are free to vote how they wish. I'm sure the Republican Party would try to draft a candidate and organize the electors to vote for him/her.

Time period 2 (between meeting of electors and house session): The house receives the votes and determines that the "winner" has since deceased. Since no living person has the required 270 votes, the house would vote among the 3 highest electoral vote recipients. This could ensure a Kerry win since he may be the only other person with electoral votes--unless an elector played games with his vote and voted for another person.

Time period 3 (between house session and inauguration): If the president-elect dies, then would Cheney get inaugurated? (Then next in line is the current Speaker, etc.) I think the Supreme Court would have to get involved here.

Those are my guesses. Those more knowledgeable, please feel free to correct me.

[CyberAnt]

Sorry .. my prayers are covering the President, and the VP and nothing is going to happen to them!!

[Conservative til I die]

I gotta think if it is the Speaker, or whoever is next in line would serve the entire term, just as the VP would when Kennedy, McKinley, Garfield, and Lincoln were assassinated.

That assumes the President and VP are killed at the same time. If not, and now-President Cheney manages to select a VP, then he would President of course.

Killed at the same time means President Hastert.