Robert Byrd Third in Line for Presidency

NewsMax ^ | 5 January 2007

[Aussie Dasher]

The elevation of Robert Byrd as President Pro Tempore of the Senate on Thursday makes an 89-year-old former Klansman third in the line of presidential succession.

Only Vice President Dick Cheney and new House Speaker Nancy Pelosi stand between the West Virginia Democrat and the White House if President Bush does not finish his term.

Byrd was first elected to the Senate in 1958 and is the longest-serving member of the Senate in history. He won his ninth term in 2006 and is now the oldest member of the U.S. Congress.

He also served six years in the House. If he is still serving at the end of 2009, he will surpass the record of Sen. Carl Hayden, D-Ariz., who was in the House and Senate for nearly 57 years.

Byrd joined the Klu Klux Klan at age 24 and was elected Exalted Cyclops of his local chapter. He has admitted that his membership in the organization was "wrong.”

[Aussie Dasher]

Wonder what Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton will have to say about this...

While I'm waiting to hear, I think I might invest heavily in sheets!

[trumandogz]

Strom was President pro tempore of the Senate at age 98.

[jeddavis]

Picture this guy at long last being able to fulfill his lifetime dream of burning a cross on the whitehouse lawn?

[Uncle Ike]

They finally found him a job where it's okay for him to be asleep most of the time.....

[Beckwith]

Look what InfoPlease has to say about presidential succession.

InfoPlease --presidential succession

Prior to the ratification of the 25th Amendment in 1967, there was no provision for filling a vacancy in the vice presidency. When a president died in office, the vice president succeeded him, and the vice presidency then remained vacant. The first vice president to take office under the new procedure was Gerald Ford, who was nominated by Nixon on Oct. 12, 1973, and confirmed by Congress the following Dec. 6.

The Vice President Nancy Pelosi

Is that wishfull thinking or just bad information?

[Recon Dad]

He's less coherent than Tim Johnson.

[samtheman]

Every state in the union would have a highway named after him. Every city in the country would have a street named after him. Half of all the airports would change their name to Robert E. Byrdbrain International Airport. Byrdbrain elementary schools would pop up on the landscape like mushrooms. Katie Couric would embrace the Byrd with messianic zeal.

(Just to name a few.)

[proud American in Canada]

Is it just me, or is anyone else a little perplexed as to why there is so much discussion in the media about the succession to the presidency? Did this happen for any other president? I really don't remember that.

President Bush has only got another year and a half, for Pete's sake.

Aussie Dasher--this post is not a criticism of you, it's just an observation. It seems strange to me, how there is so much talk of impeachment/succession, etc.

[AmeriBrit]

You'd better put new batteries in your calculator.

January 5th 2007 - January 20th 2009 = 2 years + 2 weeks

[metesky]

1/20/09. That would be just over 2 years.

[Dr. Scarpetta]

Why are people in West Virginia electing him?

[proud American in Canada]

Thanks for the correction--I'm still half asleep. I probably shouldn't freep before a coffee. :)

I guess I was thinking about the election, and rounding it down, so to speak. :)

[Aussie Dasher]

Why the hell do people in Massachusetts continue to elect Lard Ass and F'Kerry? The world is full of mysteries (and morons!!!).

[palmer]

Driving through WV you'll notice a monster brick building in the middle of nowhere named the Robert Byrd Jobs Center or something like that.

[Dr. Scarpetta]

Good point. I live in PA, and the voters just threw out Santorum.

[Aussie Dasher]

Another bloody mystery!

[Thrownatbirth]

Why are people in West Virginia electing him?

He brings home the pork, and the people don't care how he does it. You've got to admit that the state is a lot better for it. The changes in the past 20 - 25 years (roads (!), new industry, upscale communities) are pretty stunning.

[proudofthesouth]

Maybe the media is hoping for two "arkancides".

[johnny7]

I'm sure he'd wear his... 'dress-whites'.

[proud American in Canada]

Maybe the media is hoping for two "arkancides"

I think you must be right.

Isn't it strange? Have we ever seen such discussion about this?

I suppose it's a good lesson in the Constitution for kids (and their parents!), though. ;)