Vice-President Clinton?

[DAVID E. BERNSTEIN]

I am forward a question from my colleague Todd Zywicki which members of
this list may find of interest:

Assuming they considered it politically and personally desirable, would
it be legal for Al Gore to choose Bill Clinton as his running mate?  The

plain language of the text is clear -- the 22nd Amendment says that no
person shall be "elected to the office of President more than twice . .
. ."  It says nothing about being "elected" Vice-President and it does
not seem to prohibit being elected Vice-President and even succeeding to

the Presidency in the event of a vacancy, although presumably one could
not then stand for election in such a case.  Also there would seem to be

no constitutional problem with a former President being elected, say,
Speaker of the House and then succeeding to the White House in case of
an absence of the President and VP.

Is there any argument to believe that the plain language reading would
be invalid?  I seem to recall an argument about why a VP could not
preside over his own impeachment trial (plain language notwithstanding),

but the policies advanced in that case do not seem relevant here.

-Todd Zywicki
GMU Law


David E. Bernstein
Associate Professor
George Mason University
School of Law
3401 N. Fairfax Drive
Arlington, VA 22201
(703) 993-8089
dbernste at wpgate.gmu.edu
<http://members.aol.com/deliotb/home.html>