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Amendment XX
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Many of the most consequential amendments to the Constitution (e.g., the first ten amendments) are remarkably brief, while some of the more arcane amendments seem to require more elaborate verbiage. This is certainly the case with the Twentieth Amendment reduced the amount of time elapsing between the president's election and his inauguration. It also moved the meeting time of a newly elected Congress from March to January 3, preventing the meeting of a lame-duck session of Congress whose actions might not be consonant with the will of the electorate as expressed in the November elections.
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Traditionally, new presidents took office in March, creating a significant time gap between their election in November and their inauguration. In some cases this time lag had serious consequences. For example, during the period between Abraham Lincoln's election and inauguration, his Democratic predecessor, James Buchanan, found himself to be a lame-duck president at a time when Southern states were seceding from the union. In recognition of the improvements in communication and transportation since the Constitution was originally adopted, the Twentieth Amendment reduced the amount of time elapsing between the president's election and his inauguration. It also moved the meeting time of a newly elected Congress from mArch to JAnuary3, preventing the meeting of a lame-duck session of Congress whose actions might not be consistent with the will of the electorate as expressed in the November elections.
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The remaining parts of the Twentieth Amendment seek to clarify the role of Congress in determining a plan of succession in case of the death or remobalof both the president and Vice President. For much of the nineteenth century, Congress designated the president pro temper of the Senate as next in line succession; from the 1880's until 1947, Congressstipulated that the secretary of state would be next in line. The decision to change the law and provide for the Speaker of the House to assume office in case of the president and vice president's absence was shaped by the leader of the legislative branch most directly responsible to the people -- assume the presidency.
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