<Li> The 12th Amendment includes a statement clarifying that, just as they would due to the president's death or disability, the powers and duties of the presidency devolve to the vice president if--following a presidential election where no candidate won an absolute majority of votes in the Electoral College--the House of Representatives has been unable to elect a president by the scheduled beginning of the president's term . </Li> <Li> The 20th Amendment, Section 3, supersedes the above 12th Amendment provision, by declaring that if the president - elect dies before his term begins, the vice president - elect becomes president on Inauguration Day and serves for the full term to which the president - elect was elected, and also that, if on Inauguration Day, a president has not been chosen or the president - elect does not qualify for the presidency, the vice president - elect acts as president until a president is chosen or the president - elect qualifies . It also authorizes Congress to provide for instances in which neither a president - elect nor a vice president - elect have qualified . </Li> <Li> The 25th Amendment, Section 1, clarifies Article II, Section 1, Clause 6, by stating unequivocally that the vice president is the direct successor of the president, and becomes president if the incumbent dies, resigns or is removed from office . It also, in sections 3 and 4, provides for situations where the president is temporarily disabled, such as if the president has a surgical procedure or becomes mentally unfit . Additionally, in Section 2, the amendment provides a mechanism for intra-term vice presidential succession, establishing that vice presidential vacancies will be filled by the president and confirmed by both houses of Congress . Previously, whenever a vice president had succeeded to the presidency or had died or resigned from office, the vice presidency remained vacant until the next presidential and vice presidential terms began; there were 16 such vacancies prior to 1967 . </Li> <P> The Presidential Succession Act of 1792 (Full text) provided for succession to the presidency, in the event both the office of the President and the Vice President were vacant, by, first, the president pro tempore of the Senate, followed by, if need be, the speaker of the House . Various framers of the Constitution, such as James Madison, criticized the arrangement as being contrary to their intent . The decision to build the line of succession around those two officials was made after a long and contentious debate . In addition to the president pro tempore and the speaker, both the secretary of state and the chief justice of the Supreme Court were also suggested . Including the secretary of state was unacceptable to most Federalists, who did not want the then secretary of state, Thomas Jefferson, who had become the leader of the opposition Democratic - Republicans, to follow the vice president in the succession, and many objected to including the chief justice due to separation of powers concerns . </P>

Who is next in line if president dies