A Page from Our Book
Page 41 – Vice-President Selection
Since the Vice-President would become President upon the death or removal from office of the President, that individual should also be one that had the same esteem and perceived virtue and capability as the President. He would therefore be chosen from the same pool of up to five candidates produced by counting the electoral votes.
The Constitution specifies:
In every Case, after the Choice of the President, the Person having the greatest Number of Votes of the Electors shall be the Vice President. But if there should remain two or more who have equal Votes, the Senate shall choose from them by Ballot the Vice President. (Article II Section 1 Clause 3)
The Vice-President would always be the remaining presidential candidate with the most electoral votes after the President was selected—the Senate would only choose if more than one had that number.
Our analysis indicates that strictly following the constitutional instructions and intent, the House would normally be involved in the selection of the President. The Senate would almost never choose the Vice-President.
