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Was the 12th amendment a mistake? (lemmy.world)
submitted 4 days ago by ChonkyOwlbear@lemmy.world to c/nostupidquestions@lemmy.ca
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Before the 12th amendment, the presidential candidate who got the second most electoral votes became the vice president. This meant they were usually different parties.

It occurred to me that one thing this achieved was always ensuring that there was someone in the room who would be willing to disagree with the president. He couldn't surround himself with yes-men.

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[-] Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world 8 points 4 days ago

You had my curiosity, but now you have my attention.

In all seriousness, what's the actual risk of the VP assassinating the president, given their vastly disparate levels of power?

[-] corsicanguppy@lemmy.ca 7 points 3 days ago

what’s the actual risk

So he can assume the role of president? That's a large carrot to dangle before some really sketchy types.

[-] Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago

Yeah, I get the motivation. I just meant that the VP seems to have miniscule power compared to the president.

[-] theworstshepard@fedinsfw.app 7 points 3 days ago

That's why they'd be motivated to kill the president

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this post was submitted on 01 Sep 2026
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