Designated_survivor

Designated survivor

Designated survivor

An individual in the presidential line of succession

In the United States, a designated survivor (or designated successor) is a person in the presidential line of succession who is kept distant from others in the line when they are gathered together, to reduce the chance that everyone in the line will be unable to take over the presidency in a catastrophic or mass-casualty event. The person is chosen to stay at an undisclosed secure location, away from such events such as State of the Union addresses and presidential inaugurations. The designation of a survivor is intended to prevent the decapitation of the government and to safeguard continuity in the presidency if the president, the vice president, and others in the presidential line of succession die. The procedure began in the 1950s, during the Cold War, with the idea that nuclear attack could kill government officials and the United States government would collapse.

This article is about the U.S. contingency plan to safeguard its line of presidential succession. For the 2016 TV series inspired by the plan, see Designated Survivor (TV series).

In such an event, the surviving official highest in the line of succession in the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, who might be the designated survivor, would become Acting President of the United States. The designated survivor must be eligible to serve as president. The designated survivor usually is a member of the president's Cabinet and is chosen by the president.

Being the designated survivor does not guarantee that this official will be the person to assume the presidency in such a situation. For the 2010 State of the Union Address, Shaun Donovan, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, was the designated survivor, but Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also was absent from the address, for a conference in London; had a calamity occurred, Clinton, not Donovan, would have become Acting President, because her office was higher in the line of succession.[1]

Congress also designates members of the Senate and House (one from each party) to become Congressional "designated survivors" to maintain the existence of Congress in a mass-casualty event.[2]

Selection

In a 2016 interview, Jon Favreau, a speechwriter for President Barack Obama, said that the procedure for picking a designated survivor for a State of the Union address was "entirely random", but later clarified that the content of the speech played a role in who was permitted to be absent. Favreau said that for a State of the Union speech in which Obama's education policy was a major focus, for example, the Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, was not chosen as the designated survivor, because it was thought that he should attend and represent his department.[3]

List of designated survivors

More information Date, Occasion ...

Notes

  1. 1981, 1989, 1993, 2001, 2009, 2017 and 2021 speeches were given by incoming presidents and not formal "State of the Union" addresses.
  2. For the 2005, 2006 and 2007 State of the Union addresses, the President pro tempore of the Senate would have been the highest-ranking survivor.
  3. While Shaun Donovan was the designated survivor, Hillary Clinton was overseas and was the de facto designated survivor as the most senior person in the line of succession not present.
  4. According to Military.com, outgoing Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was the highest-ranking official in the line of succession who did not attend the inauguration, but it was never officially reported whether he, or anyone else, served as designated survivor.[51]
  5. Due to COVID-19 protocols requiring limited attendance, most of the cabinet was not present for the speech and thus no formal designated survivor was named. United States Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen was the de facto designated survivor as the most senior person in the line of succession not present.

References

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    "Cabinet Members Who Did Not Attend the State of the Union Address". www.presidency.ucsb.edu.
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    Siegel, Benjamin (January 13, 2016). "Meet Congress' State of the Union Designated Survivors". ABC News.
  3. [3]
    Millstein, Seth (February 6, 2019). "How Is The Designated Survivor Chosen? Rick Perry Won't Be At The 2019 SOTU". Bustle. CBS News reports that the president and their staff are responsible for selecting the designated survivor, and Jon Favreau, Barack Obama's former lead speechwriter, spoke to The Ringer about the designated survivor selection process in 2016. Favreau initially said that the process is "entirely random," but then backtracked a bit and said that sometimes, the designated survivor depends on what the president intends to say in their speech.
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    "Cabinet members who did not attend the State of the Union Address (since 1984)" (PDF). United States Senate Historical Office.
  5. [5]
    1984: UPI, "Washington Dateline." January 25, 1984
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    1985: UPI, "Washington News." February 6, 1985
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    1986: UPI, "Washington News." February 4, 1986
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    1987: UPI, "Washington News." January 28, 1987
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    Hershey, Robert D. Jr. (January 27, 1988). "State of Union: Bewitched by Pageant". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 7, 2014. Retrieved February 13, 2013.
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    1990: Washington Post, Page C3. January 31, 1991
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    1991: Washington Post, Page C3. January 31, 1991
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    1996: USA Today, Page A12. February 5, 1997
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    1997: Washington Post, "Agriculture's Glickman Draws Doomsday Duty for Address." Page A13. February 4, 1997
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    2000: The Washington Post, "The Reliable Source." Page C3. January 28, 2000
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    2004: AP, "Four to Miss Speech Due to Security." January 20, 2004
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    "Five Officials Skip State of the Union Address". The New York Times. February 2, 2005. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
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    2006: The Philadelphia Inquirer, "A Message of Energy, Strength." February 1, 2006.
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    2007: The Washington Post, "The Reliable Source." Page C3. January 25, 2007.
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    "Interior secretary skips speech as safeguard". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
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    "US Defence Secretary Gates to sit out Obama inauguration". The Sydney Morning Herald. January 20, 2009. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
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    2006: CNN, "Secretary Clinton misses State of the Union speech." January 27, 2010.
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    O'Keefe, Ed (January 25, 2011). "State of the Union: Ken Salazar to serve as 'designated survivor'". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on October 10, 2012. Retrieved January 26, 2011.
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    "State of the Union: Tom Vilsack to serve as Cabinet's 'designated survivor". The Washington Post. Associated Press. January 24, 2012. Retrieved January 24, 2012.
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    "Shinseki absent from inaugural ceremonies". The San Diego Union-Tribune. January 21, 2013. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
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    "Energy Secretary to be Designated Survivor during State of the Union". Fox News. January 28, 2014.
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    Miller, Zeke J (January 28, 2014). "This Man Will Be Your President If The Worst Happens Happens". Time. Archived from the original on January 30, 2014. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
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    Jackson, David (January 20, 2015). "Obama's 'designated survivor:' Anthony Foxx". USA Today. Archived from the original on January 21, 2015.
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    Jackson, David (January 20, 2015). "If the Worst Happens at the State of the Union, Anthony Foxx Will Lead the Country". NationalJournal. Archived from the original on January 21, 2015. Retrieved January 20, 2015.
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    Shalby, Colleen (January 12, 2016). "If #SOTU disaster strikes, Jeh Johnson ... or a Republican would become president". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 12, 2016.
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    "Sen. Orrin Hatch acting as a designated survivor during inauguration". The Salt Lake Tribune. Archived from the original on September 5, 2017. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
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    Stracqualursi, Veronica (March 1, 2017). "VA Secretary David Shulkin chosen as designated survivor". ABC News.
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    Westwood, Sarah. "Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue State of the Union 'designated survivor'". Washington Examiner. Archived from the original on February 1, 2018. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
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    Klein, Betsy; Gray, Noah (February 5, 2019). "Energy Secretary Rick Perry is the designated survivor". CNN. Retrieved February 5, 2019.
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