Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|1933 amendment changing term dates for elected federal officials}}

'''Amendment XX''' (the '''Twentieth Amendment''') of the [[United States Constitution]], also called '''The Lame Duck Amendment''', establishes some details of [[President of the United States|presidential]] succession and of the beginning and ending of the terms of elected federal officials.

{{Use American English|date = March 2019}}

{{Use mdy dates|date = March 2019}}

{{US Constitution article series}}

The '''Twentieth Amendment''' ('''Amendment XX''') to the [[United States Constitution]] moved the beginning and ending of the terms of the [[President of the United States|president]] and [[Vice President of the United States|vice president]] from March{{nbsp}}4 to January 20, and of members of Congress from March{{nbsp}}4 to January 3. It also has provisions that determine what is to be done when there is no [[President-elect of the United States|president-elect]]. The Twentieth Amendment was adopted on January 23, 1933.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/amendments-11-27|title=Constitution of the United States: Amendments 11-27|website=[[Archives.gov]]|date=November 4, 2015 |access-date=November 22, 2020|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114215246/https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/amendments-11-27|url-status=live}}</ref>

The purpose of the amendment was to reduce the amount of time between the election of the President and Congress and the beginning of their terms. Under the Constitution as originally adopted, the terms of the President and the Congress began on March 4th, four months after the elections were held. While this lapse was a practical necessity during the 19th century, at which time a newly elected official might need several months to put his affairs in order and then undertake the arduous journey from his home to the national capital, it had the effect of impeding the functioning of government in the modern age. This was seen most notably as the states of the [[Confederate States of America]] seceded after the election of [[Abraham Lincoln]] but before he could take office in [[1861]], and while the [[Great Depression]] worsened following the election of [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] in [[1932]], but the nation remained under the [[lame duck]] leadership of [[Herbert Hoover]].

The amendment reduced the [[United States presidential transition|presidential transition]] and the "[[Lame duck (politics)|lame duck]]" period, by which members of Congress and the president serve the remainder of their terms after an election. The amendment established congressional terms to begin before presidential terms and that the incoming Congress, rather than the outgoing one, would hold a [[contingent election]] if the [[United States Electoral College|Electoral College]] deadlocked regarding either the presidential or vice presidential elections.

In addition, under Article One as originally adopted, Congress was required to convene once each year in December. That resulted in a mandatory "lame-duck" session following each election, at which (typically) little was accomplished.

==Text==

The amendment was ratified on [[January 23]], [[1933]] but, because of Section 5, it did not affect the dates for the meeting of Congress or the inauguration of the new President Roosevelt, in 1933. The amendment states:

{{blockquote|'''Section 1.''' The terms of the President and Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d<!--original text (not 3rd)--> day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified.

'''Section 2.''' The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3d<!--original text (not 3rd)--> day of January unless they shall by law appoint a different day.

__NOTOC__ <!-- hide (confusing) table of contents for now -->

<blockquote>

==== Section 1. ====

'''Section 3.''' If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President-elect shall have died, the Vice President-elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President-elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President-elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President-elect nor a Vice President-elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.

''The terms of the [[President of the United States|President]] and [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] shall end at noon on the [[January 20|20th day of January]], and the terms of [[United States Senate|Senators]] and [[United States House of Representatives|Representatives]] at noon on the <!-- '3d' is the spelling used in the original amend. text; please do not "correct" it to read '3rd'-->[[January 3|3d day of January]], of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.''

'''Section 4.''' The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.

==== Section 2. ====

'''Section 5.''' Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the 15th day of October following the ratification of this article.

''The [[Congress of the United States|Congress]] shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall begin at noon on the 3rd<!-- '3rd' is verbatim, see images --> day of January, unless they shall by law appoint a different day.''

'''Section 6.''' This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission.}}

==== Section 3. ====

==Historical background==

''If, at the time fixed for the beginning of the term of the President, the President elect shall have died, the Vice President elect shall become President. If a President shall not have been chosen before the time fixed for the beginning of his term, or if the President elect shall have failed to qualify, then the Vice President elect shall act as President until a President shall have qualified; and the Congress may by law provide for the case wherein neither a President elect nor a Vice President elect shall have qualified, declaring who shall then act as President, or the manner in which one who is to act shall be selected, and such person shall act accordingly until a President or Vice President shall have qualified.''

====Original Sectiontext 4.of =the Constitution===

[[Article One of the United States Constitution#Clause 2: Sessions of Congress|Article I, Section 4, Clause{{nbsp}}2]] of the Constitution states that Congress must meet at least once a year. The default date specified is the first Monday in December, though Congress is empowered to set another date and the president can summon special sessions.

The original text of the Constitution set a duration for the terms of federal elected officials, but not the specific dates on which those terms would begin or end. In September 1788, after the necessary nine states had ratified the Constitution, the [[Congress of the Confederation]] set March 4, 1789, as the date "for commencing proceedings" of the newly reorganized government. Although the new Congress and presidential administration did not begin operating until April, March 4 was designated as the official start of the newly elected officials' terms, and thus the starting point for the terms of their successors. The Constitution did not specify a date for federal elections; however, by the second presidential election in 1792, Congress had enacted a law requiring presidential electors to be chosen in November or early December.<ref>The bill originally specified a thirty-day period for the states to choose their electors. Annals of Congress, House of Representatives, 2nd Congress, 1st Session, [http://memory.loc.gov/ll/llac/003/0100/01370277.tif p. 278] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114215744/http://memory.loc.gov/ll/llac/003/0100/01370277.tif |date=January 14, 2021 }}</ref> In 1845, the 28th Congress narrowed the appointment in each State of Electors (of President and Vice President) to a single day: The "Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November".<ref>[https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-5/pdf/STATUTE-5-Pg721.pdf Presidential Election Day Act] as enacted ([https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/STATUTE-5/STATUTE-5-Pg721 5 Stat. 721]) in the [[United States Statutes at Large|US Statutes at Large]]</ref> Congressional elections were generally held on the same day.

''The Congress may by law provide for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the House of Representatives may choose a President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them, and for the case of the death of any of the persons from whom the Senate may choose a Vice President whenever the right of choice shall have devolved upon them.''

==== Section 5. =Issues===

The result of these scheduling decisions was that there was a long, four-month [[Lame duck (politics)|lame duck]] period between the election and inauguration of the new president. For Congress, the situation was perhaps even more awkward. Because Article I, Section 4, Clause{{nbsp}}2 mandated a Congressional meeting every December, after the election but before Congressional terms of office had expired, a lame-duck session was required by the Constitution in even-numbered years; the next session was not required until the ''next'' December, meaning new members of Congress might not begin their work until more than a year after they had been elected. Special sessions sometimes met earlier in the year, but this never became a regular practice, despite the Constitution allowing for it. In practice, Congress usually met in a long session beginning in Decembers of odd-numbered years, and in a short lame-duck session in December of even-numbered years.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ackerman|first=Bruce|title=The Failure of the Founding Fathers: Jefferson, Marshall, and the Rise of Presidential Democracy|url=https://archive.org/details/failureoffoundi00acke|url-access=registration |publisher=The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press|date=2005|pages=[https://archive.org/details/failureoffoundi00acke/page/119 119]|isbn=9780674018662 }}</ref>

The long lame-duck period might have been a practical necessity at the end of the 18th century, when any newly elected official might require several months to put his affairs in order and then undertake an arduous journey from his home to the national capital, but it eventually had the effect of impeding the functioning of government in the modern age. From the early 19th century, it also meant a lame-duck Congress and presidential administration would fail to adequately respond to a significant national crisis in a timely manner. Each institution could do this on the theory that, at best, a lame-duck Congress or administration had neither the time nor the mandate to tackle problems, whereas the incoming administration or Congress would have both the time and a fresh electoral mandate, to examine and address the problems the nation faced. These problems very likely would have been at the center of the debate of the just-completed election cycle.

''Sections 1 and 2 shall take effect on the [[October 15|15th day of October]] following the ratification of this article.''

This dilemma was seen most notably in 1861 and 1933, after the elections of [[Abraham Lincoln]] and [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]], respectively, plus the newly elected senators and representatives. Under the Constitution at the time, these presidents had to wait four months before they and the incoming Congresses could deal with the [[Confederate States of America|secession of Southern states]] and the [[Great Depression]] respectively.

==== Section 6. ====

In 1916, during [[World War I]], President [[Woodrow Wilson]] devised an unorthodox plan to avoid a lame-duck presidency and allow his Republican opponent [[Charles Evans Hughes]] to assume presidential powers immediately if Hughes had won the election. In that case, Wilson planned to appoint Hughes as [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]], who under the [[Presidential Succession Act#Presidential Succession Act of 1886|Presidential Succession Act of 1886]] was second in the presidential line of succession. President Wilson and Vice President [[Thomas R. Marshall]] would have then both resigned, leaving Hughes to become acting president. The plan was never implemented because Wilson was narrowly [[1916 United States presidential election|re-elected]].<ref>{{cite web|last=Jackson|first=Michael W.|title=If Woodrow Wilson had lost the 1916 election|url=http://blogs.usyd.edu.au/theoryandpractice/2013/10/if_woodrow_wilson_had_lost_the.html|work=Political theory and practice: Thinking and doing|publisher=The University of Sydney, Australia|date=October 22, 2013|access-date=June 24, 2018|archive-date=June 8, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190608031215/http://blogs.usyd.edu.au/theoryandpractice/2013/10/if_woodrow_wilson_had_lost_the.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

''This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission.''

</blockquote>

==Proposal and ratification==

In a bizarre coincidence, only three weeks after this amendment was ratified, President-elect [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] was the target of an unsuccessful [[assassination]] attempt by [[Giuseppe Zangara]]. If the attack had killed Roosevelt, the provisions of Section 3 of the amendment would have become operative.

{|style="float: right; margin-left:2em" class="wikitable"

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!{{Center|The Twentieth Amendment,<br>[[National Archives and Records Administration|National Archives]]}}

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|{{Center|[[Image:20th Amendment Pg1of2 AC.jpg|200px]]}}

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|{{Center|[[Image:20th Amendment Pg2of2 AC.jpg|200px]]}}

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The [[72nd United States Congress|72nd Congress]] proposed the Twentieth Amendment on March 2, 1932, and the amendment was [[Article Five of the United States Constitution#Ratification of amendments|ratified]] by the following states.<ref>{{cite web|title=Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation|date=August 26, 2017|url=https://www.congress.gov/content/conan/pdf/GPO-CONAN-2017.pdf|publisher=United States Government Printing Office, Library of Congress|___location=Washington, D.C.|pages=3–44|access-date=July 20, 2018}}</ref> The Amendment was adopted on January 23, 1933, after 36 states, being three-fourths of the then-existing 48 states, ratified the Amendment.

The first inauguration to take place under Section 1 of this amendment was that of Roosevelt and Vice President [[John Nance Garner]] on [[January 20]], [[1937]].

{{div col|colwidth=30em}}

== Images of the amendment ==

#Virginia: March 4, 1932

<gallery>

#New York: March 11, 1932

Image:Twentieth_Amendment_Page1.jpg|Page 1

#Mississippi: March 16, 1932

Image:Twentieth_Amendment_Page2.jpg|Page 2

#Arkansas: March 17, 1932

</gallery>

#Kentucky: March 17, 1932

#New Jersey: March 21, 1932

#South Carolina: March 25, 1932

#Michigan: March 31, 1932

#Maine: April 1, 1932

#Rhode Island: April 14, 1932

#Illinois: April 21, 1932

#Louisiana: June 22, 1932

#West Virginia: July 30, 1932

#Pennsylvania: August 11, 1932

#Indiana: August 15, 1932

#Texas: September 7, 1932

#Alabama: September 13, 1932

#California: January 4, 1933

#North Carolina: January 5, 1933

#North Dakota: January 9, 1933

#Minnesota: January 12, 1933

#Arizona: January 13, 1933

#Montana: January 13, 1933

#Nebraska: January 13, 1933

#Oklahoma: January 13, 1933

#Kansas: January 16, 1933

#Oregon: January 16, 1933

#Delaware: January 19, 1933

#Washington: January 19, 1933

#Wyoming: January 19, 1933

#Iowa: January 20, 1933

#South Dakota: January 20, 1933

#Tennessee: January 20, 1933

#Idaho: January 21, 1933

#New Mexico: January 21, 1933

#Missouri: January 23, 1933<br/>This satisfied the requirement for three-fourths of the then-existing 48 states.<ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=gL9scSG3K_gC&dat=19330124&printsec=frontpage&hl=en "'Lame Ducks' Doom Sealed"—Missouri Is 36th State To Ratify 20th Amendment To Constitution"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114215820/https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=gL9scSG3K_gC&dat=19330124&printsec=frontpage&hl=en |date=January 14, 2021 }}, ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', January 24, 1933, p1</ref> The amendment was subsequently ratified by:

#Georgia: January 23, 1933

#Ohio: January 23, 1933

#Utah: January 23, 1933

#Massachusetts: January 24, 1933

#Wisconsin: January 24, 1933

#Colorado: January 24, 1933

#Nevada: January 26, 1933

#Connecticut: January 27, 1933

#New Hampshire: January 31, 1933

#Vermont: February 2, 1933

#Maryland: March 24, 1933

#Florida: April 26, 1933

{{div col end}}

==Effects==

Section 1 of the Twentieth Amendment prescribes that the start and end of the four-year term of both the president and vice president shall be at noon on January 20. The change superseded the [[Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Twelfth Amendment's]] reference to March{{nbsp}}4 as the date by which the House of Representatives must—under circumstances where no candidate won an [[absolute majority]] of votes for president in the [[Electoral College (United States)|Electoral College]]—conduct a [[Contingent election|contingent presidential election]].<ref name= LPW20004THN>{{cite web |last1= Whitaker |first1= L. Paige |last2= Neale |first2= Thomas H. |title= The Electoral College: An Overview and Analysis of Reform Proposals |url= https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs5853/m1/1/high_res_d/RL30804_2004Nov05.pdf |date= November 5, 2004 |orig-year= January 16, 2001 |publisher= Congressional Research Service, The Library of Congress |___location= Washington, DC |access-date= July 23, 2018 |via= [[University of North Texas Libraries]] Government Documents Department; UNT Digital Library |archive-date= January 14, 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210114215718/https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metacrs5853/m1/1/high_res_d/RL30804_2004Nov05.pdf |url-status= live }}</ref> The new date reduced the period between [[United States presidential election|election day]] in November and Inauguration Day, the [[United States presidential transition|presidential transition]], by about six weeks.<ref>{{cite web|last=Halchin|first=L. Elaine|date=May 17, 2017|title=Presidential Transitions: Issues Involving Outgoing and Incoming Administrations|url=https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL34722.pdf|publisher=Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress|___location=Washington, DC|access-date=July 24, 2018|archive-date=January 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114215718/https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RL34722.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> Section{{nbsp}}1 also specifies noon January 3 as the start and end of the terms of members of the Senate and the House of Representatives; the previous date had also been March 4.<ref>{{cite web|title= The Significance of March 4|url= https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/The_Significance_of_March_4.htm|publisher= Secretary of the US Senate|___location= Washington, DC|access-date= July 24, 2018|archive-date= January 14, 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210114215819/https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/The_Significance_of_March_4.htm|url-status= live}}</ref>

Section 2 moves the yearly start date of congressional sessions from the first Monday in December, as mandated by Article I, Section 4, Clause 2, to noon on January{{nbsp}}3 of the same year, though Congress still can by law set another date and the president can summon special sessions. This change eliminated the extended lame duck congressional sessions.<ref name= HHistory1201937>{{cite web|title= The First Inauguration after the Lame Duck Amendment: January 20, 1937|url= http://history.house.gov/HistoricalHighlight/Detail/35948?ret=True|publisher= Office of the Historian, US House of Representatives|___location= Washington, DC|access-date= July 24, 2018|archive-date= July 25, 2018|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180725033713/http://history.house.gov/HistoricalHighlight/Detail/35948?ret=True|url-status= live}}</ref> As a result of this change, if the Electoral College vote has not resulted in the election of either a president or vice president, the incoming Congress, as opposed to the outgoing one, would conduct a contingent election, following the process set out in the Twelfth Amendment.<ref name=LPW20004THN/>

Section 3 further refines the Twelfth Amendment by declaring that if the president-elect dies before [[United States presidential inauguration|Inauguration Day]], the vice president-elect will be sworn in as president on that day and serve for the full four-year term to which that person was elected. It further states that if, on Inauguration Day, a president-elect has not yet been chosen, or if the president-elect fails to qualify, the vice president-elect would become [[Acting president of the United States|acting president]] on Inauguration Day until a president-elect is chosen or the president-elect qualifies; previously, the Constitution did not say what was to be done if the Electoral College attempted to elect a constitutionally unqualified person as president.

Section{{nbsp}}3 also authorizes Congress to determine who should be acting president if a new president and vice president have not been chosen by Inauguration Day. Acting on this authority, Congress added "failure to qualify" as a possible condition for presidential succession in the [[Presidential Succession Act of 1947]].<ref>{{cite web| title= The Twentieth Amendment| last1= Larson| first1= Edward J.| last2= Shesol| first2= Jeff| url= https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendments/amendment-xx| work= The Interactive Constitution| publisher= The National Constitution Center| ___location= Philadelphia, Pennsylvania| access-date= June 15, 2018| archive-date= August 28, 2019| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190828202655/https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/amendments/amendment-xx| url-status= live}}</ref><ref name=CoG2P>{{cite web|title=The Continuity of the Presidency: The Second Report of the Continuity of Government Commission| series= Preserving Our Institutions| url= http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/reports/2009/06_continuity_of_government/06_continuity_of_government.pdf|page=31|publisher=Continuity of Government Commission |___location= Washington, DC |date= June 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160304060729/http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/reports/2009/7/06%20continuity%20of%20government/06_continuity_of_government.pdf|archive-date=March 4, 2016|url-status=dead|via=WebCite|access-date=May 23, 2012|df=mdy-all}}</ref> The Constitution previously had been silent on this point, and this lack of guidance nearly caused constitutional crises on two occasions: when the House of Representatives seemed unable to break the deadlocked [[1800 United States presidential election|election of 1800]], and when Congress seemed unable to resolve the disputed [[1876 United States presidential election|election of 1876]].<ref name= NCC5little>{{Cite web| last= Bomboy| first= Scott| title= Five little-known men who almost became president| date= August 11, 2017| url= https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/five-little-known-men-who-almost-became-president/| work= Constitution Daily| publisher= National Constitution Center| ___location= Philadelphia, Pennsylvania| access-date= July 18, 2018| archive-date= October 28, 2020| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20201028121201/https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/five-little-known-men-who-almost-became-president/| url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Ackerman|first=Bruce|title=The Failure of the Founding Fathers: Jefferson, Marshall, and the Rise of Presidential Democracy|url=https://archive.org/details/failureoffoundi00acke|url-access=registration|publisher=The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press |date=2005|pages=77ff|isbn=9780674018662 }}</ref>

Section 4 permits Congress to statutorily clarify what should occur if either the House of Representatives must elect the president, and one of the candidates from whom it may choose dies, or if the Senate must elect the vice president and one of the candidates from whom it may choose dies. Congress has never enacted such a statute.<ref name=CoG2P/><ref>{{cite journal| ssrn= 2635633 |title= Of Death and Deadlocks: Section 4 of the Twentieth Amendment| last= Kalt |first= Brian C. |date= October 26, 2017 |journal= [[Michigan State University College of Law]]| pages= 18–19}}</ref>

===Effect on the terms of elected officials===

On February 15, 1933, 23 days after the amendment was adopted, President-elect [[Franklin Delano Roosevelt|Franklin Roosevelt]] was the target of [[Presidential transition of Franklin D. Roosevelt#Attempted assassination of Roosevelt|an assassination attempt]] by [[Giuseppe Zangara]]. While Roosevelt was not injured, had the attempt been successful, then vice president-elect [[John Nance Garner]] would have become president on March 4, 1933, pursuant to Section 3.<ref name=NCC5little/>

Section 5 delayed Sections 1 and 2 [[Coming into force|taking effect]] until the first October 15 following the amendment's ratification. As it was adopted on January 23, 1933, Section 1 shortened the terms of representatives elected to the [[73rd United States Congress|73rd Congress]] (1933–1935), as well as those of senators elected for terms ending in 1935, 1937, and 1939, by 60 days, by ending those terms on January 3 of each odd-numbered year rather than the March 4 date on which those terms originally were due to expire. Section 5 also resulted in the 73rd Congress not being required to meet until January 3, 1934.<ref>{{Cite web | title= Twentieth Amendment: Doctrine and Practice | work= US Constitution (Annotated) | via= constitution.congress.gov | publisher= Library of Congress | url= https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/amdt20-S6-2/ALDE_00001006/ | access-date= 2020-07-27 | language= en | archive-date= January 14, 2021 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210114215823/https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/essay/amdt20-S6-2/ALDE_00001006/ | url-status= live }}</ref>

The first Congress to open its first session and begin its members' terms on the new date was the [[74th United States Congress|74th Congress]] in 1935. The first presidential and vice presidential terms to begin on the date appointed by the Twentieth Amendment were the [[Second inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt|second terms]] of President Roosevelt and Vice President Garner, on January 20, 1937. As Section 1 had shortened the first term of both (1933–1937) by 43 days, Garner thus served as vice-president for two full terms, but he did not serve a full eight years: his vice presidency spanned from March 4, 1933, to January 20, 1941.

==References==

{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==

{{Commons category}}

*[http://www.archives.gov/national-archives-experience/charters/constitution_amendments_11-27.html#20 National Archives: 20th Amendment]

*[httphttps://www.law.cornell.edu/anncon/html/amdt20toc_user.html CRS Annotated Constitution: 20thTwentieth Amendment]

{{US Constitution}}

{{US presidential line of succession}}

{{Authority control}}

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[[Category:1933 in law]]

[[Category:1933 in American law|Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution]]

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