President of the Senate
The
President of the Senate is the title often given to the presiding officer, or chairman, of a
senate.
In many countries, the Senate
Presidency is a largely symbolic position. In countries with a
presidential system of government it is often bestowed on the
Vice President following the tradition set by the
United States Constitution. In the absence of the
Vice President of the United States, the
President pro Tempore presides over the
Senate. In nations without a Vice President the Senate President is often a very high-ranking figure in the order of presidential
succession.
The
Vice President of the United States is designated by the Constitution as the President of the Senate. The current Vice President and President of the United States Senate is
Richard Cheney. The Vice President holds a
tie breaking vote in the Senate and does not usually preside over the Senate. Since its inception the role of casting a tie breaking vote in the Senate has been exercised 242 times. The Vice President of the United States with the most tie breaking votes is
John Adams with 29. Freshman senators are traditionally assigned the role of presiding over the Senate in order to learn Senate procedure.
The U.S. Senate also elects, from its own membership, a President Pro Tempore. The
President Pro Tempore of the United States Senate is traditionally the senator in the majority party with the longest amount of service. The President Pro Tempore handles many of the ceremonial functions of the Senate Presidency, including receiving executive communications on behalf of the Senate and appointing senators to preside over the Senate. The current President Pro Tempore is
Ted Stevens of
Alaska.
In United States
state government, the President of the
State Senate is a matter decided by the state constitution. Some states designate the
Lieutenant Governor as President of the Senate, while other states allow for the Senate to elect one of the Senators as President. In
Tennessee the Senate elects a Senator as President, and this President is given the title of Lieutenant Governor. Similarly,
New Hampshire has no Lieutenant Governor, but the
State Senate elects a President who is the
de facto Lieutenant Governor, given that in the event of the Governor's death, resignation, or inability to serve, the President of the Senate acts as Governor until the position is filled, presumably by the next regularly scheduled biennial Gubernatorial election. While such systems where the first in line for the
Executive is the President of the Senate seem similar to the Vice Presidency of the United States, it is important to note that only once in history has there been a Vice President of a
party opposing that of the President (note that while
Lincoln and
Johnson were a
Republican and a
Democrat respectively, they were elected together on the
National Union ticket in the
1864 presidential election), but as the President of a Senate is chosen by the Senate itself, it is far more likely in
Tennessee and New Hampshire that the first in line of succession for the executive would be a political adversary of the sitting Governor. As of
January 2006, this is the case in New Hampshire, with Governor
John Lynch (D) and Senate President
Ted Gatsas (R).
*
Senate*
Government of France*
Speaker of the Senate*
Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution
