Presidential Line of Succession

presidential-line-of-succession

How many of you watch the TV show “Designated Survivor” with Keifer Sutherland? Even though he was the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, he became the next President because of a bombing of the White House. How did a seemingly random person in the cabinet get to be next in line for President? Today we will find out!

We are studying Exploring Government by Ray Notgrass, and this is the fourth post in our high school government series. There is a chart on page 167 that has the “Order of Presidential Succession.” My kids assumed that there were no more after that list, so they wrote a joke at the end of the video that the Secretary of Homeland Security had better not die because there is no one left to run the government! (In reality, there are probably more people in line.)

The Presidential Line of Succession

Vice President
Speaker of the House
President Pro Tempore of the Senate
Secretary of State
Secretary of the Treasury
Secretary of Defense
Attorney General
Secretary of the Interior
Secretary of Agriculture
Secretary of Commerce
Secretary of Labor
Secretary of Health and Human Services
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Secretary of Transportation
Secretary of Energy
Secretary of Education
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Secretary of Homeland Security

Presidential Line of Succession (Dramatization)

Watch this fun video to find out who is next in line for President!

I hope you enjoyed watching my children keel over, and the purple hat (representing the President) grabbed and placed on the next President’s head. Did you notice the goggles and light bulb in the hand of the Secretary of Energy? Hopefully this goofy dramatization has answered your question as to which person comes next in the line of presidential succession!

Join us next week for the next episode: “Executive Departments of Government”

The links in this series of blog posts are not affiliate links. Please buy the book from their website to bless their family the most!

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18 Responses to “Presidential Line of Succession”

  1. Jenn Roberts says:

    This looked like it was so much fun to make! You all must have a really fun homeschool 😀

    • Susan says:

      My kids had a ball acting out this one, probably their favorite so far. When I said, “All you have to do is grab the hat, put it on, then keel over,” they were overjoyed at how easy it was to do this video.

  2. Lara M says:

    This is an excellent resource! I had no idea who came later on down the line. I may also need to watch the show.

    • Susan says:

      It’s the first season of the show, so we have yet to see if it is just going to promote a liberal agenda. I wanted to tie this post into a popular series to spark interest in the topic. The first few episodes were exciting (and clean). It was recommended by someone from my church. The last two episodes said a few things that were moderately liberal, but what else would you expect from Hollywood?

  3. Melissa says:

    I did enjoy the outfit of the secretary of energy! Again, you came up with such a fun homeschooling activity to teach your kids about government! Thank you for sparking ideas for down the road homeschooling projects in our home!

  4. Amy says:

    Your kids were having way too much fun, “dying”! Ha, ha. Great information. I would have never known who came after the VP. I wasn’t even aware that there was a list. Just shows we can learn new things no matter how old we are.

  5. Julie says:

    Susan- can I come join your homeschool? It looks like so much fun along with learning! What a great idea!

  6. marie says:

    this is such a fun way to teach something that can be difficult. thanks for sharing

  7. Kristina says:

    This video cracks me up and I love that you had a hard time “keeping a straight face” as well! Your kids are bound to retain so much since they are learning while having a great time!

  8. Stephanie says:

    What a wonderful lesson, one your children will not forget. What’s perfect is the interaction you and your children had on this lesson.

  9. Jess says:

    You guys have your fair share of wigs! I thought it was funny when the Sec of Labor was Jamaican lol. The death scenes were pretty comical, too; they got worse as more people keeled over:)

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