Does the name Eugene V. Debs ring a bell? You may recall from your high school American history days that Mr. Debs was the Socialist Party candidate for President in 1920. He got about 3% of the total popular vote, which was quite a lot for a third-party standard-bearer. But perhaps the most interesting thing about Debs’ candidacy is that he was in jail during the election. (He was serving a sentence for urging people to resist the World War I draft. It actually turned out to be a pretty interesting First Amendment free speech case.)

Of course, with only 3% of the vote Debs didn’t win. That honor went to Warren G. Harding whose administration would later be embroiled in the infamous Teapot Dome scandal. (Not a lot has changed in politics in 100 years.) But since Debs wasn’t elected, the country didn’t have to face the constitutional question about what happens if an incarcerated person wins the presidency.

As of this writing, no one currently running for President in 2024 is behind bars. But unless you’ve been existing in a cave recently, you know that one front-runner has already been indicted on a variety of charges. Donald Trump could face some serious jail time if he were to be found guilty on any or all of the allegations against him.

Meanwhile, investigations continue apace regarding Joe Biden’s involvement (or non-involvement) with his son Hunter’s business dealings. Should there prove to be a direct line from Hunter to the President involving something such as, say, influence-peddling and money finagling, well, We the People might find ourselves facing the prospect of having to choose between two detained scofflaws for our nation’s highest office.

It seems there are no legal obstacles for anyone wishing to run for office from behind bars. The only Constitutional requirements to serve as U.S. President are at least 35 years old, a natural born citizen of the United States, and a U.S. resident for at least 14 years. There is no mention of criminal records nor felons barring one from serving in that office. In order to change the existing requirements, a Constitutional Amendment would be necessary. And that ain’t easy to get. A two-thirds majority in both the U.S. House and Senate plus ratification by three-fourths of the states is the only way to make that happen.

From what I’ve read, apparently some legal scholars think that the duties of the presidency would override a criminal conviction and perhaps at least put any sentence on hold. There is also the possibility that an elected President could simply decide to pardon him- or herself. Apparently, that was Eugene Debs’ plan a century ago. (That pardoning power, by the way, only goes for federal crimes, not state ones.) And I’m fairly certain that citizens who didn’t vote for the incarcerated or sentenced winning candidate would take a rather dim view of a self-pardon.

It would be interesting to know if Richard Nixon seriously considered issuing his own pardon after the Watergate mess led to his resignation from office in 1974. He didn’t do that, of course, but his successor, Gerald Ford, did issue the former President a pardon about a month after Nixon left office.

I’m pretty certain nobody really wants to find out what it would be like for a president to govern from behind bars. But, you know, I suppose a makeshift Oval Office could be set up in a jailhouse somewhere. Knock out an adjoining wall and make one big cell out of two. Something such as that. Since there would already be prison guards present, taxpayers could possibly cut down on the expense of the Secret Service. State dinners might not be quite as elegant as they are now.

As far as campaigning is concerned, a jailed candidate could perhaps play the martyr card and gain sympathy from ardent followers. Apparently, Debs used that ploy to great advantage and managed to garner financial and political support by claiming he was taking the rap for his followers who were against the political elite. Debs’ supporters even had campaign buttons showing a picture of him wearing his prisoner number. The buttons read, “For President: Convict No. 9653.”

Since the Constitution only spells out those few aforementioned requirements to run for President, technically someone could even be mentally unstable and still get elected. Which might explain a lot. I mean, don’t you have to be a little bit crazy to even WANT that job in today’s world?

©MMXXIII. William J. Lewis, III – Freelance Writer