er of Deputies, meeting at Versailles in National
Assembly. The choice is by absolute majority of the combined body. The
constitutional law of July 16, 1875, stipulates that one month, at
least, before the expiration of his term the President shall call
together the National Assembly for the election of a successor. In
default of such summons, the meeting takes place automatically on the
fifteenth day before the expiration; and in the event of the death or
resignation of the President the Chambers are required to assemble
immediately without summons.[463] There is no vice-president, nor (p. 309)
any law of succession, so that whenever the presidential office falls
vacant there must be a new election; and, at whatever time and under
whatever circumstance begun, the term of the newly elected President
is regularly seven years. As upon the occasion of the assassination of
Sadi-Carnot in 1894, a vacancy may arise wholly unexpectedly. Under
even the most normal conditions, however, the election of a President
in France is attended by no period of campaigning comparable with that
which attends a similar event in the United States. The Assembly
habitually selects a man who has long been a member, and has perhaps
served as president, of one or the other of the chambers, who has had
experience in committee work and, as a rule, in one or more
ministerial offices, and who, above all things, is not too aggressive
or domineering. An election is likely to be carried through all stages
within the space of forty-eight hours. The qualifications requisite
for election are extremely broad. Until 1884 any male citizen,
regardless of age, affiliation, or circumstance, was eligible. In the
year mentioned members of families that have reigned in France were
debarred, and this remains the only formal disqualification. A
President is eligible indefinitely for re-election.[464]

[Footnote 463: Art. 3. Dodd, Modern Constitutions,
I., 291.]

[Footnote 464: A. Tridon, France's Way of Choosing
a President, in _Review of Reviews_, Dec., 1912.]

*333. Privileges.*--The President is paid the sum of 1,200,000 francs a
year, half as salary, half to cover travelling expenses and the
outlays incumbent upon him as the official representative of the
nation. He resides in the Palais de l'Elysee, where he maintains in a
measure the state and ceremony that ordinarily are associated o