Caretaker Government - Caretakers

See also: Widow's succession

Caretakers, similarly, are individuals who fill seats in government temporarily without ambitions to continue to hold office on their own. This is particularly true with regard to United States Senators who are appointed to office by the Governor of their state following a vacancy created by the death or resignation of a sitting senator. Sometimes governors wish to run for the seat themselves in the next election but do not want to be accused of unfairness by appointing themselves in the interim. Also, sometimes they do not wish to be seen as taking sides within a group of party factions or prejudicing of a primary election by picking someone who is apt to become an active candidate for the position. At one time, widows of politicians were often selected as caretakers to succeed their late husbands; this custom is rarely exercised today, as it could be viewed by some as nepotism.

In a similar vein, Nelson Rockefeller was said to be a caretaker Vice President of the United States (1974–1977). He was nominated for the office by President Gerald Ford, who had succeeded the resigned President Richard Nixon. Rockefeller made it apparent that he had no further presidential ambitions of his own (unlike many Vice Presidents), despite having run for the office three times in the past, and he had no intention of even running for a full term in the vice presidential office. He kept his intention when Ford's running mate in the 1976 presidential election was Senator Bob Dole.

In Canada, the more widely accepted term in this context is interim, as in interim leader.

Caretaker Government is very popular in Bangladesh although it is a contradiction with constitution. Recently Pakistan and Greece have accepted this model to hold elections and overcome political stalemate.

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