Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution

E8344

amendment to the United States Constitution constitutional amendment

The Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution is a 1933 amendment that shortened the "lame duck" period by changing the start and end dates of presidential and congressional terms and clarifying procedures for presidential succession.

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All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution canonical	4
Lame Duck Amendment	1
Twentieth Amendment	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T21237 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution
Context triple: [Presidential Succession Act, basedOn, Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution]

A. Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution is the constitutional provision that limits individuals to being elected U.S. president no more than twice, thereby formalizing presidential term limits.
B. Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution is the 1804 amendment that reformed the presidential election process by requiring separate Electoral College votes for president and vice president to prevent electoral deadlocks and conflicts between running mates.
C. Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution is the amendment that granted residents of Washington, D.C. the right to participate in presidential elections by allocating them Electoral College votes.
D. Presidential Succession Act
The Presidential Succession Act is a U.S. federal law that establishes the order in which federal officials assume the powers and duties of the presidency if the president and other higher-ranking successors are unable to serve.
E. Electoral Count Act of 1887
The Electoral Count Act of 1887 is a U.S. federal law that sets procedures for resolving disputes over presidential electors and counting electoral votes in Congress.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution
Target entity description: The Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution is a 1933 amendment that shortened the "lame duck" period by changing the start and end dates of presidential and congressional terms and clarifying procedures for presidential succession.

A. Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution is the constitutional provision that limits individuals to being elected U.S. president no more than twice, thereby formalizing presidential term limits.
B. Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Twelfth Amendment to the United States Constitution is the 1804 amendment that reformed the presidential election process by requiring separate Electoral College votes for president and vice president to prevent electoral deadlocks and conflicts between running mates.
C. Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution is the amendment that granted residents of Washington, D.C. the right to participate in presidential elections by allocating them Electoral College votes.
D. Presidential Succession Act
The Presidential Succession Act is a U.S. federal law that establishes the order in which federal officials assume the powers and duties of the presidency if the president and other higher-ranking successors are unable to serve.
E. Electoral Count Act of 1887
The Electoral Count Act of 1887 is a U.S. federal law that sets procedures for resolving disputes over presidential electors and counting electoral votes in Congress.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (45)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ constitutional amendment ⓘ
addressesProblem	delay between presidential election and inauguration ⓘ extended lame duck sessions of Congress ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ surface form: Lame Duck Amendment
appliesTo	United States government ⓘ surface form: federal government of the United States
clarifies	procedures for presidential succession ⓘ procedures if a president has not been chosen before the term begins ⓘ procedures if the president-elect dies before taking office ⓘ
constitutionalCategory	governance amendment ⓘ structural amendment ⓘ
containsSection	Section 1 ⓘ Section 2 ⓘ Section 3 ⓘ Section 4 ⓘ Section 5 ⓘ Section 6 ⓘ
country	United States of America ⓘ
effect	changed the start date of congressional terms to January 3 ⓘ changed the start date of presidential terms to January 20 ⓘ reduced the time outgoing officials remain in office after elections ⓘ
governsOffice	U.S. Representative ⓘ surface form: Members of the United States House of Representatives President of the United States ⓘ United States Senate ⓘ surface form: United States Senators Vice President of the United States ⓘ
hasConsequence	limits duration of outgoing administration after election ⓘ synchronizes start of congressional and presidential terms more closely with elections ⓘ
historicalContext	adopted during the Great Depression ⓘ
language	English ⓘ
legalDomain	constitutional law ⓘ
legalStatus	in force ⓘ
locationOfText	Article V amendments section of the United States Constitution ⓘ
ordinalNumber	20 ⓘ
partOf	United States Constitution ⓘ
proposedBy	72nd United States Congress ⓘ
proposedOn	1932-03-02 ⓘ
purpose	to shorten the lame duck period between election and assumption of office ⓘ
ratifiedBy	three-fourths of the states ⓘ
ratifiedOn	1933-01-23 ⓘ
sectionCount	6 ⓘ
shortName	Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Twentieth Amendment
subject	congressional terms ⓘ lame duck period ⓘ presidential succession ⓘ presidential terms ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (6)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Presidential Succession Act → basedOn → Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ

Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution → shortName → Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: Twentieth Amendment

Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution → alsoKnownAs → Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ

this entity surface form: Lame Duck Amendment

Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution → followedBy → Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ

Section 1 → partOf → Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ

subject surface form: Section 1 of the Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution

U.S. presidents → constitutionalAmendmentAffectingOffice → Twentieth Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ

All labels observed (3)

How this entity was disambiguated Show

Statements (45)

How these facts were elicited Show

Referenced by (6)

How this entity was disambiguated

How these facts were elicited