When a head of state dies, the president of the United States typically does not have time to attend the funeral personally. Instead, he dispatches a delegate. Often this delegate is the vice president, but sometimes the VP is unavailable and the president must send someone else, such as the secretary of state or even the first lady. He does not want to “hardwire” his delegated authority to a single person; he might delegate this responsibility to anyone who is able to execute the correct international protocol.The president defines in advance what responsibility will be delegated (attend the funeral), what parameters will be passed ..
