Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution

Amendment XXV (the Twenty-fifth Amendment) of the United States Constitution clarifies an ambiguous provision of the Constitution regarding succession to the Presidency, and establishes procedures both for filling a vacancy in the office of the Vice President as well as responding to Presidential disabilities.

Authorship and ratification

The amendment was proposed in Congress on January 6, 1965 (Senate version, drafted by Sen. Birch Bayh) and July 6, 1965 (House version, proposed by Rep. Emanuel Celler).

Hearings were held through February 19, when the Senate passed the amendment (then known as "Senate Joint Resolution 1") by a unanimous, 72-0 vote. The House passed a modified form of the amendment on April 13 by a 368-29 margin, and after a conference committee ironed out differences between the versions, on July 6, 1965 the final version of the amendment was passed by the Senate and presented to the states for ratification.

Just six days after its submission, Wisconsin (by an 84-11 margin in the House and 28-0 in the state Senate) and Nebraska were the first states to ratify the amendment. On February 10, 1967, Minnesota and Nevada were the 37th and 38th states to ratify, and in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, General Services Administrator Lawson Knott certified that the amendment was part of the United States Constitution on February 23, 1967.

Text of the Amendment

Section 1
In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
Section 2
Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.
Section 3
Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.
Section 4
Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

Section one: Presidential vacancy

As originally ratified, the United States Constitution stated that in the event the office of President became vacant, "the Same shall devolve upon the Vice President."

This language was somewhat ambiguous in the eyes of some: was the Vice President merely acting as President, or did he actually succeed to the office? While this question was answered by precedent when John Tyler succeeded to the office upon William Henry Harrison's death in 1841, there still remained doubts. Section 1 of the 25th amendment clarified the position: the Vice President becomes President if the presidency is vacated.

Section two: Vice Presidential vacancy

The Constitution did not provide for Vice Presidential vacancies until the 25th amendment was ratified — an omission that had been debated for over a century; the Vice Presidency was vacant due to death or resignation several times, often for years. Under the 25th amendment, whenever there is a vacancy in the office of Vice President of the United States, the President nominates a successor, who is confirmed by the majority vote of both houses of Congress.

The 25th amendment is supplemented by the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, which establishes a line of succession to the powers and duties of the Presidency. Should neither the President nor Vice President be able to serve, the line of succession details what government official shall then act as President.

Sections three and four: Presidential Disability

The question of how a Presidential inability was to be ascertained was resolved by the Twenty-fifth Amendment. James Garfield was incapacitated for eighty days before dying from an assassin's bullet; a stroke rendered Woodrow Wilson an invalid for the last eighteen months of his term; and Dwight D. Eisenhower suffered a heart attack in 1955 and a stroke in 1957, although in each case he was able to return to duty quickly.

Section three: Voluntary withdrawal

The Twenty-Fifth Amendment addressed the issue by providing that the President may, by transmitting to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives a written declaration to the same effect, declare himself unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office. Until the President sends another written declaration to the aforementioned officers declaring himself able to resume office, the Vice President serves as Acting President.

Section four: Involuntary withdrawal

It is also possible for the Vice President, together with a majority of the heads of the executive departments (that is to say, members of Cabinet) or of such other body as Congress by law provides, to declare the President disabled. The provisions of section four have never been invoked. The President may resume his duties by a written declaration sent to the President pro tempore and the Speaker. If the Vice President and Cabinet, however, are still unsatisfied with the President's condition, they may within four days of the President's declaration submit another declaration that the President is incapacitated. Congress must immediately decide the issue; a two-thirds vote in each House is required to permit the Vice President to assume the Acting Presidency.

Applications of the Amendment

The 25th Amendment has been invoked five times since its ratification.

Appointment of Vice President Gerald Ford (1973)

Following Spiro Agnew's resignation two days earlier, President Richard Nixon nominated long-time Michigan congressman Gerald Ford to succeed Agnew as Vice President on October 12, 1973.^*

The United States Senate voted 92 to 3 to confirm Ford on November 27, and on December 6 the House confirmed him 387 to 35. Ford was sworn in later that day at the United States Capitol.

Succession of President Gerald Ford (1974)

President Richard Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974. In accordance with section one, which formalized the Tyler precedent, Vice President Gerald Ford succeeded to the presidency.

Appointment of Vice President Nelson Rockefeller (1974)

By becoming President, Gerald Ford left the Vice Presidency vacant. After considering Melvin Laird and George H. W. Bush, on August 20, 1974, President Ford nominated former New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller to succeed him as Vice President.

After a long and contentious investigation, particularly to ensure that his family's business dealings would not cause conflicts of interest, he was confirmed (287-128 by the House, 90-7 by the Senate). He was sworn into office on December 19, 1974.

Acting President George H. W. Bush (1985)

On July 12, 1985, President Ronald Reagan underwent a colonoscopy, during which a pre-cancerous lesion called a villous adenoma was discovered. Upon being told by his physician (Dr. Edward Cattow) that he could undergo surgery immediately or in two to three weeks, Reagan elected to have it removed immediately.

That afternoon, Reagan consulted with White House counsel Fred Fielding by telephone, debating whether or not to invoke the 25th amendment and if so, whether such a transfer would set an undesirable precedent. Fielding and White House Chief of Staff Donald Regan both recommended that Reagan transfer power, and two letters doing so were drafted: the first specifically referencing Section 3 of the 25th amendment, the second not.

At 10:32 a.m. on July 13, Reagan signed the second letter and ordered its delivery to the appropriate officers as required under the amendment. Due to some confusing language and Reagan's failure to specifically mention Section 3 of the amendment (see Reagan transfer of power letters) in his letter, some constitutional scholars have claimed that Reagan did not actually transfer his power to Bush.

However, in books such as The President Has Been Shot: Confusion, Disability and the 25th Amendment, by Herbert Abrams, and Reagan's autobiography, An American Life, Reagan's intent to transfer power to Bush was clear. Fielding himself adds, "I personally know he did intend to invoke the amendment, and he conveyed that to all of his staff and it was conveyed to the VP as well as the President of the Senate. He was also very firm in his wish not to create a precedent binding his successor."

Acting President Dick Cheney (2002)

On the morning of June 29, 2002, President George W. Bush underwent a colonoscopy and chose to invoke the 25th amendment, temporarily transferring his powers to Vice President Cheney.

Aware of the confusion caused by Reagan's 1985 letter, Bush made a point of specifically citing Section 3 of the 25th amendment in his letter transferring power.

Considered Applications of the Amendment

On three publicly known occasions (and possibly others that the public has not been made aware of), the possibility of invoking provisions of the 25th amendment, particularly Section 4, have been considered.

1981: Reagan Assassination Attempt

Following the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan on March 31, 1981, a number of cabinet officials suggested that Vice President George H. W. Bush assume the role of Acting President under the provisions of Section 4 of the amendment. Bush, however, was opposed to the idea, in part because he didn't wish to be seen as leading a de facto coup d'état.

Scholars of presidential history and the 25th amendment are nearly unanimous in their assessment that the scenario that unfolded during the Reagan assassination attempt is precisely the type the amendment was intended to address, and that Bush should have invoked Section 4's provisions and assumed executive authority.

1987: Reagan Incapacity

Upon assuming the role of White House Chief of Staff in 1987, Howard Baker was advised by his predecessor's staff to be prepared for a possible invocation of the 25th amendment due to Reagan's perceived laziness and ineptitude.

According to PBS's American Experience program recalling the Reagan administration (a transcript of which can be read by visiting ^*): "What Baker's transition team was told by Donald Regan's staff that weekend shocked them. Reagan was 'inattentive, inept,' and 'lazy,' and Baker should be prepared to invoke the 25th amendment to relieve him of his duties." Reagan biographer Edmund Morris stated in an interview aired on the program, "The incoming Baker people all decided to have a meeting with him on Monday, their first official meeting with the President, and to cluster around the table in the Cabinet room and watch him very, very closely to see how he behaved, to see if he was indeed losing his mental grip." Morris went on to explain "...Reagan who was, of course, completely unaware that they were launching a death watch on him, came in stimulated by the press of all these new people and performed splendidly. At the end of the meeting, they figuratively threw up their hands realizing he was in perfect command of himself."

1998: Clinton Impeachment

While not considered at the highest levels of government, during the impeachment proceedings of President Clinton, there were a small number of voices both within his administration and without who believed he should have relinquished executive authority to Vice President Al Gore during his trial.

Earlier drafts of the Amendment

The first draft of Senate Joint Resolution 1, the legislation that would ultimately be ratified as the 25th amendment, was preceded by two other attempts to pass a constitutional amendment regarding Presidential succession: Senate Joint Resolution 35 and Senate Joint Resolution 139:

Senate Joint Resolution 35 (1963)

Senate Joint Resolution 35 was proposed by Senator Kenneth Keating of New York, and received the recommendation of the American Bar Association. Tennessee Senator Estes Kefauver (the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on Constitutional Amendments), a long-time advocate for addressing the disability question, spearheaded the effort initially but died of a heart attack on August 10, 1963, in effect killing the amendment.

Rather than to resolve the questions of presidential succession and disability however, the proposed amendment's text seemed only to solidify confusion on those topics. The text of the amendment read:

In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the said office shall devolve on the Vice President. In case of the inability of the President to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the said powers and duties shall devolve on the Vice President, until the inability be removed. The Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation or inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what officer shall then be President, or, in case of inability, act as President, and such officer shall be or act as President accordingly, until a President shall be elected or, in case of inability, until the inability shall be earlier removed. The commencement and termination of any inability shall be determined by such method as Congress shall by law provide.

Senate Joint Resolution 139 (1963)

Senate Joint Resolution 139 was proposed by Senators Bayh of Indiana (who had succeeded Kefauver as chair of the Constitutional Amendments subcommittee) and Long of Missouri.

Where Senate Joint Resolution 35 had been seen by some as too vague in terms relating to presidential succession and disability, this legislation was seen as to constrictive by some, as it in essence aped the Presidential Succession Act of 1947. The text of the amendment read:

Section 1
In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President for the unexpired portion of the then current term. Within a period of thirty days thereafter, the new President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by both Houses of Congress by a majority of those present and voting.
Section 2
In case of the removal of the Vice President from office, or of his death or resignation, the President, within a period of thirty days thereafter, shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by both Houses of Congress by a majority vote of those present and voting.
Section 3
If the President shall declare in writing that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.
Section 4
If the President does not so declare, the Vice President, if satisfied that such inability exists, shall, upon the written approval of a majority of the heads of the executive departments in office, assume the discharge of the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
Section 5
Whenever the President makes public announcement in writing that his inability has terminated, he shall resume the discharge of the powers and duties of his office on the seventh day after making such announcement, or at such earlier time after such announcement as he and the Vice President may determine. But if the Vice President, with the written approval of a majority of the heads of executive departments in office at the time of such announcement, transmits to the Congress his written declaration that in his opinion the President's inability has not terminated, the Congress shall thereupon consider the issue. If the Congress is not then in session, it shall assemble in special session on the call of the Vice President. If the Congress determines by concurrent resolution, adopted with the approval of two-thirds of the Members present in each House, that the inability of the President has not terminated, thereupon, notwithstanding any further announcement by the President, the Vice President shall discharge such powers and duties as Acting President until the occurrence of the earliest of the following events: (1) the Acting President proclaims that the President's inability has ended, (2) the Congress determines by concurrent resolution, adopted with the approval of a majority of the Members present in each House, that the President's inability has ended, or (3) the President's term ends..
Section 6
(a) (1) If, by reason of death, resignation, removal from office, inability, or failure to qualify, there is neither a President nor Vice President to discharge the powers and duties of the office of President, then the officer of the United States who is highest on the following list, and who is not under disability to discharge the powers and duties of the office of President, shall act as President: Secretary of State, Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Defense, Attorney General, Postmaster General, Secretary of Interior, Secretary of Agriculture, Secretary of Commerce, Secretary of Labor, Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, and such other heads of executive departments as may be established hereafter and in order of their establishment..
(a) (2) The same rule shall apply in the case of the death, resignation, removal from office, or inability of an individual acting as President under this section.
(a) (3) To qualify under this section, an individual must have been appointed, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, prior to the time of the death, resignation, removal from office, or inability of the President and Vice President, and must not be under impeachment by the House of Representatives at the time the powers and duties of the office of President devolve upon him.
(b) In case of the death, resignation, or removal of both the President and Vice President, his successor shall be President until the expiration of the then current Presidential term. In case of the inability of the President and Vice President to discharge the powers and duties of the office of President, his successor, as designated in this section, shall be subject to the provisions of sections 3, 4, and 5 of this article as if he were a Vice President acting in case of disability of the President.
(c) The taking of the oath of office by an individual specified in the list of paragraph (1) of subsection (a) shall be held to constitute his resignation from the office by virtue of the holding of which he qualifies to act as President.
(d) During the period that any individual acts as President under this section, his compensation shall be at the rate then provided by law in the case of the President.
Section 7
This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of three-fourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission.

Joint Resolution 1 (1965)

House Joint Resolution 1 was proposed by Representative Emanuel Celler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, on January 4, 1965, and Senate Joint Resolution 1 was proposed by Senator Birch Bayh of Indiana on January 6, 1965. These resolutions ultimately led to what became the 25th amendment.

Original form of Joint Resolution 1 (both House and Senate versions)

Sections 1 and 2 went unchanged throughout the amendment's passage through Congress, and consequently are not repeated. Sections 3, 4 and 5 in their original form read as follows:

=Section 3
= If the President declares in writing that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.
=Section 4
= If the President does not so declare, and the Vice President with the written concurrence of a majority of the heads of the executive departments or such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmits to the Congress his written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
=Section 5
= Whenever the President transmits to the Congress his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President, with the written concurrence of a majority of the heads of the executive departments or such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmits within two days to the Congress his written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duites of his office. Thereupon Congress will immediately decide the issue. If the Congress determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

In fiction

Film and television

A number of movies and TV series have employed the exercise of the 25th Amendment as a plot device.

The plot of the film The Contender was centered around the confirmation of a female senator to the office of Vice President.
In the 4th season finale of the television series The West Wing, entitled "Twenty Five", fictional President Josiah Bartlet invoked the 25th Amendment to remove himself from office. Due to a scandal leading to the Vice President's resignation before this episode, powers were transferred to the Speaker of the House. Early in the following season he resumed the powers of the presidency by notifying the Congressional leaders as provided in the Amendment. The resigned Vice President was later replaced under the 25th by Bob Russell. In the last season, Vice President-elect Leo McGarry dies before he can be elected and it is revealed in the final episode that President Santos intends to nominate Eric Baker for the Vice Presidency under the 25th.
The television series 24 featured Section Four of the 25th Amendment implemented in a coup attempt in season two. Section Four was invoked again in its fourth season when Air Force One was shot down.
The television series Commander in Chief is based on the premise that the current president dies from a stroke; the (female) Vice President succeeds to the presidency under the terms of the Amendment. During the first season episode The Elephant in the Room, President Allen, suffering from acute appendicitis, invokes the 25th before undergoing surgery. Speaker of the House Nathan Templeton assumed the role of acting President for a day.
In the movie Dave, the man impersonating President Mitchell is succeeded by the Vice-President, following a feigned stroke (the actual President Mitchell had fallen to a stroke long before).
In the made-for-TV Movie "The Enemy Within" the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Vice President, and a wealthy media baron attempt to use the 25th Amendment as justification for a coup to unseat a President (played by Sam Waterston) whom they see as weak on military affairs.
In the movie Air Force One, the Vice President is given a letter signed by the Cabinet that she could use to take control of the Presidency while the President is onboard a hijacked Air Force One. The Vice President decides not to sign this document.

Literature

Full Disclosure, by William Safire - The President is permanently blinded in an assassination attempt, and an ambitious Secretary of the Treasury attempts to use the 25th Amendment to unseat him.
Father's Day, by John Calvin Batchelor, features the 25th Amendment as a tool of political intrigue. ISBN 0805032665.
Executive Orders, by Tom Clancy, features the 25th Amendment as a mechanism for dealing with a Presidential assassination.
Arc Light, by Eric L. Harry, features the 25th Amendment in the context of a limited nuclear war. ISBN 0515117927.
Warday: And The Journey Onward, by Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka, incidentally references the 25th Amendment as part of a larger apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic science fiction narrative. ISBN 0030707315.
The Fourth K by Mario Puzo features congress trying to remove the president from office, using the 25th amendment, claiming that he is menatlly unfit to serve, following the assissination of his daughter.

References

Constitution of the United States.
Kilman, Johnny and George Costello (Eds). (2000). The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation.
One Heartbeat Away by Birch Bayh (1968).
CNN Transcript of White House press briefing re G.W. Bush temporary transfer of power to VP Cheney 2002-06-29 (URL accessed 2006-06-04).

External links

Amendments to the United States Constitution | United States presidential succession | Vice Presidency of the United States | 1967 in law

25. Zusatz zur Verfassung der Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika | התיקון ה-25 לחוקת ארצות הברית

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