I vaguely recall reading VP Bush assumed powers while Reagan was in surgery after the assassination attempt. There was some debate whether there was any legal precedent supporting that.
VP Chaney was in the Situation room issuing executive orders on 9/11 while the Secret Service had Bush circling the country in a plane. Same issue was there any legal, constitutional standing for what the VP did?
Say Kennedy had survived Dallas in a vegetative state. Never fully regains consciousness but the Doctors insist theres a slim chance he might open his eyes. How would have Johnson legally assumed power?
I’ve read Wilson’s wife secretly held power and made decisions after his stroke. Eisenhower was incapacitated for awhile after his heart attack. Who was in charge?
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 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 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."
So yes, the Vice President may assume the position of Acting President with the support of Cabinet if the president is incapacitated until such time as the president says he’s able to perform his duties. The amendment goes into further detail about what happens if the president insists he can do the job and the Cabinet disagrees, but since that scenario has never come to pass as of yet it’s mainly an academic question as to how that would work out.
So far as your questions pertain, the Twenty-fifth amendment was put in place in response to some of what you cite. I think Reagan’s situation was covered, but Haig made it sound as though ‘he’ was in charge, not the VP, Quayle(?). then again, I’ll leave it for someone else to correct me if the Amendment was in response to the Reagan shooting.
Yes, but Reagan was only in surgery for a few hours. There wasn’t time for the Congress to declare the President unfit to hold office. VP Chaney was put in a tough position. Somebody had to give orders on 9/11 and Bush was out of touch, somewhere in the sky.
States seem to have more flexibility in their Constitution. Arkansas automatically transfers powers to the Lt Governor anytime the Governor travels outside the state. Which has led to a few unplanned pardons while our governor was away.
If I’m remembering correctly, the 25th was not formally invoked at the time of the Reagan assassination attempt. Things were just too chaotic.
Reagan did invoke it later in his term, when he had to undergo surgery to have some polyps removed. Vice-president Bush was in charge for about four hours.
Not trying to he a pain, but do you have a cite that this happened with Bush? I don’t belive it actually did.
It is not listed here:
Air Force One is pretty much designed for this exact sort of situation. I do not believe the president was out of touch during 9/11. He has access to secure communication while aboard Air Force One.
I think the times it was invoked was out of an abundance of caution and respect for the rule of law - not out of necessity.
On the other hand, there is no mechanism for getting rid of a Vice President - which is why Cheney actually signed a resignation letter and kept it in his safe that his secretary had access to:
Got a cite for this? I don’t recall it being anywhere near as common as you make it sound.
There was only one case I can recall, which was unique in several ways. And didn’t involve the Lt Govenor but the then President Pro Tem of the State Senate.
Jerry Jewell was the President Pro Tempore of the state Senate when then Gov Jim Guy Tucker (formerly Lt Gov under Bill Clinton) went to Washington for Clinton’s inauguration in Jan '93. The Lt Gov office was empty at the time (Tucker having vacated it not long before to take over as Governor for Clinton), making Jewell the Acting Governor. Jewell signed pardons for 2 men (who were already out on parole) and gave clemency to 2 others. He was consequently primaried out of his state Senate seat in the next election.
There’s also the case of Lt Gov Darr last year, but he didn’t sign any pardons. He did, however, sign legislation that Gov Beebe opposed. He’s since resigned his office in the wake of an ethics probe (imagine that!) over personal use of campaign funds. And, of course, Darr screwed up his resignation, too, by not informing Gov Beebe properly and by trying to skip out on his fine for the Ethics violation.
As it works now, all clemencies in Arkansas sit for 30 days after executive approval and can be withdrawn in that time. So, the Governor would have to be out of the state for more than a month to have somebody else approve pardons. That doesn’t happen much, if ever.
Several 9/11 Documentaries had interviews with Bush and Cheney. Cheney was the one in the White House when the Pentagon was burning. He was basically coordinating the response to the threat. Grounding all air traffic, ordering air patrols over major cities etc. I think they did say Bush gave authorization to shoot down any hostile aircraft.
I’m not sure why Bush wasn’t more hands on that day. Air Force one is supposed to be a command center. But every documentary I’ve seen indicates the early decisions were from Cheney. Bush said in interviews he was battling the Secret Service and trying to get back to Washington ASAP. He did manage to get on tv to reassure the public. I remember sitting in my living room waiting to hear from our President. No one knew if another attack was coming that day.
Found this very short Cheney interview where he discusses being escorted to the Presidential Emergency Operations Center (underground). He goes into more detail about his actions that day in the longer interviews that I’ve seen.
All the people pointing to the 25th Amendment seem to have missed the formal process required to vest executive authority in the VP. It can happen, but it didn’t happen (at least in Cheney’s case.)
VP Chaney was put in a tough position. Somebody had to give orders on 9/11 and Bush was out of touch, somewhere in the sky.