Is that date correct? Yes, it was 1967. Since this is the US Constitutional Amendment about presidential succession, it begs the question, “What procedure was in place before February 10, 1967?”
Prior to Enactment of the 25th Amendment
Prior to the enactment of the 25th Amendment, it was up to each presidential administration to set its own plan to deal with presidential and vice-presidential vacancies.
Yikes! Can you imagine that today?
It would be disastrous today and it was not good in 1841 when President William Harrison died in office. Harrison’s cabinet gave Vice President John Tyler the title “Vice President Acting President.” Tyler moved into the White House, assumed all presidential powers, and gave an inaugural address, all before being confirmed by Congress.
And we all know how in 1919 First Lady Edith Wilson and her husband’s doctor, Cary Grayson, banded together to keep President Woodrow Wilson’s massive stroke a secret.
After his mild stroke, President Dwight D. Eisenhower wrote Vice President Richard M. Nixon a letter with instructions on what to do if he became incapacitated. He gave Nixon the authority to determine when and if that incapacity began.
Again, yikes! All that was needed was a power-hungry vice president put in charge of determining when the president should no longer serve!
Nixon did step in as acting president when Eisenhower had a heart attack in 1955 and in 1956 when he had surgery. Nixon was not sworn in as president either time.
Part of the time in our history, the Speaker of the House was considered to be next in line after the Vice President, while in other times in our history the President Pro Tempore of the Senate was considered to be next in line after the Vice President. It wasn’t always clear.
What brought things to a head
As you might guess, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 put more focus on presidential succession. What if Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson had also been severely wounded or killed that day?
There was no protocol in place to handle such a situation.
A Constitutional Amendment was needed
On January 1, 1965, joint resolutions were introduced in the House of Representatives and in the Senate recommending a succession amendment. Both chambers approved their versions by April.
A committee was created to iron out differences in the two bills, and the joint resolution was passed by Congress on July 6, 1965. It was sent to the states for ratification, and that requirement was met on February 10, 1967.
The 25th Amendment was signed into law by President Johnson on February 23, 1967.
The text of the 25th Amendment
In case you’ve never read it or want to refresh your memory, here is the 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.”
What the 25th Amendment accomplished
Section 1 was already the law.
Section 2 of the 25th Amendment finally addressed how a new Vice President would be chosen in the event the elected Vice President had stepped in as President.
Sections 3 and 4 of the amendment spell out the nitty-gritty of how a case of a President’s incapacitation shall be handled, including a time frame.
The Presidential Succession Act of 1947
The Presidential Succession Act of 1947 set the order in which elected officials and cabinet members would be in line for the presidency. It was decided that the cabinet members should be in the order in which their position was created. As new cabinet departments are created, they are added to the list. (And as existing federal departments are eliminated by Elon Musk… they will disappear from the list and from our lives.) There were just 11 cabinet departments in 1947 when The Presidential Succession Act was adopted.
This might be good for members of Congress to keep in mind when holding confirmation hearings for cabinet appointees.
The full order of presidential succession is as follows:
1. Vice President
2. Speak of the House
3. President Pro Tempore of the Senate
4. Secretary of State
5. Secretary of the Treasury
6. Secretary of Defense
7. Attorney General
8. Secretary of the Interior
9. Secretary of Agriculture
10. Secretary of Commerce
11. Secretary of Labor
12.Secretary of Health and Human Services
13. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
14. Secretary of Transportation
15. Secretary of Energy
16. Secretary of Education
17. Secretary of Veterans Affairs
18. Secretary of Homeland Security
Until my next blog post
Thank you for reading my blog. I hope you occasionally find it helpful, educational, or entertaining.
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Janet
Janet's Writing Blog 