Thread by @DavidPriess

A thread on Section Four of the 25th amendment to the US Constitution—adopted on this day in 1967, in part to provide a mechanism for declaring a president unable when he cannot or will not do so himself:

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Wilson’s incapacity during much of his 2nd term, Eisenhower’s health crises, and Kennedy’s assassination—which promoted many in Washington to wonder about how LBJ would have assumed presidential duties if JFK had been left comatose instead of dead—had pushed Congress to act.

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The president has no role in amending the Constitution, but Lyndon Johnson nevertheless hosted a White House ceremony to sign (as a witness only) the formal document proclaiming that the requisite number of states had ratified the amendment and made it law.

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Section Four lets the vice president, in conjunction with a majority of the executive departments’ principal officers, declare POTUS unable and make the VP the acting president. The president can appeal to Congress; two-thirds votes in both chambers would keep him sidelined.

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Section Four has never been activated. It should have been when Ronald Reagan was shot and temporarily incapacitated on March 30, 1981.

It is difficult to use for good reason; its crafters wanted to disincentivize the removal, even if only temporarily, of the president.

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Sen. Everett Dirksen anticipated problems but said, “We must assume that, when confronted with a monumental national crisis, when subjected to the white heat of political scrutiny, those charged with responsibility will do what is in the public interest.”

The🤞🙏 approach.

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For more on the the origins of, the debates over, and good/bad fictional portrayals of the 25th amendment’s fourth section, follow @ProfBrianKalt and get his book all about Section Four, UNABLE:

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amazon.com/gp/aw/d/019008…

And for more about how Section Four of the 25th amendment compares and contrasts with other methods for removing or sidelining a president, check out my book HOW TO GET RID OF A PRESIDENT:

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amazon.com/How-Get-Rid-Pr…