Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hi
Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren foglebam here with another classic episode from
Speaker 1: our archives. This one has to do with the Amendment
Speaker 1: to the Constitution of the United States. We first ran
Speaker 1: it back in late January, of the month that Michael
Speaker 1: Wolfe's book Fire and Fury came out, detailing behind the
Speaker 1: scenes happenings in Trump's White House. It called into question
Speaker 1: for some President Trump's mental health and generated conversation about
Speaker 1: whether the twenty five Amendment might be enacted. It was
Speaker 1: not at the time, but given that this amendment is
Speaker 1: again in the news, I wanted to present again our
Speaker 1: breakdown of what it is and how it works. Hi
Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren fogelbam here. If you've been through in
Speaker 1: American history or government class, some constitutional facts probably left
Speaker 1: a lasting impression. For example, the thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery,
Speaker 1: and the nineteenth Amendment afforded women the right to vote.
Speaker 1: But our twenty seven amendments to the Constitution, and you
Speaker 1: may not have ever had a reason to ruminate on.
Speaker 1: The twenty five Amendment has received special attention as news
Speaker 1: stories regarding President Donald Trump's fitness for office have emerged.
Speaker 1: The amendment was created during the Cold War following President
Speaker 1: Dwight D. Eisenhower's three serious illnesses and President John F.
Speaker 1: Kennedy's nineteen sixty three assassination. Proposed by Congress and ratified
Speaker 1: by the States following it provides the procedures for replacing
Speaker 1: the president or vice president in case of death, removal, resignation,
Speaker 1: or incapacitation. Eisenhower originally entered into a letter agreement that
Speaker 1: stated if his health impeded his ability to run the country,
Speaker 1: power would be transferred to his vice president, Richard Nixon.
Speaker 1: This led to the official Amendment that clarified the rules
Speaker 1: around transfer of power in the event of an incapacitated president.
Speaker 1: After numerous congressional hearings, the final version passed the House
Speaker 1: and Senate in nineteen sixty five and was ratified on
Speaker 1: February tenth, nineteen sixty seven. Their force sections to the
Speaker 1: twenty Amendment. Section one stipulates that the vice president will
Speaker 1: assume the role of president in case of death or resignation.
Speaker 1: Section two covers the event of a vacancy in the
Speaker 1: office of the vice president. In such case, the president
Speaker 1: is responsible for nominating a candidate, who must be confirmed
Speaker 1: by a majority vote of both houses of Congress. The
Speaker 1: history of section to ensures that there is both the
Speaker 1: president and vice president at all times. Section three states
Speaker 1: that the President has the discretion to declare his own
Speaker 1: inability to carry out the job and allows him to
Speaker 1: temporarily ceed power to the vice president. It makes it clear, however,
Speaker 1: that the vice president does not assume the office or
Speaker 1: title of president. Section four, to date has never been implemented,
Speaker 1: but it's the peace of the amendment currently receiving media attention.
Speaker 1: The language empowers the vice president and the cabinet to
Speaker 1: declare a president incapacitated to quote the amendment whenever the
Speaker 1: vice president and a majority of either the principal officers
Speaker 1: of the executive Departments or of such other body as
Speaker 1: Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro
Speaker 1: Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House
Speaker 1: of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable
Speaker 1: to discharge the powers and duties of his office. The
Speaker 1: vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of
Speaker 1: the office as acting president. Section four addresses the problem
Speaker 1: of a president who is unable or unwilling to acknowledge
Speaker 1: his or her inability to discharge the powers and duties
Speaker 1: of the presidency. It would be used most likely if
Speaker 1: a president falls unexpectedly unconscious, though it also clearly applies
Speaker 1: when a president is incapacitated because of some other mental
Speaker 1: or physical inability. You may recall the invocation of the
Speaker 1: twenty five Amendment as a result of the Watergate scandal
Speaker 1: in the nineteen seventies. President Nixon invoked it to replace
Speaker 1: resigning Vice President Spiro Agnew with General Ford. Then, when
Speaker 1: Ford replaced Nixon as president, Ford invoked it to appoint
Speaker 1: Nelson Rockefeller to succeed him as vice president. However, in
Speaker 1: order for Section four to be implemented, the vice president
Speaker 1: and a majority of the cabinet must declare the president
Speaker 1: in capacitated in a written statement to the Speaker of
Speaker 1: the House of Representatives and the President pro tem of
Speaker 1: the Senate. Once that happens, presidential powers are automatically transferred
Speaker 1: to the vice president. In order for Congress to successfully
Speaker 1: declare a president disabled, two thirds in each chamber must
Speaker 1: conclude that he is unable to handle the office. The
Speaker 1: disability clause of the twenty five amendment has been invoked
Speaker 1: multiple times since ratification. President's Bill Clinton, George W. Bush,
Speaker 1: and Ronald Reagan invoked it during medical procedures, though it
Speaker 1: was never used when Reagan was shot in However, section
Speaker 1: four has never been invoked to remove a president from office.
Speaker 1: John Hoodak, Deputy director for the Center for Effective Public
Speaker 1: Management and Senior Fellow for Governance Studies at the Briggings Institute,
Speaker 1: writes that the process is more difficult than impeachment and
Speaker 1: is reserved only for truly unique and dire circumstances. Today's
Speaker 1: episode was written by Michelle Konstantinovski and produced by Tris
Speaker 1: McNee all and Tyler Claim. For more on this and
Speaker 1: lots of other topics, visit how stuff works dot com.
Speaker 1: Brain Stuff is production of iHeart Radio. For more podcasts
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