1 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:07,360 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hi, brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,400 --> 00:00:10,280 Speaker 1: Lauren Vogel bomb here. If you've been through in American 3 00:00:10,320 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 1: history or government class, some constitutional facts probably left a 4 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:18,000 Speaker 1: lasting impression. For example, the Thirteenth Amendment abolished slavery, and 5 00:00:18,200 --> 00:00:20,919 Speaker 1: the nineteenth Amendment afforded women the right to vote. But 6 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:23,880 Speaker 1: there are twenty seven amendments to the Constitution, and you 7 00:00:23,960 --> 00:00:26,239 Speaker 1: may not have ever had a reason to ruminate on. 8 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:30,280 Speaker 1: The twenty five. Twenty Amendment has received special attention as 9 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:34,080 Speaker 1: news stories regarding President Donald Trump's fitness for office have emerged. 10 00:00:34,600 --> 00:00:37,920 Speaker 1: The amendment was created during the Cold War following President 11 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:41,479 Speaker 1: Dwight D. Eisenhower's three serious illnesses and President John F. 12 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:45,879 Speaker 1: Kennedy's nine sixty three assassination. Proposed by Congress and ratified 13 00:00:45,880 --> 00:00:49,200 Speaker 1: by the States following it provides the procedures for replacing 14 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:53,440 Speaker 1: the president or vice president in case of death, removal, resignation, 15 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:58,440 Speaker 1: or incapacitation. Eisenhower originally entered into a letter agreement that 16 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:01,280 Speaker 1: stated if his health impeded his ability to run the country, 17 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 1: power would be transferred to his vice president, Richard Nixon. 18 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:07,480 Speaker 1: This led to the official amendment that clarified the rules 19 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:11,080 Speaker 1: around transfer of power in the event of an incapacitated president. 20 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:14,839 Speaker 1: After numerous congressional hearings, the final version passed the House 21 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:17,560 Speaker 1: and Senate in nineteen sixty five and was ratified on 22 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 1: February ninety seven. There are four sections to the twenty Amendment. 23 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:25,360 Speaker 1: Section one stipulates that the vice president will assume the 24 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:28,640 Speaker 1: role of president in case of death or resignation. Section 25 00:01:28,720 --> 00:01:31,360 Speaker 1: two covers the event of a vacancy in the office 26 00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:33,840 Speaker 1: of the vice president. In such case, the president is 27 00:01:33,880 --> 00:01:37,000 Speaker 1: responsible for nominating a candidate, who must be confirmed by 28 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:39,960 Speaker 1: a majority vote of both houses of Congress. The history 29 00:01:39,959 --> 00:01:42,039 Speaker 1: of section to ensures that there is both the president 30 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:46,080 Speaker 1: and vice president at all times. Section three states that 31 00:01:46,120 --> 00:01:49,120 Speaker 1: the president has the discretion to declare his own inability 32 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:51,880 Speaker 1: to carry out the job and allows him to temporarily 33 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:54,960 Speaker 1: ceed power to the vice president. It makes it clear, however, 34 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:57,600 Speaker 1: that the vice president does not assume the office or 35 00:01:57,680 --> 00:02:02,360 Speaker 1: title of president. Action for to date has never been implemented, 36 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:05,600 Speaker 1: but it's the peace of the amendment currently receiving media attention. 37 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:08,720 Speaker 1: The language empowers the vice president and the cabinet to 38 00:02:08,840 --> 00:02:13,720 Speaker 1: declare a president incapacitated to quote the Amendment, whenever the 39 00:02:13,800 --> 00:02:17,079 Speaker 1: Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers 40 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:20,080 Speaker 1: of the executive Departments or of such other body as 41 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:23,440 Speaker 1: Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro 42 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:25,799 Speaker 1: Tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House 43 00:02:25,800 --> 00:02:29,160 Speaker 1: of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable 44 00:02:29,200 --> 00:02:32,079 Speaker 1: to discharge the powers and duties of his office. The 45 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:35,600 Speaker 1: vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of 46 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:39,079 Speaker 1: the office as acting president. Section four addresses the problem 47 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 1: of a president who is unable or unwilling to acknowledge 48 00:02:41,960 --> 00:02:45,120 Speaker 1: his or her inability to discharge the powers and duties 49 00:02:45,160 --> 00:02:47,880 Speaker 1: of the presidency. It would be used most likely if 50 00:02:47,880 --> 00:02:52,080 Speaker 1: a president falls unexpectedly unconscious, though it also clearly applies 51 00:02:52,120 --> 00:02:55,000 Speaker 1: when a president is incapacitated because of some other mental 52 00:02:55,160 --> 00:02:58,360 Speaker 1: or physical inability. You may recall the invocation of the 53 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:00,800 Speaker 1: twenty five Amendment as a result of the Watergate scandal 54 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:04,080 Speaker 1: in the nineteen seventies. President Nixon invoked it to replace 55 00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:08,040 Speaker 1: resigning Vice President Spiro Agnew with General Ford. Then, when 56 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:11,240 Speaker 1: Ford replaced Nixon as President, Ford invoked it to appoint 57 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:14,840 Speaker 1: Nelson Rockefeller to succeed him as vice president. However, in 58 00:03:14,919 --> 00:03:17,600 Speaker 1: order for Section four to be implemented, the vice president 59 00:03:17,680 --> 00:03:20,440 Speaker 1: and a majority of the cabinet must declare the president 60 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:23,280 Speaker 1: incapacitated in a written statement to the Speaker of the 61 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:26,840 Speaker 1: House of Representatives and the President pro tem of the Senate. 62 00:03:27,320 --> 00:03:30,880 Speaker 1: Once that happens, presidential powers are automatically transferred to the 63 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:35,480 Speaker 1: vice president. In order for Congress to successfully declare President disabled, 64 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:38,280 Speaker 1: two thirds in each chamber must conclude that he is 65 00:03:38,400 --> 00:03:41,760 Speaker 1: unable to handle the office. The disability clause of the 66 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 1: twenty five Amendment has been invoked multiple times since ratification. 67 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:48,720 Speaker 1: Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Ronald Reagan invoked 68 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:51,320 Speaker 1: it during medical procedures, though it was never used when 69 00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:55,400 Speaker 1: Reagan was shot in However, section four has never been 70 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:59,400 Speaker 1: invoked to remove a president from office. John Hoodak, Deputy 71 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:02,560 Speaker 1: director for the Center for Effective Public Management and Senior 72 00:04:02,600 --> 00:04:05,880 Speaker 1: Fellow for Governance Studies at the Briggings Institute, writes that 73 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:09,160 Speaker 1: the process is more difficult than impeachment and is reserved 74 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:14,120 Speaker 1: only for truly unique and dire circumstances. So could Section 75 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:17,760 Speaker 1: four possibly be applied to President Trump because the vast 76 00:04:17,800 --> 00:04:20,880 Speaker 1: majority of Trump's cabinet would need to support the president's removal. 77 00:04:21,160 --> 00:04:23,919 Speaker 1: Many speculate that the invocation of the amendment during the 78 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:28,880 Speaker 1: Trump presidency is not realistic. At Politico, journalist and Karney wrote, 79 00:04:28,960 --> 00:04:32,159 Speaker 1: the amendment is purposefully set up to require a high 80 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:35,120 Speaker 1: burden of proof, and there's no evidence that Vice President 81 00:04:35,160 --> 00:04:37,640 Speaker 1: Mike Pence or the majority of Trump's cabinet have turned 82 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:42,400 Speaker 1: on him. Unprecedented events, from Michael Wolfe's book detailing turmoil 83 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:44,760 Speaker 1: inside the White House to the President's taunts of other 84 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 1: world leaders via Twitter, have the potential to lead to 85 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:51,560 Speaker 1: unprecedented action. The bottom line, however, is that for now, 86 00:04:51,800 --> 00:04:55,880 Speaker 1: it's all simply speculation. Former Harvard Law School professor Alan 87 00:04:55,880 --> 00:05:00,560 Speaker 1: Derschwitz told Politico the twenty Amendment would require, for mental capacity, 88 00:05:00,839 --> 00:05:04,360 Speaker 1: a major psychotic break. This is hope over reality. If 89 00:05:04,360 --> 00:05:06,919 Speaker 1: we don't like someone's politics, we rail against him, we 90 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:10,960 Speaker 1: campaign against him. We don't use the psychiatric system against him. 91 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:20,440 Speaker 1: That's just dangerous. Today's episode was written by Michelle Konstantinovski 92 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:23,200 Speaker 1: and produced by Tristan McNeil. For more on this and 93 00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:26,240 Speaker 1: lots of other political topics, visit our poem planet how 94 00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:38,000 Speaker 1: Stuff Works dot com.