Today in Supreme Court History: February 10, 1967

2/10/1967: The 25th Amendment is ratified.

Comments

[apedad]

And on 7/21/1997, Air Force One is released and theater-goers also learn about the 25th Amendment.

[SMP0328]

It would be nice if the media correctly described Sections 3 and 4 of the amendment. They almost always describe them as an alternative impeachment/removal process, when they're simply ways for the VP to fill in for a disabled POTUS.

[F.D. Wolf]

Section 1 of the 25th Amendment codifies the "Tyler precedent", that, upon the death, resignation, or removal of the President, the Vice President becomes President, and not merely Acting President.

When William Henry Harrison became the first president to die in office in April 1841 after only a month in office, it was uncertain whether Vice President John Tyler was now the President, or merely the Acting President. Tyler was adamant that he was THE President, even refusing to acknowledge correspondence addressed to "Acting President Tyler". One might ask if it really made any practical difference, but Tyler's chief motive may have been very simple: money. The yearly salary of the President was $25,000; the salary of the VP was $5,000.

I believe the drafters of the Constitution intended for the Vice President to be Acting President. That is the most natural reading of the original constitutional text: "In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President."

Debate centered around whether "the Same" related back to "the Powers and Duties" or to "the said Office". But what is the status of a President with a temporary "Inability" under this text? Is he no longer the President? Are there two Presidents? I believe the natural, non-absurd answer is that the temporarily disabled President remains President, but the VP temporarily assumes the powers of the office as Acting President.

I believe this reading is further bolstered by the constitutional provision that, "The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the Absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States." When would the Vice President "exercise the Office of President of the United States", and therefore not be able to serve in his normal role as president of the Senate? When he was temporarily the Acting President. This provision would be largely nonsensical if the Vice President became President, logically implying that he was no longer Vice President.

[Dan Schiavetta]

Good discussion. Josh could use some of your input on these embarrassingly threadbare videos.