242 PART THREE • insTiTuTions of AmERiCAn GovERnmEnT
Twenty-fifth
Amendment
A 1967 amendment to
the Constitution that
establishes procedures
for filling presidential and
vice-presidential vacancies
and makes provisions for
presidential incapacity.u.s. vice President Joseph Biden
speaks at a conference at the White House. What is
the vice president’s formal role in our government?
(Chris Kleponis/AFP/Getty Images)candidate Mitt Romney chose Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as his running mate.
Ryan, the author of conservative House budget proposals, was greeted with enthusiasm
by Republicans who were skeptical of Romney’s conservative credentials.
Traditionally, the job of the vice president has not been very demanding. In recent
years, however, presidents have granted their running mates increased responsibilities
and power. President Jimmy Carter was the first modern president to rely on his vice
president—Walter Mondale—as a major adviser. Under President George W. Bush,
Dick Cheney became the most powerful vice president in history. Cheney was able
to place his supporters throughout the bureaucracy and exert influence on a
wide range of issues. He could exercise this degree of power, however,
only because he had the support of the president. In contrast, Vice
President Biden’s relationship to President Obama has been more
conventional.Presidential succession
Eight vice presidents have become president because of the
death of the president. John Tyler, the first to do so, took
over William Henry Harrison’s position in 1841 after only one
month. No one knew whether Tyler should simply be a care-
taker until a new president could be elected three and a
half years later or whether he actually should be president.
Tyler assumed that he was supposed to be the chief execu-
tive, and he acted as such—although he was commonly
referred to as “His Accidency.” Since then, vice presidents
taking over the position of the presidency because of the
incumbent’s death have assumed the presidential powers.
But what should a vice president do if a president
becomes incapable of carrying out necessary duties while
in office? When James Garfield was shot in 1881, he
remained alive for two and a half months. What was Vice
President Chester Arthur’s role?
This question was not addressed in the original
Constitution. Article II, Section 1, says only that “[i]n 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 same powers shall be exercised by] the
Vice President.” There have been many instances of presidential disability. When Dwight
Eisenhower became ill for a second time in 1958, he entered into a pact with Richard
Nixon specifying that the vice president could determine whether the president was inca-
pable of carrying out his duties if the president could not communicate. John F. Kennedy
and Lyndon Johnson entered into similar agreements with their vice presidents. Finally, in
1967, the twenty-fifth amendment was passed, establishing procedures in the event
of presidential incapacity, death, or resignation.When the President Becomes incapacitated. According to the Twenty-fifth
Amendment, when a president believes that he or she is incapable of performing the
duties of office, the president must inform Congress in writing. Then the vice president
serves as acting president until the president can resume normal duties. When the presi-
dent is unable to communicate, a majority of the cabinet, including the vice president, can
declare that fact to Congress. Then the vice president serves as acting president until theCopyright 2014 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
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