The Twenty-fifth Amendment
Presidential succession and inability
Sets the rules for presidential succession, filling a Vice President vacancy, and a President who cannot do the job.
Ratified 1967 · 3 minute read
Published by Quasi-Legal Institute · Report an error
Section 1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President. Section 2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress. Section 3. Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President. Section 4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President. …
In plain language
The Vice President becomes President
This confirms a practice that began when John Tyler took over after William Henry Harrison died in 1841. The Vice President becomes President in full, not just a temporary “acting” President.
Why it was passed
The original Constitution was unclear about whether the Vice President became President or only took over the “powers and duties” of the office, and it said nothing about how to fill an empty Vice Presidency or handle a President who was too ill to serve. Presidents Garfield and Wilson were both seriously incapacitated while in office, and no clear process existed.
The assassination of President Kennedy in 1963 renewed interest in fixing these gaps. Congress proposed the amendment in 1965, and it was ratified in February 1967.
How it has been used
Section 2 was used in 1973, when Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned and President Nixon nominated Gerald Ford. It was used again in 1974, when Nixon resigned, Ford became President, and he nominated Nelson Rockefeller. Ford is the only person to become President without being elected to either of the two top offices.
Section 3 has been used several times for short periods, usually when a President was undergoing a medical procedure. The involuntary process in Section 4 has never been formally invoked, though people have discussed it during moments of crisis.