The 25th Amendment and a Disabled President

Ratified in 1967, the 25th Amendment was passed to establish procedures to deal with a president’s removal from office, including through death, resignation or impeachment, as well as due to disability, whether physical or mental, such as when a president undergoes surgery, is kidnapped, or becomes mentally infirm, as happened to Wilson.

The 25th Amendment also provides that if the office of the vice president becomes vacant, the president nominates a new vice president who must be confirmed by both the House and Senate. This procedure was used when Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned in 1973 and was replaced by Gerald Ford, and was used again when Ford nominated Nelson Rockefeller to be his vice president after President Richard Nixon resigned.

Section 3 provides for the vice president to take over as “Acting President” if the president on his own sends a “written declaration” to the Senate and the House that “he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office.” The vice president remains the “acting president” until the president sends notice to the Senate and House that he can once again assume his role as president.

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