The 25th Amendment in Practice

Before 1967 the Constitution was unclear on whether a Vice President who took over became President or only exercised the powers, provided no way to fill a vice presidential vacancy, and said nothing about how to handle a President who was alive but incapacitated. After the assassination of President John Kennedy, Congress proposed the Twenty-fifth Amendment, ratified on February 10, 1967. Section 1 confirms that the Vice President becomes President when the President dies, resigns, or is removed, and Section 2 lets the President nominate a new Vice President, subject to confirmation by both houses of Congress.

Section 2 has been used twice, both during the Watergate era: Gerald Ford was confirmed as Vice President on December 6, 1973, after Spiro Agnew resigned, and when Ford became President after Richard Nixon's resignation in August 1974, Nelson Rockefeller was confirmed as Vice President that December, making Ford the only President never elected to national office. Section 3 lets a President voluntarily transfer power to the Vice President by written declaration, and it has been invoked for short periods during medical procedures under anesthesia in 2002, 2007, and 2021, and in substance by President Reagan in 1985.

Section 4 allows the Vice President and a majority of the cabinet to declare a President unable to serve, with Congress deciding by two-thirds votes if the President disputes it. It has never been used, though it was discussed after the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, when the House passed a resolution urging the Vice President to invoke it, and amid debates over presidential health and age. Supporters say Section 4 is a vital safeguard against an incapacitated President, while some scholars warn that its vague standard could be misused as a substitute for impeachment.