United States Constitution

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.”

“Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days 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. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.”

Section 1 of the amendment is straightforward: if the President is removed from office, dies, or resigns, the Vice-President automatically becomes the President. Before this amendment, it was unclear exactly what should happen in this situation. Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution stated that “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.” However, the question remained whether this meant that the Vice-President should assume the office of the President, or whether the Vice-President should just assume the responsibilities of the President. While a practice had developed that the Vice-President would assume the office, that practice was not made official until the ratification of the 25th Amendment.

Section 2 of the amendment allows the President to directly appoint a new Vice-President if there is a vacancy in that office. The new Vice-President, then, must be confirmed by a majority of both the Senate and House of Representatives.

Gerald Ford remains the prime example of the execution of Sections 1 and 2 of this amendment. In 1973, President Richard Nixon’s Vice-President Spiro Agnew resigned under criminal allegations. President Nixon then appointed Gerald Ford, who was then House Minority Leader, as Mr. Agnew’s replacement, pursuant Section 2 of the 25th Amendment. The Senate and House then confirmed Mr. Ford, who assumed the office of Vice-President. In 1974, Mr. Nixon himself resigned amidst the Watergate scandal and Mr. Ford automatically assumed the office of the President, pursuant to Section 1 of the 25th Amendment. Gerald Ford remains the only individual to hold the offices of President and Vice-President without ever having been elected.

Section 3 of the amendment allows the President to notify Congress that he is unable to fulfill his duties. The Vice-President then becomes Acting President until the President notifies Congress that he is able to reassume the office. This section has been invoked several times in a procedural manner – when the President is undergoing some time of routine surgery that requires anesthesia and thus does not permit him to make decisions if needed. For example, in 1985, President Reagan underwent a colonoscopy and Vice-President George H. W. Bush assumed the office of Acting President until Reagan was well enough to reassume the Presidency shortly thereafter.

Section 4 of the amendment is, perhaps, the most drastic. Aside from depictions in television and the movies, it has never been invoked. It allows the Vice-President and a majority of the Cabinet to notify Congress that they believe the President unable to fulfill his duties. In that situation, the Vice-President becomes Acting President. If the President resists, and sends his own notification to Congress attesting to his ability to continue in the office, Congress then decides the issue. Then, the President can only be sidelined by a 2/3 majority vote in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.