Article II, Section 1, Clause 6: Succession to the Presidency

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, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected.

This clause provides for the succession to the Presidency. It has since been partially overridden by the 25th Amendment.

The clause caused early controversy. When William Henry Harrison became the first President to die in office, just 31 days into his term, there was a brief debate over whether the Vice-President, John Tyler, actually became President or merely became “Vice-President, acting as President.” Harrison’s cabinet insisted that it was the latter. The cabinet consulted with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Roger Taney, who suggested that if Harrison took the oath of office then he would in fact be President. Tyler promptly did so, and Congress ended any further dispute by passing a joint resolution recognizing Tyler as President for the remainder of Harrison’s term. This remained the precedent until formalized by the 25th Amendment.

One argument for insisting that the Vice-President became President on the death, resignation, or removal from office of the President, rather than merely acting as President, is that otherwise the acting President would continue to preside over the Senate, which seemed absurd to some Senators. Ironically, the vacancy in the Vice-Presidency left by Tyler was not filled until the next election and inauguration.  Instead, the President pro tempore of the Senate became the acting Vice-President. This, too, remained the precedent, until the 25th Amendment provided for filling a vacant Vice-Presidency.

The case of a presidential disability was clearly distinct from a President who died, resigned, or was removed from office, since the disability might not be permanent. The clause clearly provided for the President to resume his duties if the disability was removed. What was not provided was an orderly mechanism for determining that a President was unable to exercise his office. By any reasonable measure, Woodrow Wilson ought to have turned over his duties to his vice-president after suffering a crippling stroke, but his wife and his chief political advisor instead kept up the fiction that he was still acting as President and effectively acted in his place.  The question of presidential disability was at least theoretically resolved with the 25th Amendment, which we will examine in due course.