Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-mkpzs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-23T01:14:40.947Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Introduction: Presidential disability and presidential succession

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 January 2016

Robert E. Gilbert  and
Erik P. Bucy
Robert E. Gilbert
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science Northeastern University Boston, MA 02115 [email protected]
Erik P. Bucy
Affiliation:
College of Media and Communication Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX 79409-3082 [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

This introduction to the special issue on presidential disability and succession focuses on the distinctly positive contributions that invocations of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment have made to American political life since the Amendment's ratification in 1967. It also underlines the importance for Presidents, their family members and aides to understand the necessity for putting the welfare of the country first, above all else—even at times above the wishes of a disabled Chief Executive. As the articles in this special issue make clear, the Twenty-Fifth Amendment provides an effective constitutional mechanism by which the country's well-being can be maintained while simultaneously showing compassion and respect for a disabled leader. The idea for this issue emerged from a conference organized by Professor Robert E. Gilbert focusing on presidential disability and succession held on the campus of Northeastern University in April 2014. Papers from the conference assembled here clarify and add to the historical record about presidential inability while illuminating the many political, legal, and constitutional contingencies that future presidential administrators may face. Contributors to this issue have varied disciplinary and professional backgrounds, including expertise in American politics, constitutional law, the presidency and vice presidency, presidential impairment, and, of course, the Twenty-Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.

Keywords

Presidential disabilitypresidential successionTwenty-Fifth Amendmenttransfer of powerpresidential powers and duties
Type
Special Issue: The Presidency and Disability
Information
Politics and the Life Sciences , Volume 33 , Issue 2 , Fall 2014 , pp. 2 - 10
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Politics and the Life Sciences 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Marx, Rudolph, The Health of the Presidents (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1960), pp. 11–14.Google Scholar
2. SeeNeustadt, Richard E., Presidential Power and the Modern Presidents (New York: The Free Press, 1990), pp. 50–72.Google Scholar
3. Cohen, Richard M. and Whitcover, Jules, A Heartbeat Away: The Investigation and Resignation of Spiro T. Agnew (New York: Viking Press, 1974).Google Scholar
4. For a fascinating account of the Rockefeller confirmation battle, seeFeerick, John D., The Twenty-Fifth Amendment: Its Complete History and Applications (New York: Fordham University Press, 2014), pp. 170–187.Google Scholar
5. Reagan, Ronald, An American Life (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1990), p. 500.Google Scholar
6. SeeBarletta, John R., Riding with Reagan: From the White House to the Ranch (New York: Citadel Press, 2005), pp. 132–133.Google Scholar
7. Haig, Alexander M. Jr., Caveat: Realism, Reagan, and Foreign Policy (New York: Macmillan, 1984), p. 160.Google Scholar
8. Gilbert, Robert E., The Mortal Presidency: Illness and Anguish in the White House (New York: Fordham University Press, 1998), pp. 224–225.Google Scholar
9. For a discussion of both the George H. W. Bush and Clinton “cases,” seeGilbert, , pp. xi–xvi.Google Scholar