The Twenty-Fifth Amendment: Incapacity and Ability to Discharge the Powers and Duties of Office?

History provides many instances of U.S. presidential or vice presidential incapacity. It was the death of President John F. Kennedy that prompted the 25th Amendment to the Constitution to gain ratification in 1967, in part to establish a method to fill the vice presidency if it became vacant. On Saturday morning September 22, 2018, readers of The New York Times awoke to read a page-one story about how the Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein had previously advocated the secret White House recording of President Trump “to expose the chaos consuming the administration, and he discussed recruiting cabinet members to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove Mr. Trump from office for being unfit.” Given this recent controversy, it seems timely and opportune to take a fresh look at the Twenty-Fifth Amendment, its history and purpose, how it works, and potential application.