25th Amendment: First Ever Involuntary Departure?
Part IV: The Emerging Constitutional Succession Crisis — when will Kamala make her move?
by John C. Wohlstetter
August 8, 2021, 12:07 AM
Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look
He thinks too much; such men are dangerous.
— William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, Act I, scene 2We face an emerging — extremely grave — constitutional crisis with the new administration. The America that saw ratification of the 25th Amendment to prepare for instances of presidential succession and disability, and navigated its way through the acute crises of 1973-1974, was despite large partisan divisions sufficiently united to survive serial crises intact. There is ample reason to believe we will not be so lucky this time if an instance of presidential disability emerges.
The common thread running through all post-25th Amendment events has been the avoidance of deep systemic crises. The broad bipartisan consensus underlying the passage and ratification of the 25th laid a firm foundation for future orderly transitions. Such a consensus created lopsided votes in Congress, and permitted speedy action in a legislature where such is the rare exception; conversely, significant opposition precludes it.
The path taken with the 25th Amendment stands as an exemplar of orderly process and widespread acceptance. On January 28, 1965, a mere eight days after being sworn in for his full presidential term, Johnson sent a special message to Congress requesting prompt action. In July 1965, the final version was sent to the states for ratification. The three-fourths benchmark — 38 states out of 50 — needed to satisfy Article V’s requirement for amendments reported out of Congress was reached February 10, 1967. Thus, it took 25 months to reach ratification from initial proposal in Congress.
more
https://spectator.org/25th-amendment-first-ever-involuntary-departure/The Crisis of 2021: Systemic Crisis, Hyper-Partisan Division
