Phoebe

= __**The 25th Amendment**__ =

__//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 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. //

Translation
The 25th amendment is about the succession of the President. If the President is unable to perform his Presidental duties, the Vice President becomes President, but if there is no Vice President, the President will choose who succeeds him. To become acting President again, the President must write a letter to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.

When did this happen?
**Proposed?** - 7/6/1965 - 2/10/1967
 * Ratification?**

Ratification Process
97% of the states ratified this amendment. The only states to not ratify the amendment was; North Dakota, Georgia, and South Carolina.

History
The assassination of President Kennedy in 1963 shocked the nation in more ways than the obvious. The advancement of medical technology had many hoping that the President could have been saved after being shot. That was not the case, but if he had been, Kennedy could have been in a coma for an extended period of time, perhaps never able to fully function again. He would be the President, but would not be able to fulfill his duties. The resulting power vacuum would cause a constitutional crisis — who is President? Who has the power of the Presidency? Less than two years after Kennedy's death, on July 6, 1965, the Congress passed the 25th amendment, where the line of succession was not only clarified, but what was to be done in the case of presidential disability was addressed. The selection of a Vice President for an empty Vice Presidential seat was also provided for. The states ratified the amendment on February 10, 1967 (584 days). The second clause, dealing with the filling of a vacancy in the Vice Presidency, was used less than six years later when Gerald Ford assumed the Vice Presidency upon the resignation of Spiro Agnew.