25th Amendment

The 25th Amendment is the section of the United States Constitution that codifies the Presidential line of succession. It explains to whom the presidency passes in the event that the President is unable to serve his entire term.

Day 2

On Day 2, Vice President James Prescott wanted to remove David Palmer from office, feeling that Palmer was delaying unnecessarily in striking three Middle-Eastern countries that had been implicated in the terrorist attacks of the day. Under Section 4 of the 25th Amendment, the Vice President and the principal officers of the executive departments may vote to remove the President from power and instate the Vice President as Acting President. Prescott thus called the cabinet together via video conference and presented the case that Palmer's behavior had been erratic and he should be removed from office.

The vote among the members of the cabinet came down to the Secretary of State. In a difficult personal decision, he chose to vote that Palmer was unfit for duty. Prescott assumed the presidency and informed Palmer of his right to protest the decision before Congress.

During the hours before Palmer's removal was made public, Mike Novick asked Palmer to represent the country as head of state to a foreign official. Palmer reluctantly agreed to do so.

Several hours later, when it was revealed that the evidence against Palmer involved the fabricated Cyprus recording, Prescott and the cabinet agreed to reverse their earlier decision. Prescott and the members of the cabinet who voted in favor of Palmer's removal all agreed to resign their positions as compensation for their perceived betrayal; however, Palmer refused to accept their resignations. He did, however, ask for Mike Novick's resignation for his part in the incident.

Note: While this is a fictional example, it does provide for an interesting debate as to the interpretation of the 25th Amendment. Palmer contended that the intention of the amendment was to allow the Vice President to act in the office of President should the President become disabled or incapacitated, while Prescott contended that the only relevant clause was "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office," and that the cause for such inability was irrelevant. The opinion of the Vice President and other members of the cabinet was that he was unable to proceed with a difficult but necessary course of action, that of using military strikes against supposed supporters of terrorist activity, and therefore unable to fully execute the office of President, which was the basis for their action.

This could serve as a basis for constitutional scholars to debate what legitimately constitutes a President being "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office," and thus prevent an overthrow based on policy as was attempted here.

Day 4

On Day 4, Air Force One was attacked and suffered an indirect hit By Mitch Anderson. Many of those on board were killed, including the President's son, Kevin. President Keeler himself survived but was incapacitated, and it was not clear if he would survive. Again following Section 4, the cabinet voted unanimously for Vice President Charles Logan to assume the presidency.

Under Section 2, a President must nominate a new Vice President whenever that office is vacated. The nominee is sworn in after being approved by a majority vote in both the Senate and the House of Representatives. Although it is not shown on screen, this is presumably how Hal Gardner became the Vice President.

Day 5

On Day 5, Charles Logan was linked to terrorist activities via a genuine audio recording, and the Attorney General had him arrested on criminal charges. Logan might be removed from power under either of two clauses of the 25th Amendment. Section 1 states that if the President resigns or dies, the Vice President becomes the President. Section 4 allows the Vice President and a majority of executive officers (the cabinet) to vote to remove the President. In that case, the Vice President becomes the Acting President, and the decision may be reversed.

Day 6

On Day 6, shortly before 9:00 P.M., the aircraft carrier was seconds away from launching an attack when suddenly President Wayne Palmer miraculously gained consciousness and aborted the nuclear strike on Abu Fayed's country. He spoke privately with Vice President Noah Daniels explaining clearly his reasons for stopping the attack. Daniels appeared to be in denial and suggested to the Joint Chiefs of Staff that Palmer's judgment and decisionmaking are still questionable from his assassination attempt. He requested the Attorney General, thus implying that the 25th Amendment will be a major part of the next episode's storyline.

External Links

• The 25th Amendment on Wikipedia (includes the full text of the Amendment)