The 25th Amendment: Transfer of Power
https://archives.nbclearn.com/portal/site/k-12/browse/?cuecard=2418
General Information
Source:
Creator:
NBC Today Show
John Seigenthaler
Resource Type:
Copyright:
Event Date:
Air/Publish Date:
06/29/2002
06/29/2002
Copyright Date:
Clip Length
Video News Report
NBCUniversal Media,
LLC.
2002
00:02:23
Description
On June 29, 2002, President George W. Bush underwent a colonoscopy at Camp David. During the 20
minute procedure, Bush invoked Section 3 of the 25th Amendment, termporarily transferring Presidential
powers to Vice President Dick Cheney. Historian Douglas Brinkley explains the precedent for the use of
the 25th Amendment.
Keywords
Constitution, 25th, Twenty-Fifth, Amendment, Transfer of Power, President, George W. Bush, Vice
President, Dick Cheney, Ronald Reagan, Alexander Haig, Executive Branch, Presidency, White House,
Woodrow Wilson, Stroke, Edith Wilson, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ike, Richard Nixon, Lyndon Baines
Johnson, LBJ, John F. Kennedy, JFK, Assassination, Attempt, Colon, Colonoscopy, Powers
Citation
© 2008-2015 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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MLA
"The 25th Amendment: Transfer of Power." John Seigenthaler, correspondent. NBC Today Show.
NBCUniversal Media. 29 June 2002. NBC Learn. Web. 21 March 2015
APA
Seigenthaler, J. (Reporter). 2002, June 29. The 25th Amendment: Transfer of Power. [Television series
episode]. NBC Today Show. Retrieved from https://archives.nbclearn.com/portal/site/k12/browse/?cuecard=2418
CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE
"The 25th Amendment: Transfer of Power" NBC Today Show, New York, NY: NBC Universal,
06/29/2002. Accessed Sat Mar 21 2015 from NBC Learn: https://archives.nbclearn.com/portal/site/k12/browse/?cuecard=2418
Transcript
The 25th Amendment: Transfer of Power
JOHN SEIGENTHALER, co-host:
Only one other time in history has the power of the presidency been temporarily transferred to the vice
president. That was in 1985 when President Ronald Reagan underwent surgery for colon cancer and
relinquished powers to then Vice President George Bush. Douglas Brinkley is a presidential historian and
the director of the Eisenhower Center at the University of New Orleans.
Doug, good to see you. Thanks for being with us this morning.
Mr. DOUGLAS BRINKLEY (Presidential Historian): Good morning, John.
SEIGENTHALER: What's the precedent for the use of the 25th Amendment?
Mr. BRINKLEY: Well, it was adopted by the Constitution in 1967 when Lyndon Johnson was president,
and it stemmed from a lot of reasons. Mainly there were some very scary moments in the 20th century
when we weren't really sure who was in charge of the White House. Most famously, Woodrow Wilson,
when he had a stroke and many people believed his wife Edith was actually running the White House. In
the 1950s, Dwight Eisenhower had a heart attack and there was some feeling that Richard Nixon was
really in charge by some--some people. And, of course, the Kennedy assassination and that great trauma
where Lyndon Johnson was suddenly sworn in on an airplane. So by '67, we adopted to the Constitution
what was fundamentally kind of already understood, and that's when the president was unable to have--to
be completely cognizant of what he was doing, the vice president would be in charge. So George W. Bush
is following the letter of the law by writing this letter, sending it to Congress, even though it might only be
for a few hours that he's under sedation.
SEIGENTHALER: But there were questions the last time this happened in 1985 with President Reagan
when he was having colon surgery. Do you believe that he actually invoked the 25th Amendment? Some
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questioned that.
Mr. BRINKLEY: It is up in the air. I mean, there--there are two things that happened with Reagan. One is
the famous event in 1981, the attempted assassination on him, and at that strange moment when Al Haig
kind of seemed to say, `I'm in charge.' And we didn't know whether then-Vice President Bush was in
charge. And that--the 25th Amendment was never invoked when --Ronald Reagan went through his
operation because he couldn't sign it. In order for--Section Four of the 25th Amendment would mean that
the who--that the Cabinet and the vice president would have had gotten together and made this declaration
that the president on his--could not serve. That did not happen. By 1985, Reagan did the proper thing and
simply went through the--the--the kind of signing his name on one piece of paper to tell them that he was
having colon surgery and would be out of pocket, and for a short period of time he would not be the acting
president.
© 2008-2015 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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