Grappling with Succession & Disability

The events of last Nov. 22 stepped up the argument among politicians, legal scholars and political scientists over what to do about a glaring deficiency in the U.S. constitution: its silence on the transfer of executive power when a President is disabled. Last week a Washington forum of the American Bar Association heard from one to whom the question is far from academic. Said Dwight D. Eisenhower: "I have a personal interest in this. Three times I was reminded that I was one of those people who might be found with a disability."

Looking fit and ruddy-faced, Eisenhower reminisced about his September 1955 heart attack. "One morning at two o'clock I had a pain. The doctors came and gave me something in the arm. I was soon under an oxygen tent. I felt rather amused that this could be happening to me." It was a week before doctors would let Ike even discuss any of the normal work of his office. Said Eisenhower: "When Sherman Adams finally came in, he had some tough ones. They kept the newspapers away from me so I couldn't see what the press was saying about my illness. Some of it was acutely embarrassing to me. But within a week I was picking up the burden, and within three or four weeks I was carrying on the essential duties of my office."

Loss of Memory. When Ike was stricken by ileitis in June of 1956, he found himself too preoccupied to ponder the disability problem. Explained Ike simply: "It hurt." About a year later, Eisenhower suffered a minor stroke, which he described as "a spasm of the brain." Said he: "For 24 hours I had an absolute loss of memory for words. If I wanted to see anybody I couldn't possibly remember their names. This passed quickly."

Eisenhower then endorsed A.B.A. proposals to resolve the disability problem and the matter of filling a vacancy in the vice-presidency. The A.B.A. seeks a constitutional amendment under which the Vice President would become acting President if the President declared himself unable to perform his duties. If the President did not, or could not, make such a declaration, the Vice President could petition the Cabinet to declare the President disabled. If a majority of the Cabinet affirmed the disability, the Vice President would become acting President.

The President could at any time declare himself able to resume his duties and would go back to work unless the Vice President disputed his judgment and was backed by a majority of the Cabinet. In that case the question would go to the Congress. It would require a two-thirds vote of both the Senate and the House to empower the Vice President to continue as acting President. The Bar Association's suggestion on filling a vacancy in the vice-presidency is perhaps the simplest yet proposed: the President would choose his new Vice President, subject only to approval of both houses of Congress.

"Close to Each Other." These proposals assume a close working relationship between the President and Vice President--an assumption with which Eisenhower agreed. Said he: "Here you have a man who has been chosen along with the President and upon his recommendation. When he takes over, he picks another man to work with him in that fashion. In this way you can make sure of bringing into the presidency one who has had full opportunity of knowing all the problems facing the Government. The only individual who can make the decision that a President is disabled is the Vice President. He cannot be excused if he does not act. The U.S. cannot afford to go ahead in these days without someone who's capable of making a decision and ready to do it. It is important that these two people be close to each other."

Later in the week a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee approved a constitutional amendment similar to the A.B.A. plan. Although there is a vacancy in the vice-presidency now--for the 16th time in U.S. history*--the Congress seems likely to ignore the amendment this year. It would call undue attention in a campaign year to President Johnson's 1955 heart attack, and it might offend the men who are in line to succeed Lyndon Johnson: House Speaker John McCormack, 72, and Senate President Pro Tempore Carl Hayden, 86.

*Eight Vice Presidents took over from Presidents who died in office. Seven Vice Presidents died in office. John C. Calhoun resigned the vice-presidency in 1832 to become a U.S. Senator.

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