CREATORS
July 15, 2026
A 2016
article in Psychology Today explored whether having a mental illness would make
it difficult for a candidate to get elected president. The author, Guy Winch,
Ph.D., cited a study by Jonathan Davidson of Duke University Medical Center
that found that of the first 37 U.S. presidents, "half of those men had
been afflicted by mental illness — and 27% met those criteria while in office,
something that could have clearly affected their ability to perform their
jobs."
The study
found that 24% of presidents met the diagnostic criteria for depression,
including James Madison, John Quincy Adams, Franklin Pierce, Abraham Lincoln,
and Calvin Coolidge.
Davidson
and his team also found evidence of anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder and
alcohol dependence among sitting presidents.
Although
the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution can prevent an incompetent
president from remaining in office, the amendment was not created specifically
for that purpose.
The 25th
Amendment addresses what happens to the presidency and vice presidency if the
president and/or vice president dies, resigns or becomes incapacitated or
disabled.
About two
years after the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy, Congress
recommended a succession amendment. On Feb. 23, 1967, former President Lyndon
B. Johnson, Kennedy's successor, who, by the way, may have suffered from
bipolar disorder, signed the 25th Amendment into law.
Imagine in
1867 or 1967 if the president made a profane-laced statement in reference to
Iran that "a whole civilization will die tonight," or a president who
frequently naps at meetings took on the Pope as "WEAK on crime, and
terrible for Foreign Policy." Is an 80-year-old, at times rambling,
president with — as noted by The Hill — dark, unexplained bruising spanning the
back of both hands — appropriate for the 25th Amendment consideration?
Succession
has been a problem since the infancy of America. The original Constitution
allowed for the vice president to become acting president if the president
died.
That
wasn't good enough for John Tyler who became "Vice President Acting
President" in 1841 when former President William Henry Harrison became the
first president to die in office. Tyler moved into the White House and assumed
full presidential powers, including giving an Inaugural Address.
The first
few sections of the 25th Amendment are straightforward. First, if the president
dies or resigns — think Richard Nixon — the vice president takes over. Second,
if the vice president dies or resigns — think Spiro Agnew — the president
appoints a replacement approved by Congress.
Section 4
of the 25th Amendment is a little trickier.
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.
Section 4
of the 25th Amendment has never been used, although officials considered
invoking the section after the 1981 assassination attempt on Reagan.
However,
like impeachment or indictment, the president has Due Process rights. The
president can challenge the declaration of incapacity. If he or she does, the
vice president and other administration officials must reassert the claims or
the president resumes his authority.
If the
claim is reasserted, Congress must decide the issue. Within 21 days of
assembling, Congress must vote with a two-thirds majority of both houses that
the president is unable to fulfill his constitutional responsibilities as
president.
If the
two-thirds super-majority is not met in both houses of Congress, "the
president shall resume the powers and duties of his office."
For now,
there is little chance of invoking the 25th Amendment. The President is
Republican, the House is Republican, the Senate is Republican and the
Vice-President is a sycophant. There are other options — the midterms are just
months away ... a dramatic power shift is not out of the question.
Matthew T.
Mangino is of counsel with Luxenberg, Garbett, Kelly & George P.C. His
book, "The Executioner's Toll," 2010, was released by McFarland
Publishing. You can reach him at www.mattmangino.com and follow him on Twitter
@MatthewTMangino
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