How has the 25th Amendment been used or invoked historically in the US?
Executive summary
The 25th Amendment, ratified in 1967, sets procedures for presidential succession and for filling a vacant vice presidency; Congress passed it in 1965 and states ratified it by February 10, 1967 [1]. It has been used mainly to fill vice‑presidential vacancies twice (Agnew→Ford; Ford→Rockefeller) and to allow temporary transfers of power during presidential medical procedures; Section 4 — the involuntary removal process — has never been invoked though it was contemplated after Reagan’s 1981 shooting and briefly discussed after January 6, 2021 [2] [3] [4] [5].
1. What the amendment actually does — a legal safety valve
The text and legal commentary make clear the amendment resolves four distinct problems: Section 1 confirms that the vice president becomes president on death, removal or resignation; Section 2 creates a nomination-and-confirmation process to fill a vacant vice presidency; Section 3 permits a president to temporarily transfer power to the vice president; and Section 4 allows the vice president plus a majority of cabinet officers (or another body Congress provides) to declare the president unable to discharge the office, with Congress then resolving any dispute by two‑thirds votes of both houses [6] [5] [7].
2. The origins: born from the Kennedy era’s uncertainties
Lawmakers wrote the amendment after a string of succession and incapacity questions highlighted by the assassination of John F. Kennedy and earlier presidential illnesses; Congress proposed the amendment in 1965 and the states ratified it by February 1967 to clarify who rules when a president dies, resigns or becomes incapacitated [8] [1] [9].
3. The amendment in action: filling vice‑presidential vacancies
The amendment’s earliest and most concrete uses were to fill the vice‑presidency. In 1973 Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned and President Nixon nominated Rep. Gerald Ford under Section 2; Ford was confirmed and sworn in [4] [2]. After Nixon’s resignation in 1974, Ford became president and used Section 2 to nominate Nelson Rockefeller as vice president, who was confirmed later that year [2] [4]. These uses established the practical routine for replacing a vice president midterm [2].
4. Temporary transfers of power: routine medical episodes
Section 3 has been used several times to allow presidents to declare temporary incapacity and make the vice president “acting president” during medical procedures. Presidents since Jimmy Carter have at times invoked Section 3 in connection with surgery, and Ronald Reagan formally transferred power to George H.W. Bush during a 1985 medical procedure [4] [3]. These transfers are documented examples of controlled, cooperative handoffs of authority [5].
5. Section 4 — the fraught clause never invoked
Section 4, the involuntary removal mechanism, has never been invoked in U.S. history. The Reagan administration prepared papers to transfer power after his March 30, 1981 shooting but did not complete a Section 4 transfer; similarly, contemporaneous reporting says some Cabinet members and congressional leaders considered Section 4 after the January 6, 2021 attack as an alternative to impeachment, but it was not used [3] [4]. Legal scholars and the Congressional Research and OLC memos have debated how Section 4 would operate — who exactly constitutes the “Cabinet,” the mechanics of Congress’s role, and whether the vice president acts as “acting president” or becomes president — but the clause’s untested status leaves open interpretive risks [7] [5].
6. How the amendment has shaped political strategy
The 25th Amendment’s real effects are institutional: it normalized orderly, lawful succession and gave presidents a predictable route to temporarily cede power during medical care, and it removed a constitutional ambiguity that complicated Nixon’s era and earlier succession crises [8] [2]. At the same time, Section 4’s political potency — the prospect of a coordinated Cabinet move against a sitting president — has made it a topic of strategic consideration rather than routine remedy, and that strategic dimension explains why calls to invoke it become politically charged when they arise [4] [5].
7. Limitations, unresolved questions and competing views
Scholars and official analyses underline limitations: Section 4’s procedures are untested in practice and leave questions about thresholds, timing, and whether Congress votes separately by chamber; some commentators argue the vice president becomes the acting president under Section 4 while others emphasize different readings of the text [7] [5]. Available sources do not mention any actual Section 4 invocation, so assertions about its precise political or constitutional effects remain hypothetical [3] [4].
8. Bottom line for readers
The 25th Amendment solved recurring succession and vacancy problems and has worked as intended in filling vice‑presidential vacancies and enabling temporary, consensual transfers of power [2] [4] [5]. Its most dramatic tool — involuntary removal under Section 4 — remains untested and thus a constitutional contingency whose real‑world operation is unresolved in current reporting [3] [7].