(WHTM) — The founding fathers, in their collective wisdom, decided to keep the U.S. Constitution short and sweet. Rather than go into excruciating detail about how the three branches of government should go about their business, they simply listed the responsibilities of the branches and left it to them to figure out how to do things.

For the most part, this has worked out reasonably well. Indeed, the fact the Constitution doesn’t consist of hundreds and hundreds of pages of minutiae is one of the reasons it’s lasted so long. (That, and the fact it doesn’t have an escape clause; but that’s a discussion for another time.)

But sometimes, things that the writers of the Constitution left out can only be solved by amending the document. Such is the case with the 25th Amendment, which was ratified on February 10, 1967. It deals with an important question-what should be the procedure when a president must vacate office?

Now, the Constitution deals with this issue, somewhat. In Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 of the Constitution, it states that in “case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice President.”

The major shortcoming of this clause was revealed when William Henry Harrison died on April 4, 1841, just 31 days after his inauguration. Vice President John Tyler was now the man in charge. But the term “the same shall devolve” was open to argument-and there was a lot of arguing. Does it mean the Vice President officially becomes President? Or does the VP just assume “the powers and duties of said office” and serve as an “acting president”?

Tyler decided to take the Oath of Office, move into the White House, and serve as President. Congress adopted a resolution confirming Tyler’s decision, and the “Tyler Precedent” was established. Since then Vice Presidents Millard Fillmore (1850), Andrew Johnson (1865), Chester A. Arthur (1881), Theodore Roosevelt (1901), Calvin Coolidge (1923), Harry Truman (1945), and Lyndon Johnson (1963) become president on the death of incumbent presidents. Even so, the precedent is just a precedent, not established law, ever in danger of being overturned.

Then James Garfiled’s assassination on July 2, 1881, revealed the shortcomings of the “inability to discharge” part of Clause 6. Though shot on July 2, he didn’t die until September 19. During those 79 days, the only official duty he accomplished was signing an extradition paper. But back then things moved at a more leisurely pace; the Federal Government in Washington was essentially shut down in summer, and Congress was adjourned, so Garfield’s “inability to discharge” was not the major crisis it would be today.

The issue of “inability to discharge” came up again on October 2, 1919, When President Woodrow Wilson suffered a serious stroke. He was confined to his bed for weeks, paralyzed on his left side, with only partial vision in the right eye. Wilson’s wife Edith, his physician, Dr. Cary Grayson, and his secretary Joseph Patrick Tumulty, strictly controlled who could see the president and what documents he could read.

By February 1920, word of Wilson’s condition had leaked out, but no one was willing to take the responsibility of certifying his “inability to discharge the powers and duties of the said office.” so he stayed President until his term ran out in 1921.

In the 1950s Dwight D. Eisenhower had several medical issues, including a heart attack in 1955 and intestinal problems in 1956. He and Vice President Richard Nixon signed an agreement where Nixon presided over Cabinet meetings, and generally kept the executive branch running with the help of Eisenhower’s assistants. It worked, but once again the long-term issue of presidential incapacity was not being addressed.

By the 1960s it was becoming hard to ignore the fact that medical science had advanced to the point that an injured or sick president might linger incapacitated for a long period of time. In addition, it was past time to address another hole in the Constitution-there is no mechanism to appoint a replacement Vice President when a VP becomes president, resigns, or dies. Between the time the Constitution was ratified and when the 25th amendment was ratified 16 Vice Presidents left the office, leaving it vacant 20 percent of the time.

The assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 focused attention on these issues. On January 6, 1965, the proposed amendment was introduced in both houses of Congress. The House and Senate passed different versions of the amendment, which was sent to a conference committee to resolve the differences. The revised version passed both houses on July 6, 1965, and was sent to the states for ratification, which became complete on February 10, 1967.

Here is the 25th Amendment, with some explanations:

Section 1
In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.

(This essentially makes the Tyler precedent the law of the land.)

Section 2
Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.

(This provides a mechanism to fill the vacancy in the Vice President’s office.)

Section 3
Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.

(This allows the President to temporarily hand over the job to the Vice President, who will then be the Acting President. This has mostly been used for occasions when Presidents have had to undergo surgery.)

Section 4
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.

Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit within four days 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. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling within forty-eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty-one days after receipt of the latter written declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty-one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by a two-thirds vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.

(This section provides for the removal of a President who is deemed unable to fulfill his duties, as well as a mechanism for dealing with a Presidential challenge to the removal.)