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Abstract

In view of the profound importance of questions of presidential succession and the lack of attention paid to them, this issue of the Fordham Law Review is, very simply, a great public service. It presents the papers produced by The Adequacy of the Presidential Succession System in the 21st Century Symposium, which was held at Fordham Law School on April 16 and April 17, 2010. Sitting in the audience during the Symposium and listening to the papers presented here, I was struck by how many gaps there are in our current system and what dangers those gaps pose.

It was very appropriate that the Fordham Law Review hosted this Symposium. While the Fordham Law Review has profoundly influenced legal thought in many ways, it has had a particularly notable impact on the Twenty-Fifth Amendment. No other law review has published so much important scholarship on the issue of presidential succession. The Symposium built on that formidable legacy, and it was an extraordinary opportunity to learn about the presidential succession system, the current state of the law, and proposals for reform. The panelists brought a wealth of experience and insight, and included Fred Fielding, counsel to President Ronald Reagan and to President George W. Bush, and Benton Becker, counsel to President Gerald Ford, both of whom personally confronted succession issues; leading academics and commentators, and Dean John D. Feerick and Senator Birch Bayh, both of whom deserve special mention.

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