Executive Branch Materials
This section contains documents and memos produced in the executive branch regarding planning for vice presidential and presidential deaths and disabilities.
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Memorandum from the Office of Legal Counsel on Presidential Succession
Department of Justice. Office of Legal Counsel.
Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel Memorandum on presidential succession issued during the administration of President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Roy E. Brownell II secured this document from the papers of Attorney General Herbert Brownell at the Eisenhower Presidential Library.
Date: January 2023
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Letter from Vice President Pence to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Regarding the 25th Amendment
Michael R. Pence
Letter from Vice President Michael R. Pence to Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi responding to approval by the House of a resolution calling on the Vice President to convene and mobilize the principal officers of the executive departments of the Cabinet to activate Section 4 of the 25th Amendment to declare President Donald J. Trump incapable of executing the duties of his office and to immediately exercise powers as acting President. The resolution was introduced in response to the January 6, 2021, attack on the United States Capitol.
Date: January 2021
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Contingency Plans: Death or Disability of the President
Office of White House Counsel
Securing this document was a joint effort of John Rogan and Roy E. Brownell II.
Date: March 1993
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Memorandum to Attorney General Edwin Meese Regarding Presidential Succession Under 3 U.S.C. § 19
Ralph W. Tarr and United States Department of Justice. Office of Legal Counsel.
U.S. Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel memo on presidential succession under the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, codified at 3 U.S.C. § 19. Roy E. Brownell II provided this document.
Date: August 1985
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Operation of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment Respecting Presidential Succession
Ralph W. Tarr and Office of Legal Counsel. Department of Justice. United States.
Memo issued a month before President Reagan temporarily transferred his powers and duties to Vice President Bush before undergoing cancer surgery.
Date: June 1985
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Presidential Succession and Delegation in Case of Disability
Larry L. Simms and Office of Legal Counsel. Department of Justice. United States.
Memo issued four days after the Reagan assassination attempt.
Date: April 1981
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Documents from Carter's Contemplated Use of Section 3 (1978)
Robert J. Lipshutz and Office of White House Counsel
Forms drafted in response to the possibility that President Carter might undergo hemorrhoid surgery under anesthesia. Handwritten notes at the end of the document relate to the draft language and the procedures for notifying congressional leaders of the transfer of powers. The author of the notes is unclear.
Date: December 1978
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Memorandum for the President on 25th Amendment Provisions
Bobbie Greene Kilberg and Office of White House Counsel
Memorandum to President Gerald Ford advising on the implementation of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment.
Date: August 1975
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Resignation Letter of President Richard M. Nixon
Richard M. Nixon and United States. President (1969-1974: Nixon)
President Richard Nixon's resignation letter dated August 9, 1974 triggered the second use of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment. Letter witnessed by Henry Kissinger.
Date: August 1974
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Ceremony Marking the Ratification of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment to the Constitution
Lyndon B. Johnson
President Lyndon B. Johnson's remarks given at a ceremony marking the ratification of the 25th Amendment.
Date: February 1967
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Lyndon B. Johnson-John W. McCormack Letter Agreement
Lyndon B. Johnson, Norbert A. Schlei, United States. Department of Justice. Office of Legal Counsel, and United States. President (1963-1969: Johnson)
Agreement between President Johnson and Speaker McCormack. Because there was no vice president following Johnson's succession, McCormack was the next official in the line of succession. Includes memorandum from United States Attorney General's Office.
Date: December 1963
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Opinion of the Attorney General on Presidential Inability
Robert F. Kennedy
Memorandum by Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy to President John F. Kennedy regarding the U.S. Constitution’s presidential succession and inability provisions. Roy E. Brownell II provided this document.
Date: August 1961
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Presidential Succession: Communication from the President of the United States: Recommending Revision of the Laws as Suggested in His Message to Congress of June 19, 1945
Harry S. Truman and United States. President (1945-1953: Truman)
President Harry Truman's second message to Congress calling for the inclusion of legislators in the line succession. Congress approved such a statute five months later. That statute remains in effect.
Date: February 1947
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Question of the Presidential Succession: Message from the President of the United States: Transmitting Request for Legislation Dealing with the Question of the Presidential Succession
Harry S. Truman and United States. President (1945-1953: Truman)
Two months after President Franklin Roosevelt's death, President Harry Truman delivered this message to Congress. Truman called on Congress to reevaluate the presidential line of succession.
Date: June 1945
