Adjunct Professor John Rogan, who co-taught Fordham Law’s Presidential Succession Clinic, was quoted in The Atlantic about presidential succession protocol.
It was only in the 1970s, after Watergate, that there was a sense the presidency should be more transparent, including when it comes to health matters, said John Rogan, a law professor at Fordham University.
Still, there’s no legal requirement that the president get a physical, or that the physical include neurological exams. There’s no requirement that he disclose all of the physical’s contents to the public. Presidents, like everyone else, are protected by medical-privacy laws.
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A Fordham Law School clinic recently recommended adding a full-time psychologist to the White House Medical Unit, the medical personnel who already serve the president. But, the article notes, presidents and their staff would probably resist that move, since it would invite rumors that the president needs psychological help.
Others have recommended creating a panel of doctors who would evaluate the president every year. But who would sit on the panel? Two Republicans and two Democrats, and you might have a stalemate as to whether the president’s verbal slip means he is unfit. Two Republicans and one Democrat, or vice versa, and it would look biased.