25th Amendment Resources from Fordham Law

The attack on the U.S. Capitol by supporters of President Trump is turning attention to the Constitution’s 25th Amendment, which has some of its origins at Fordham Law School.

Fordham Law’s unique history with the 25th Amendment is the result of Professor John Feerick’s instrumental role in crafting the amendment. Senator Birch Bayh, the amendment’s principal sponsor said, “[T]here’s no place in the country that is such a wellspring of knowledge on the dual questions of vice-presidential vacancies and presidential disabilities.”

Here are some of Fordham Law’s 25th Amendment resources:

• The Twenty-Fifth Amendment Archive: The Maloney Library’s online repository of scholarship, primary sources, and other resources related to presidential succession. Highlights include:
  • The 25th Amendment’s legislative history and other congressional materials 
  • Executive branch documents, including a contingency plans binder passed on through several administrations
  • John Feerick’s correspondence with lawmakers and others as he worked on the amendment
• John Feerick’s books and Fordham Law Review articles, including:
  • The Problem of Presidential Inability—Will Congress Ever Solve It? (Fordham Law Review, 1963)
  • The Vice-Presidency and the Problems of Presidential Succession and Inability (Fordham Law Review, 1964)
  • The Proposed Twenty-Fifth Amendment to the Constitution (Fordham Law Review, 1965)
  • “From Failing Hands: The Story of Presidential Succession” (Fordham University Press, 1965)
  • Presidential Succession and Inability: Before and After the Twenty-Fifth Amendment (Fordham Law Review, 2010)
  • “The Twenty-Fifth Amendment: Its Complete History and Applications” (Third Edition) (Fordham University Press, 2013) 
  • The Twenty-Fifth Amendment: A Personal Remembrance (Fordham Law Review, 2017) 
  • The Twenty-Fifth Amendment—In The Words of Birch Bayh, Its Principal Author (Fordham Law Review, 2020)
• Op-eds
  • John Feerick, When a President is Unable to Serve (NY Daily News, Feb. 9, 2017)
  • John Rogan, Trump has a lot of temps in top jobs. Would they get a say in removing him from his? (Washington Post, July 22, 2019)
  • John Rogan, Improving the White House Plans for Presidential Inability (Lawfare, May 9, 2018)
• Clinics that recommended presidential succession and inability reforms 
  • First Presidential Succession Clinic’s Report: Ensuring the Stability of Presidential Succession in the Modern Era (Fordham Law Review, 2012)
  • Second Presidential Succession Clinic’s Report: Fifty Years After the Twenty-Fifth Amendment: Recommendations for Improving the Presidential Succession System (Fordham Law Review, 2017)
    • Overview of Recommendations
  • Democracy Clinic Report: Protecting Against an Unable President (2020)
• Symposia and other events
  • Symposium on the Vice Presidency (Fordham Law Review symposium) (1976)
  • Adequacy of the Presidential Succession System in the 21st Century: Filling the Gaps and Clarifying the Ambiguities in Constitutional and Extraconstitutional Arrangements (Fordham Law Review symposium) (2010)
  • Marking the Fiftieth Anniversary of the 25th Amendment (discussion between John Feerick and Joel Goldstein)
  • The First 50 Years of the 25th Amendment (event co-sponsored with the ABA and Bipartisan Policy Center)
  • Continuity in the Presidency: Gaps and Solutions (Fordham Law Review symposium) (2017)
  • Celebrating the Impact of Senator Birch Bayh: A Lasting Legacy on the Constitution and Beyond (Fordham Law Review tribute) (2020)