Acting President of the United States

Acting President of the United States is a temporary office in the
government of the United States created by the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the
United States Constitution in 1967. The position is also implied by the
phrasing of Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution:

     "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, and the
     Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation
     or inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what
     officer shall then act as President, and such officer shall act
     accordingly, until the disability be removed, or a President shall be
     elected."

However, it was unclear until the 25th amendment whether "the same" applied
to the powers and duties or the office itself. The 25th amendment also does
not specify whether officers other than the Vice President may become
President rather than Acting President.

According to Section 3 of the 25th Amendment, during a period in which the
president believes he will be temporarily unable to discharge his powers, he
may declare himself "unable to discharge the powers and duties of his
office," at which point the Vice President discharges the duties of the
office as Acting President.

Section 4 of the amendment also permits the Vice President, together with a
majority of the members of the President's cabinet, to declare the President
incapacitated.

The second scenario, where the Vice President and the President's cabinet in
effect oust the President from office, has yet to occur. This is in part due
to a fear that such action would be seen by the American public as a "legal
coup d'Žtat." In certain rare cases however (such as the assassination
attempt on President Reagan on March 30, 1981, for example) use of this
method of installing an Acting President would have been easily justified.

The Acting President has the authority to execute all the constitutional
powers of the presidency until his congressionally approved mandate expires.
At that point, the real president resumes his office.

During his period in power, the Acting President is treated with the same
protocol as any other president, even being addressed as "Mr. President" by
White House staff.

Only twice thus far in American history has there been an "Acting
President." In both cases, power was transferred voluntarily by the
President as provided for under Section 3 of the amendment:

   * George H. W. Bush - Prior to undergoing colon surgery on July 13, 1985,
     President Ronald Reagan transmitted a letter to the Speaker of the
     House and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, declaring that he
     was incapacitated. Bush acted as President from 11:28 a.m. that day
     until Reagan transmitted a second letter (at 7:22 p.m.) advising that
     he was resuming the powers and duties of the office.
   * Dick Cheney - Prior to undergoing a colonoscopy procedure on the
     morning of June 29, 2002, President George W. Bush transmitted a letter
     to the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Tempore of the
     Senate, declaring his incapacity. Cheney acted as President from 7:09
     a.m. that day until Bush transmitted a second letter (at 9:24 a.m.)
     advising that he was resuming the powers and duties of the office.

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