A few weeks back the Fordham University Law School offered a lecture by Dean John Feerick who was central to the legal and legislative work that went into shaping the 25th amendment to the Constitution. It deals with presidential succession and was adopted fifty years ago, February 10, 1967, following the assassination of John Kennedy. The lecture by Dean Feerick was in observance of this 50th anniversary. His presentation charted the ins and outs of the issues then at hand and the cooperative spirit in which it was written and adopted by the Congress and ratified by the states. Dean Feerick is the author of a history on the subject.

In observance of the anniversary, he wrote a brief account of the issues and processes  for the NYDaily News. The large audience for the lecture was a tribute to Dean Feerick, no doubt, but its relevance to the current administration could hardly be overlooked.

I was reminded of the lecture this morning when David Brooks and Paul Krugman on opposite sides of the NYTimes op-end page seemed to agree that something is seriously amiss in the White House. Add to that E.J. Dionne's column in Commonweal; his alarm is unexpected since he is generally an optimistic and forgiving observer of U.S. politics. Section 4 of the 25th amendment is the relevant section for those who want to delve further into the issues at hand.