The States: How to Succeed

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Amending the U.S. Constitution is a ponderous process. More than 6,000 suggested revisions have been brushed aside by Congress since 1789, and the 24 adopted in that time had to wait up to four years for ratification by the necessary three-fourths of the states. Nonetheless, since last summer, when Congress approved the proposed 25th Amendment, enabling the Vice President to succeed to the full executive powers of a disabled President, the states have moved fairly briskly to ratify the measure. Last week New York became the 28th to endorse it, and two more states, Louisiana and Maryland, are expected to follow suit this year. Thus, by early 1967, nearly 180 years after the framers of the Constitution evaded the details of the issue, the U.S. should have clear constitutional provisions for a vice-presidential takeover.