Evening star., 1950-12-24
Balanced Government
Sweeping Changes in Constitution Have
Given Executive Branch the Upper Hand
By Randolph Leigh

,Iph Leigh
This covered illness, incompetenc,
and all the rest, though impeach.
ment was always in reserve.
In the United States we hav'
only impeachment as q means O.
congressional handling of th'
President. (This is assuming tina
Congress is patriotic and woult
not stoop to the risk of sabotag,
on vital appropriations as a mean
of discipline.)
Succession Setup Faulty
Worse than that, we have NJ
freak-proof provision for success
sion to supreme power in Amer,
lea. This stems from the awe il
which the presidency is held b.
the legislature and from the feal
of upSetting party strength. Tht
constitutional amendment for tn,
succession is hardly adequate tx
the atomic age, though partially
brought up to date in 1947. i
provides for the succession /,
necessary "by reason of death
resignation, removal from Office
inability or failure to qualify" ol
the President or Vice President
This still lodges the issue of the
incompetence of the President, Of
his total disaccord with Congress.
or the Nation. AS worded it i'm.
plies that the only inability
referred to can be corrected, sc
that the President can be restored
to power. This seems to mean
chiefly, health. It's very ambiguity
is dangerous. Also, 1t does moi
specify who is to pass on the
inability"
Thus we are left exactly where
we were before in such cases a.
President Wilson's illness and the
last days of President Franklin D
Roosevelt. The declining powers
Of each Of these must have beer
apparent and failure to cope with
that situation certainly contributed
to our present crisis.
OF course. any discussion of 9
possible readjustment of power
between the President and Con-
gress must proceed on a long.
range basis and should not de-
generate into individual evalua-
tions. If a constitutional amend
ment were sought, 1t could not be
processed within less than a year
probably two years. SO the topic
is somewhat academic as regards
present offlceholders. The issue
should be faced on the assumption
that we are entering upon a global
struggle which could last for at
least two decades and could con-
sumo the strength Of our ablest
leaders with great rapidity.
Some Possibilities
Here are a few of the quite
possible eventualities:
l. The President, Vice President,
Speaker of the House, President
pro tenn. Of the Senate and the
cabinet-the present succession
line-are killed by a bomb. Nc
succession row clearly provided
for.
2. The President becomes Ill
but refuses to admit inability te
function. No authority for pass.
ing on his ability now provided
8. The President is healthy ano
has done nothing treasonable. but
is incompetent for global leader
ship. No provision for correcting
the situation.
4. The President is totally out
of accord with Congress and the
Nation. No provision against this
menace to national unity and
safety.
5. The President, Vice Presi-
dent, two congressional chiefs and
few cabinet members are slain
The next-ln-line cabinet man
was approved for his post solely
as politeness to the President
The man might be distrusted for
the top job by both Congress and
the Nation. Nevertheless, he would
automatically become President.
The strange thing is that ir
our democratic zeal we have
evolved a type of presidency that
is unique, inflexible and undemo-
cratic. It is undemocratic because
it is based on sheer chance in
some Of its possibilities. and ir
all it's major aspects Is founded
on lack of confidence in Congress
which was the original corner
stone, or at least an equal sustain
ing member with the President
It would seem safer to modern
ize our system by an amendment
providing substantially:
| Amendment Suggested
a. Honorable, well-paid retire
ment for the President upon 6
specified sized vote of no conf
dence in both houses. AS in Europe
this need not go to an actual vote
but could be achieved by telling
the Executive that he would bt
voted out unless he retired fol
health. In case of death the sue
cession would be automatic bu'
temporary. AS soon as Congress!
convened or could act, perma'
nent President could be selected
from the succession list. The lis
itself actually gives questionable
primacy to the non-constitutiona
cabinet.
i b. Congressional power to maxi
a selection from among the listee
successors, after the elimination O
President and Vice President. Thi
in place of the present automatic
succession which has no merit ex
cept that it saves Congress from
taking the responsibility of max
ing a vital choice for the Nation
Unless some such precaution