 The situation that arose after the incapacity of President Wilson, for which Marshall's vice-presidency is most remembered, revived the national debate on the process of presidential succession. The topic was already being discussed when Wilson left for Europe, which influenced him to allow Marshall to conduct cabinet meetings in his absence. Wilson's incapacity during 1919 and the lack of action by Marshall made it a major issue. The constitutional flaws in the process of presidential succession had been known since the death of President William Henry Harrison in 1841, but little progress had been made passing a constitutional amendment to remedy the problem. Nearly fifty years later, the Twenty-fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed, allowing the vice president to assume the presidential powers and duties any time the president was rendered incapable of carrying out the powers and duties of the office.
