One of the more brilliant and original ideas in our Constitution can be found in Article II Section 1 which deals with the very practical problem of what to do if a President can no longer serve:

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 … until the disability be removed, or a President elected.

The key phrase here is what exactly did the Founders mean when they wrote “the same shall devolve on the Vice President…?” It appears that the phrase modifies “powers and duties” which would mean that the Vice President would not actually be “President” but rather exercise the duties of the office alone. In fact, we know from the Federalist Papers that some of the delegates to the Constitutional convention felt that if a President died or was impeached, that the Vice President should act as a “caretaker” for the office until new elections could be held.

The first test for the Presidential succession clause occurred in 1841 following the death of William Henry Harrison. Harrison’s inauguration speech was given on a windy, snowy, cold day and the vain former Indian fighter declined to wear a topcoat. He caught pneumonia and died on March 4th – exactly a month after he was sworn in as President.

His Vice President, John Tyler, was sitting on the floor in the living room of his Virginia home playing with his son when the news reached him. What followed was one of the more interesting interludes in American history.

While the Constitution may have been vague on exactly what the meaning of Article II Section 1 said about succession, Tyler took it upon himself to define it. Rather than accept the idea that he would remain Vice President and exercise the “powers and duties” of the President he pointed to Article I Section 2 which states:

The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided.

The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the office of President of the United States.

Tyler took that to mean that he was now President. A fierce debate broke out among his advisors about what exactly he should do next. Since the Constitution was silent about how exactly the Vice President should go about taking over, there was no precedent to follow. For two days, Tyler was pulled in several different directions. Should he call himself “Acting President” as some in Congress were urging? Should he call for a new election?

In the end, Tyler felt his best option was to assume the office of President by taking the oath “for greater caution.” This despite the fact that he had taken the very same oath 31 days previously – as if his loyalty to the Constitution may have been questioned?

But what Tyler wanted was the symbolism that the oath represented. And so despite the fact that nowhere in the Constitution is there a requirement for the Vice President to take another oath upon ascending to the Presidency, the precedent Tyler started has endured to this day.

The fact is that the moment a President dies or is unable to perform his duties, the Vice President becomes President. We saw this last night with Vice President Daniels assuming the office of the Presidency upon the incapacitation of President Palmer. So why didn’t he take the oath?

Following the assassination of John Kennedy (where in the immediate aftermath of the shooting frantic TV newsmen were informing the nation that the US had no President because Johnson hadn’t taken the oath yet – clearly wrong and causing unnecessary worry) Congress passed and the states ratified the 25th amendment to the Constitution. It was felt in a nuclear age, there must be no question whatsoever about when the Vice President succeeds to the Presidency. The amendment contains a Disability Clause that allows the Vice President to exercise the duties of the President in limited circumstances:

The 25th Amendment provides two remedies when a president is disabled. 1. The president of his own volition may turn over the power of his office to the vice president. 2. The vice president, with the assent of a majority of the leading members of the cabinet, may make himself acting president on a temporary basis.

Clearly, Vice President Daniels took over as “Acting President” when the cabinet informed him that the President was incapacitated. An interesting question will be what happens when Wayne Palmer wakes up? Would the action of the cabinet be voided? Would Palmer have to sign a letter stipulating that the Vice President could continue acting as President while he recovered? Or, more predictability within the context of the show’s plot, would the President reclaim the mantle of authority and kick the Veep out?

Don’t expect a deep constitutional debate over what happens on the show but this theoretical problem might want to be examined by legal experts and scholars to make sure that if such an unlikely scenario ever did emerge, there would be some learned opinions on what to do.

SUMMARY

The explosion in the press room severely injured the President and did, in fact, kill Assad. As the President is rushed into surgery, Jack leaves Logan’s ranch, telling Jellyfish that he is still a federal prisoner and that he will stick to him like glue to make sure he doesn’t escape.

Logan has grown a beard but the facial hair can’t hide the fact that he is still a lying weasel. What his end game could be is still a mystery but if you believe that he is really seeking redemption, I have a bridge in Brooklyn that I can let you have for a song. Logan waxes about leaving captivity for the first time in a long time and tries to engage Jack in a soulful conversation about being confined, talking about how being so alone allows you to listen to your “inner voice.” Bauer’s “inner voice” is probably telling him to strangle the insipid SOB but instead, he simply tells him to shut up.

While on their way to the embassy to meet with Markov, Bill calls Jack with the bad news about the assassination attempt. Was it my imagination or did Jellyfish take the news just a little too complacently – as if he may have had an inkling of the plot? He knows Gredenko and he was being ordered around by Graem Bauer all of last year. Graem knew Fayed so is it possible that Logan is somehow privy to the details of the plot? Might he use this information to barter his freedom?

At the cabinet meeting, Vice President Daniels joins the group via a teleconference from his plane. The Doctor gives the grim update on Palmer’s condition. Accordingly, the Secretary of Defense informs Daniels that the cabinet voted to make him acting President. Accepting the news with no hesitation (is he or isn’t he involved?), Daniels orders the Secretary of Defense to have Tom Lennox brief him when he lands.

This gives Reed a major league headache. For when the Secretary confronts him about Tom’s absence, he has no good answers. And when he overhears the Secretary ordering the Secret Service to begin an intensive search for the missing Chief of Staff, he realizes the jig is up and something must be done with Lennox before he is found bound and gagged in the boiler room.

Making his way back to where Lennox is being held, Reed confronts Carson with the news of the search. Carson wants to off Lennox right there and make it look like a suicide. Reed will have none of that. Evidently, killing the President is fine but whacking the Chief of Staff would make them “murderers.” With that kind of reasoning, it’s no wonder Reed works for the government.

Reed, however, is a more attractive criminal than Carson. He is a true believer. He has actually been able to justify killing the President on the grounds that no doing so would destroy the country. And there’s no denying his loyalty to his boss Lennox. He tells Carson that he will have to kill him too if he wants to kill Lennox. Instead, Reed tries once again to enlist Tom in the plot in order to keep his mouth shut. He tells him that Daniels will almost certainly implement his plan for The Great American Muslim Roundup while also telling him that no one will believe him if he tells anyway.

Tom seems convinced and Reed cuts him loose. As they are exiting the basement, Carson, Reed, and Lennox run into the Secret Service. Immediately, Tom shows his true colors and not only has Carson and Reed placed under arrest, but also delivers himself into custody.

After landing, Daniels calls Bill asking about the deal with Logan. Bill tells him that they had little choice given the fact that Gredenko’s trail had gone cold and that the Russian CG Markov appeared to be the only tangible lead. Daniels learns that Jack Bauer is riding herd on Logan and demands that Logan be returned to house arrest once his usefulness is at an end.

Pulling up to the consulate, Logan convinces Jack that he should see Markov alone. It was at this point that I almost thought that Logan would ask for asylum and cross everybody up. But I was mistaken as Logan made his way into Markov’s office for his little chat. Jack had to cool his heels in the corridor outside of Markov’s office.

If two guys ever deserved each other, it’s Logan and Markov. Slime vs. Sludge with the winner getting first dibs at the local toxic waste dump. Both guys are so oily that you almost expected a west Texas wildcatter to show up in the room and start drilling.

Markov fends off questions about Gredenko, saying he hadn’t seen or talked to him in a year. But Logan has an ace up is sleeve; he tells the Russian that he taped all those conversations they had about his facilitating the sale of nerve gas to Russian terrorists last year. Markov seems shocked at the news, although given Logan’s character, one wonders why he should be.

Still not revealing anything about Gredenko, the meeting concludes amicably enough with the Russian not very happy at all. On their way out the door, Logan tells Jack that he’s sure Markov is lying about his knowledge of where Gredenko is. How? Logan tells Jack that being an expert liar himself, he can tell when others are fibbing. A pretty lame explanation but Jack buys it.

Sure enough, Logan is barely out the door when Markov calls Gredenko and tells him that the Americans know he is involved but are guessing about everything else. He urges him to hurry his preparations to deliver the bombs using the drones.

Meanwhile, Jack has a scathingly brilliant idea. Since his violation of the Chinese consulate worked out so well last year, only landing him in a Chinese prison for 16 months, why not infiltrate another consulate and go for an even longer prison term? Jack calls Chloe and tells her to work “off the books” on turning power to the consulate off long enough that he can sneak into the CG’s office and have a chat with Mr. Mar