Remembering FDR: An Important Lesson from Warm Springs, Georgia

Remembering FDR: An Important Lesson from Warm Springs, Georgia

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Robert S. Wells

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President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) had just concluded breakfast on an early spring day on April 12, 1945 at his “Little White House” atop Pine Mountain in Warm Springs, Georgia.

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He was one month into his 12th year of the Presidency.

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The president had recently returned from the Big Three Conference in Yalta, Crimea where, with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin, he discussed the future of Eastern Europe, the role of the Soviet Union in the Pacific war against Japan and a new post war organization called the United Nations.

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The president was resting after the grueling schedule while his mind as Commander in Chief was with the soldiers, Marines and naval forces of the United States fighting in two theaters as the U.S. WWII campaign entered its 4th year.

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On his schedule this day in War Springs, Georgia was some time sitting for some sketches that would inform his presidential portrait.

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Shortly before 1:00 PM as the painting began, the president uttered “I have a terrific headache” ushering in the final moments of his life in the 64th year.

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The president was pronounced dead at 3:35PM of a cerebral hemorrhage.

The news of FDR’s death was quietly communicated to the White House in Washington and the wheels were put in motion to locate FDR’s new Vice President, Harry S. Truman.

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At the time of Mr. Truman’s selection as Vice President-candidate in 1944, FDR had encouraged and supported the judgment of the Democratic convention delegates in Chicago to place Truman on the ticket citing his experience as the wartime Arms Review Board Chairman in the Senate and as a no-nonsense leader that loyally supported President Roosevelt since his election to the Senate in 1940.

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The Chicago convention delegates didn’t have a 25th amendment to lean on.

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The delegates were relying on the boss system of politics to design a deal to dump incumbent Vice President Henry A. Wallace in favor of a “Missouri Compromise” and “Common Denominator” candidate that wouldn’t hurt FDR’s 1944 electability for an historic fourth term.

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The convention bosses colluded with FDR to affirm Truman’s acceptability and then used a series of ballot tactics, smoke-filled room meetings on the top floors of Chicago hotels and a series of well-timed delegate rallies on the convention floor that resulted in a reluctant Harry S. Truman winning the nomination on July 21, 1944.??

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The 25th Amendment to the Constitution was proposed by Congress and ratified by the states after President John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963.

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The amendment provides important procedures for replacing the president or vice president in the event of death, removal, resignation or incapacitation.

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The amendment has been used once in the mid-1970s first when Gerald R. Ford replaced Spiro Agnew as vice president, then when Ford replaced Richard Nixon as president.?Nelson Rockefeller then filled the resulting vice president vacancy when Ford assumed the presidency.

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With a world not unlike that of 1945 with Axis powers, warfare and an unknown future in mind - it is useful to recall FDR’s 1944 convention and campaign with his new Vice Presidential candidate, and the good fortune of the nation and allies to have Truman in place upon FDRs tragic death at Warm Springs.?

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He was there not as a result of law, but as a result of decision making at the convention based on the good of the nation as well as the party.?

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With this in mind, we have a chance to look ahead to the 2024 campaign and urge the delegates in both political parties to consider the elements of the 25th amendment when nominating and voting on a vice president for the presidential campaign.

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What’s In the XXV (25th) Amendment?

There are four sections within the 25th Amendment and each are important to consider when selecting a president of vice president during times of political crisis.

Section 1 is used in case of the removal of the President from office is warranted due to the president’s death or resignation. In this case, the Vice President shall become President.

Section 2 is used whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President requiring the President to nominate a new Vice President that after a majority vote of both Houses of Congress will be able to take office.

Section 3 has been used during presidential surgeries where the powers and duties of the President are discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.?The first time we had an “Acting President” under this section is when President Ronald Reagan sent a letter to Congress announcing that Vice President George H.W. Bush would serve as “Acting President” during the time of his July 1985 surgery at Bethesda Naval Hospital.

The final section, Section 4, is the judgment section that compels the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments to transmit to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of the office.?

Once this is done the Vice President assumes the powers and duties of the office as “Acting” President.

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So Will We Be Talking About 25 in 25?

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It is likely we will be mindful of the 25th Amendment in 2025, however, a better time to be thinking through the elements of the amendment should be during the 2023-2024 political campaign season in each of the state primaries and the national conventions.

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With the external and internal economic and security challenges the nation faces, the political candidates themselves and the policy power brokers should be listen intently to the concerns of the American people who remain risk adverse to shocks within the US government and another Gray Swan event like COVID.

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With the historical performance of President Harry S. Truman in mind, let’s be thoughtful in selecting the right Vice President using the 25th Amendment as a guide.??

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On this year’s anniversary of FDR’s passing, it would be helpful to take aboard this important lesson from Warm Springs and do it right the first time in the coming year…..before an unknown Gray Swan event arrives in 2025.