An incident occurring two years ago, involving an interaction between President Joe Biden and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and his wife, should give us pause to consider amending the 25th Amendment of the Constitution. Lee shared that the incident immediately left him questioning Biden’s cognitive health, long before it became a matter of public concern.

The senator explained the three of them were all in attendance at a reception when Biden repeatedly mistook Lee’s wife, Sharon, for one of his White House staffers. Several times Biden asked for her name, inquiring if she worked for him. Efforts to clarify her identity fell completely on deaf ears.

It became immediately clear to Lee that, mentally, Biden just was not there. This was not a simple matter of Biden misunderstanding or focusing on something else at the time; this was a matter of the president being unable to grasp what was going on around him.

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Lee found the experience most alarming. While the senator’s interactions with Biden were infrequent, the incident provided him with concerned insight about the president’s fitness for office.

An unspoken reality of Biden’s steady cognitive decline is that those closest to him – not only family members Jill and Hunter – but his inner circle and staff as well, including his Cabinet, had to know what was going on. None of them felt a sense of duty to country to take steps to insist the president seek medical attention or temporarily relinquish the duties of his office. Why?

Obviously, Jill and Hunter’s reasons for failing to do so were completely selfish. Both enjoyed the privileges coming to them courtesy of Joe’s office.

While the failure of his staff to initiate action to address the situation can be dismissed by a bond of loyalty to Biden, a fear of taking on such an issue as a career-ender or gross naivete, they were not in positions of authority to act and thus cannot be held accountable. But there were others who were armed with such authority and should have acted, yet failed to do so.

The 25th Amendment of the Constitution, ratified in 1967 by the states, provides a comprehensive plan for presidential succession in the event of the president’s death or incapacitation. Sections 3 and 4 of the amendment are most pertinent to Biden’s deteriorating mental health situation.

Section 3, known as the “Disability Clause,” states that a president, cognizant of the fact he is unable to or will be unable to perform the duties of his office, can voluntarily submit written notification to Congress. It was first used by President Ronald Reagan in 1985 when he underwent surgery and last used in 2021 by Biden when he briefly underwent a medical procedure lasting 85 minutes. Apparently, that 85 minute gap in his presidency brought about by his incapacitation was all he was willing to surrender as he proved unwilling to voluntarily submit a declaration of his mental unfitness for office.

Section 4 addresses the involuntary removal of a sitting president from office due to some disability. It is a step that is to be initiated by the vice president and majority members “of either the Cabinet or such other body established by law (a presidential review body) acting jointly, to declare the President to be disabled.” This process begins by the vice president and majority Cabinet members sending a written declaration to Congress, delineating the basis for the disability claim.

Thus, it was clear Vice President Kamala Harris and members of Biden’s Cabinet had the authority to pursue the issue of his incapacity but failed to exercise it, ensuring a mentally unfit captain of our ship of state was left to command it.

What is missing from Section 4, however, is a specific mandate for these officials to act. Absent such a mandate, it is clearly in both their personal and political interests not to act, leaving the country at great risk. There is simply no motivation for these officials to take action for fear that it would embarrass their party in spite of the obvious risk to country. A red flag to them should have been the fact, while a president normally meets every week or every other week with his Cabinet, Biden had held his last meeting in October 2023.

Biden’s mental unfitness is not the first time a president’s inability to perform the duties of his office has been hidden from voters. It has occurred at least three other times as well. Interestingly, all four involved Democratic presidents.

In 1919, a stroke left Woodrow Wilson disabled, with both access to him as well as subsequent decision-making allegedly left to his wife. In 1944, the fact that Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) was dying was covered up, enabling him to run for a fourth term he knew he would not complete. Not revealed as well was that John F. Kennedy (JFK) suffered from Addison’s disease, causing him to consume a dozen painkillers daily, with some doctors believing if reelected he would not survive a second term.

As prime minister of England during World War II, Winston Churchill noted there were times a government needed to be less than honest, claiming, “In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.” Democrats have historically embraced this justification to ensure their party remains in power despite the mental incompetency of the president occupying the Oval Office.

The risks and dangers to the country have steadily increased since the 25th Amendment was passed in 1967. Just like there was no mandate for other high-ranking government officials to take action to ensure that a serving president was mentally competent when Wilson, FDR and JFK were all serving, neither does the 25th Amendment. This gap needs to be addressed to ensure that, in the best interests of the country, action be taken without fear of political retribution for doing so. The absence of such a mandate paves the way for another Biden.

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