Quote:

Haig was incorrect in his interpretation of the U.S. Constitution concerning both the presidential line of succession and the 25th Amendment, which dictates what happens when a president is incapacitated.



In all fairness to Haig, it wasn't his interpretation of the Constitution but the law of succession which is Congressional law. Among the tasks the Constitution assigns to Congress is the determination of the order of succession.

While the 25th amendment designates the Vice President as the successor to the President in case of death, etc., it assigns the ordering after the VP to Congress.

There have been 3 major acts by Congress to address succession since the establishment of the Constitution [1792, 1886 & 1947]. The process in effect at the time of Reagan's shooting were governed by the Succession Act of 1947 and the 20th and 25th amendments to the Constitution.

The Succession Act of 1947 has been adjusted to take new and/or modified cabinet positions into account. After 9/11 there was much debate over where the head of Homeland Security should be placed in the succession. While Bush wanted this position to have precedence over other cabinet posts, many in both parties saw it's place at the end of the line since the tradition has been to order the cabinet positions in the order of establishment by Congress [this tradition dates to the Succession Law of 1886 and is how "State" gained the first position within the cabinet].
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