Unfit To Be The Ruler

A Long Train of Abuses

"A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people."

-- Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

"Whenever the Vice President and a majority of [congressionally designated individuals] transmit to the [President of the Senate and Speaker of the House] their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President."

-- U.S. Constitution, Amendment 25, Section 4, February 10, 1967

With the long holiday weekend, family gatherings, and fireworks displays, few know, and pause to remember, that it is our independence from Britain that we celebrate. Fewer still will give a thought to King George III, let alone acknowledge that Americans were far from unanimous in their desire to escape his rule. Estimates are that 20 to 35% of the colonists opposed independence (with another third undecided).

So it is again today, 241 years later. Americans are once again divided -- and by about the same percentages -- regarding their current King George III replacement: President Donald Trump. A hard core of 29% to 40% support him and 50% to 60% oppose or are undecided (depending on questions asked and events at time of poll). [Rough figures: There are 250 million Americans over 18 (eligible to register), 200 million registered (80% of the 250 M); November 2016 results: Trump 62 million, Clinton 64 million (126 million total about half of those 18+; 60% of those registered.]

It is not the purpose of this piece to put the arguments for or against America's independence from Britain, or arguments for or against the re-election (or impeachment) of President Trump. The purpose is somewhat analogous to the purpose of the prior blog post, "Not All Criticism is Defamation," July 4, 2017 [embedded: "Is Superintendent Criticism 'Defamation'?" Iowa City Press-Citizen, June 28, 2017, p. 7A] (without taking a position on whether the local school superintendent was deserving of criticism, it simply set forth the basics of defamation law for those arguing the issue).

In other words, for purposes of this blog essay, what were the concerns expressed in the Declaration of Independence regarding the removal of King George III's rule over the colonies, to what extent are they applicable to President Trump, and what are the provisions of the U.S. Constitution regarding the removal of a U.S. president when there are concerns about his or her performance in office?

We begin with excerpts from the Declaration of Independence.

"[Americans] are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted . . ..

"[W]when a long train of abuses and usurpations . . . evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government . . .. He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good . . . unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. . . . He has obstructed the Administration of Justice . . .. He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil Power. He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws . . .. For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world . . ..

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & Perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation. . . . He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us . . .. A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people." [Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons; Sir William Beechey's oil painting of King George III, c. 1800/]

-- Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776

There are a number of provisions in the U.S. Constitution that relate to the president's powers, obligations, and the standards for public (and congressional) evaluation of his or her fitness for (or removal from) office.

The offenses justifying consideration of impeachment are relatively specific: treason, bribery, high crimes and misdemeanors. It is a two-step process -- kind of like the (1) indictment, and (2) trial/conviction of a criminal defendant -- with the "indictment" (impeachment) in the House and trial and "conviction" in the Senate.

"The President . . . shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors."

-- U.S. Constitution, Article II, Section 4

"The House of Representatives . . . shall have the sole power of impeachment."

-- U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 2, Clause 5

"The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. . . . Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office . . .."

-- U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 2, Clauses 6, 7

President Trump has refused to (1) make public the last few years of his tax returns, (2) sell off his assets and put the proceeds in a legitimate "blind trust," -- both customary political norms for presidents -- and (3) continues to benefit financially from foreign governments' payment for use of his properties, special privileges regarding his family's business proposals in other countries, and foreigners' purchases of Trump condo units and other properties in the U.S. This behavior has raised questions about his possible violation of the Constitutional prohibition of presidents' receipt of "emoluments."

"[N]o no person holding any office of [the U.S. government] shall . . . accept of any present, emolument . . . of any kind whatever, from any . . . foreign state."

-- U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 9, Clause 8

"The President shall . . . receive for his services, a compensation . . . and he shall not receive . . . any other emolument from the United States, or any of them."

-- U.S. Constitution, Article II, Section 1, Clause 7

We know that the most consequential function of a vice president is the possibility of his or her ascension to the presidency. The Constitution refers to this happening because of, for example, the death or resignation of a president. It might also occur following an impeachment and conviction, as discussed above.

But there is additional language in Article II, Section 1, that has recently come into the media and public dialogue, namely the president's "inability to discharge" the responsibilities of the presidency. Without going into detail here, Google searches will reveal that some of the president's critics argue this language does, or should, cover a range of President Trump's offensive behavior, actions, inaction, seeming lack interest in the details of policy and norms of the presidency, failure to nominate persons for essential positions, inability to build bi-partisan coalitions, lack of basic knowledge, and possible mental health issues. (His supporters dismiss such concerns, assert he's entitled to tweet personal attacks on what he perceives as his critics, and that the media is "the enemy of the people.")

Go back and re-read paragraphs seven and eight of this blog post, above, excerpting language from the Declaration of Independence. Notice how many of the colonists' complaints about King George III have their analogous equivalent in critics' complaints about President Trump.

"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 . . .."

-- U.S. Constitution, Article II, Section 1, Clause 6

"Whenever the Vice President and a majority of [congressionally-designated individuals] transmit to the [President of the Senate and Speaker of the House] their written declaration that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President."*

-- U.S. Constitution, Amendment 25, Section 4

Forgive me this serious interruption of your holiday weekend, but whether you are a Trump supporter or critic, I thought you might find it useful -- today and throughout the months to come -- to have access to the actual language relevant to an evaluation of President Trump's performance.

# # #


* "But the seemingly most insoluble problem was that of presidential inability—Garfield lying in a coma for eighty days before succumbing to the effects of an assassin’s bullet, Wilson an invalid for the last eighteen months of his term, the result of a stroke—with its unanswered questions: who was to determine the existence of an inability, how was the matter to be handled if the President sought to continue, in what manner should the Vice President act, would he be acting President or President, what was to happen if the President recovered." -- Congressional Reference Service.