A Historical Perspective on Edwards
Yesterday I wrote a post about John Edwards' situation with his wife's cancer. One of the points I raised was how having to deal with a dying wife could affect his Presidency, should he be elected, and the need to guard against that with a solid choice for Vice President and a plan to implement the 25th Amendment should he be unable to server in a crisis due to his wife illness.
A few weeks ago, I caught aHistory Channel documentary titled "Madam President," which covered the end of Woodrow Wilson's presidency after he'd had a debilitating stroke. His wife, Edith Bolling Wilson, "controlled access to the president and kept the strains of office from overwhelming the ill president. Many believed that she herself was running the country. But Edith Wilson did not make decisions of state, although she did decide what was important enough for her husband to know and who he should see, prompting an opposing senator to call Wilson’s administration a 'petticoat government.'" If I recalle correctly, Mrs. Wilson justified her actions by stating that her was her husband, which missed the obvious point: he was our President. There were some very important issues going on at that time, not the least of which was the debate over the League of Nations.
As a result of his illness, Wilson was unable to participate in the debate. Some claim that had the United States joined the League, World War II might have been avoided. I think that's optimistic. Tere still would likely have been a war, but the Final Solution might have been avoided andperhaps it wouldn't have been as it was had the United States been more engaged in European affairs. But given the demands of the Depression at home, it's unlikely, even with involvement in theLeague, that we would have been too focused on the rise of the Nazis.
At the time of Wilson's Presidency, there was no means of temporarily transferring power to the Vice President, but given the severity of Wilson's stroke, it shouldn't have been a temporary transfer. Today, thanks to the 25th Amendment, we do have a means of a President temporarily stepping aside. Due to the grief of watching a spouse die, or deailing the death of a spouse, Edwards should have a plan ready in case the worst happens and he's dealing with his grief.