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Johnson and Johnson:
Trauma and the Succession of Presidential Power in American History
Kelly J. Keogh
Normal Community High School
Spring 2010
Cecil Stoughton photograph of Lyndon Johnson taking oath of office on
Air Force One; November 22, 1963 following John Kennedy’s assassination.
Gift from Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library
The lesson will confront students with the Constitutional, historical and political
ramifications of the transition of presidential power following traumatic events in the
country’s
history.
the thumbnail
images
related to this learning
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Overview/ Materials/Historical Background/LOC Resources/Standards/
resource table. Resize Procedures/Evaluation/Rubric/Handouts/Extension
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Overview
Objectives
Recommended time frame
Grade level
Curriculum fit
Materials
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Students will:
 Examine the Constitutional provisions
pertaining to the Presidential succession of
power.
 Analyze historical case studies where the
Presidential succession of power due to a
death/resignation was enacted.
 Evaluate the difficulty and success of four
Vice-Presidents following the
death/resignation of a President.
3-4 days
11-12th grades
U.S. History, A.P. Government
Videos:
 Ken Burns “Civil War” Episode 9 Chapters 1-4.
1990, All rights reserved PBS.
 “Truman”, Part One Scene 6-9. 1997 WGBH
Educational Foundation and David Grubin
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Productions, Inc. All rights reserved PBS.
 “LBJ”, Part Two Scene 1-10, 1991 North Texas
Public Broadcasting, Inc. All rights reserved
PBS.
 “Nixon”, Part Three Scene 1-4, 1990, WGBH
Educational Foundation, Inc. All rights reserved
PBS.
Documents:
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President Andrew Johnson’s “First Annual
Speech to Congress”, December 4, 1865; Miller
Center for Public Affairs, University of Virginia.
http://millercenter.org/scripps/archive/speeches/
detail/3555
President Harry S. Truman’s “Address to Joint
Session of Congress”, April 16, 1945; Harry S.
Truman Library and Museum.
https://trumanlibrary.org/ww2/stofunio.htm
President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Address to Joint
Session of Congress”, November 27, 1963;
Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum,
National Archives and Records Administration.
http://www.lbjib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.ho
m/speeches.hom/631127.asp
President Gerald Ford’s “Remarks Upon Taking
the Oath of Office as President”, August 9,
1975; Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and
Museum.
http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/spee
ches/74001.asp
“Constitution on Line”; USConstitution.net
http://www.usconstitution.net/index.html
Images:
 “Andrew Johnson taking the Oath”, “Harry S.
Truman taking the Oath”, “Lyndon Johnson
taking the Oath”, “Gerald Ford taking the Oath”;
Citations and URL location found on “Primary
Source from the Library of Congress” page.
Illinois State Learning Standards
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Social Studies

State Goal 14 Understand Political Systems with
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an emphasis on the United States
14.A.3 Describe how responsibilities are shared and
limited by the United States and Illinois
Constitutions and significant court decisions
14.A.4 Analyze how local, state and national
governments serve the purposes for which they were
created.
14.B.3 Identify and compare the basic political
systems of Illinois and the United States as
prescribed by their constitutions.
14.F.A Determine the historical events and
processes that brought about changes in the United
States political ideas and traditions.
14.F.3a Analyze historical influences on the
development of political ideas and practices as
enumerated in the Declaration of Independence, the
United States Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the
Illinois Constitution.
Procedures
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Day One:


Have students read aloud the “Historical
Background” reading from lesson to provide
background. After reading the background, issue
them Assignment #1 on the “Constitution and
Presidential Succession of Power” for homework.
Day Two:
Go over Assignment #1 and then issue the class
Assignment #2 on “Four Case Studies of
Presidential Succession”. Show them video Clip #1
from “Civil War” series and video Clip #2 from
“Truman” (cited in Resource section)
Day Three:

Continue Assignment #2 by showing Clip #3
“LBJ” and Clip #4 “Nixon” (cited in Resource
section).
 Have students complete Assignment #2 for
homework if they do not complete it in class
Day Four:
 Go over Assignment #2 with the class. Have
them discuss their answers in small groups first
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before leading into a general class discussion.
Place their answers on the white board for
analysis. Issue them the culminating Position
Paper assignment. Go over the directions with
them as well as explain the Rubric that will be
employed for evaluation. Be certain to point out
the websites for the Presidential speeches as
they’re a major part of the assignment. They
have two days to complete their essay either at
home or in a computer lab if possible.
Evaluation
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The first two assignments will be evaluated as
homework grades. The Position Paper will be assessed
as a test grade.
Extension
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An entertaining extension of this lesson would be to
show your class the episode of the NBC television series
“West Wing” where the Presidential character, President
Bartlett, submits his temporary resignation and then
resumes the office in a later episode. The episodes
where from Season 4 “Twenty Five” and Season 5
“Dogs of War” and “Jefferson Lives”. You could have
your students analyze the episode to see what
Constitutional provisions are invoked and followed by
the film and whether or not they’re valid. Another
extension could be just to have them research the 8
times when Presidents have left their office prematurely
and examine each as a Case Study under the analysis of
the Constitutional provisions for transfer of power.
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Historical Background
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The transition of presidential power from one elected leader to the next has always
been a major goal of the United States since its founders first ratified its Constitution in
1789. Although overall successful, there have been instances in American history where
the presidential transition did not go as smoothly as hoped due to traumatic factors such
as assassination, death by natural causes, voting irregularities and resignation. Of the 44
men who have held the office of the Presidency, eight died while in office with four
being assassinated. The political chaos that usually follows a change in executive power
has been somewhat abated throughout America’s history with the existence of Article 2,
Sec.1 of the United States Constitution that underscored the requirements for the office of
the President and Vice-President
Article 2, Sec.1 of the United States Constitution lays out the age and residency
requirements of the office of the Presidency and Vice-Presidency. Although generally
accepted by the masses through this provision that the Vice-President would replace the
President if the latter died or resigned in office, there were later Amendments to the
section to clarify the succession of Presidential power in case of death or removal of
President or Vice-President. The 1804 12th Amendment, the 1933 20th Amendment, the
1951 22nd Amendment and the 1967 25th Amendment of the Constitution dealt with
different aspects of the qualifications, limits of terms, and succession of power of the
Presidency. The 25th Amendment offered the most specific clarification concerning the
presidential succession of power.
Of the eight Presidents that did not complete their term of office due to death or
resignation, there were four transitions of power that were especially traumatic to the
body politic. The 1865 assassination of President Abraham Lincoln at the conclusion of
the American Civil War, the 1945 death of four term President Franklin Roosevelt in the
waning days of the Second World War, the 1963 assassination of President John F.
Kennedy at the height of the Cold War and the 1974 resignation of President Richard
Nixon following the Watergate scandal all shocked the country. Each occurred at
transformational points of volatile domestic and foreign challenges to the country when
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Presidential leadership was vital. The importance and necessity of the office of VicePresident was never more apparent than in these situations as well as the need to have
qualified people serving in that capacity.
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Primary Resources from the Library of Congress
Image
Description
Citation
Andrew
Johnson
taking the
oath of
office on
April 15,
1865 at
Kirkwood
House
Hotel in
Washingt
on, D.C.
Harry
Truman
taking
oath of
office in
White
House
Cabinet
room
April 12,
1945
Lyndon
Johnson
taking
oath
Novembe
r 22,1963
on Air
Force One
Frank Leslie
“Illustrated
Newspaper
” vol. 21.
Pg..245
January 6,
1866
Cecil
Stoughton,
photograph
er;
November
22, 1963.
Gift from
Lyndon
Johnson
Presidential
Library
http://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/query/r?ammem/pin:@field(NUMBER+@band(cp
h+3c26329))
Gerald
Ford
taking
oath in
East
Room
White
House
August 9,
1974
Robert L.
Knudsen
photograph
er
Courtesy
Of
Gerald
Ford
Presidential
Library
http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/images/avproj/po
p-ups/A0004-10.html
Internation
al News
Photo;
April
12,1945
Gift of
Encyclopedi
a Brittanica
URL
http://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/query/r?ammem/pin:@field(NUMBER+@band(cp
h+3b34494))
http://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/query/r?ammem/pin:@field(NUMBER+@band(cp
h+3b34494))
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Rubric
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Position Paper Rubric
An “A” paper has the following qualities:
 Strong ideas that are carefully and extensively explained, supported or illustrated
 Ideas, opinions, or positions are clearly supported by references to the text
 Ideas are original or presented in an insightful or creative manner
 Final draft form has proper spelling and mechanics
A “B” paper has the following qualities:
 Ideas are clearly formed and explained in the essay
 Arguments are supported by appropriate references to the text that are also explained
 A logical flow to the paper from the introduction to body to conclusion
 Paper is long enough to meet the expectations of the assignment
 Final draft form with minor spelling or mechanical errors
A “C” paper has the following qualities:
 Less evidence of careful writing (no introduction or conclusion, weak explanations)
 Few or no references to the text
 Text references are unconnected or not explained
 Paper is not long enough to adequately present the ideas
 Too many spelling or mechanical errors
A “D” paper has the following qualities:





Less evidence of careful thinking or writing
Significant spelling or mechanical errors
No references to text
Paper is unclear due to arbitrary or random ideas
Ideas are poorly developed and are not explained or clarified for the reader
SPECIFIC FEEDBACK ON WRITING:
YES
NO
USE OF SPECIFIC EXCERPTS FROM THE TEXT
5
4
3
2
1
FOCUS ON THE QUESTION ASKED
5
4
3
2
1
EXPLANATION OF IDEAS AND/OR OPINIONS
5
4
3
2
1
ATTEMPT TO ANALYZE IDEAS FROM TEXT
5
4
3
2
1
LENGTH OF 2-2.5 PAGES OF REAL CONTENT
5
4
3
2
1
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Handouts
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Article II - The Executive Branch Note
Section 1 - The President Note1 Note2
The executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. He shall hold his Office during the Term of four
Years, and, together with the Vice-President chosen for the same Term, be elected, as follows:
Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a Number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of
Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding
an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector……No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a
Citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President, neither shall
any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and have been fourteen years a
Resident within the United States. 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, and the Congress may by law
provide for the case of removal, death, resignation or inability…..
Section 4 - Disqualification
The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and
Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
Amendment 22 - Presidential Term Limits. Ratified 2/27/1951. History
1. No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or
acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of
the President more than once. But this Article shall not apply to any person holding the office of President, when this Article was
proposed by the Congress, and shall not prevent any person who may be holding the office of President, or acting as President, during
the term within which this Article becomes operative from holding the office of President or acting as President during the remainder
of such term.
2. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of threefourths of the several States within seven years from the date of its submission to the States by the Congress.
Amendment 25 - Presidential Disability and Succession. Ratified 2/10/1967. Note History
1. In case of the removal of the President from office or of his death or resignation, the Vice President shall become President.
2. Whenever there is a vacancy in the office of the Vice President, the President shall nominate a Vice President who shall take office
upon confirmation by a majority vote of both Houses of Congress.
3. Whenever the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives his
written declaration that he is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, and until he transmits to them a written
declaration to the contrary, such powers and duties shall be discharged by the Vice President as Acting President.
4. Whenever the Vice President and a majority of either the principal officers of the executive departments or of such other body as
Congress may by law provide, 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 his office, the Vice President shall
immediately assume the powers and duties of the office as Acting President.
Thereafter, when the President transmits to the President pro tempore of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives
his written declaration that no inability exists, he shall resume the powers and duties of his office unless the Vice President and a
majority of either the principal officers of the executive department or of such other body as Congress may by law provide, transmit
within four days 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 his office. Thereupon Congress shall decide the issue, assembling
within forty eight hours for that purpose if not in session. If the Congress, within twenty one days after receipt of the latter written
declaration, or, if Congress is not in session, within twenty one days after Congress is required to assemble, determines by two thirds
vote of both Houses that the President is unable to discharge the powers and duties of his office, the Vice President shall continue to
discharge the same as Acting President; otherwise, the President shall resume the powers and duties of his office.
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Assignment #1: The Constitution and Presidential Succession of Power
Use the “Historical Background” and the Excerpts from the Constitution page to answer the following
questions.
1.
Why do you think the framers of the Constitution placed the Executive (President) powers in
Article 2 of the Constitution while placing the powers of the Congress as Article 1? What
historical events/experiences among the Framers help explain this structure?
2.
What are the requirements for someone to hold the office of the President based on the
Constitutional provisions? What motivations do think the Framers had to declare these
requirements? Do you agree with the requirements why/why not?
3.
What might be some examples of “treason” and “high crimes and misdemeanors” that are found
under Section 4 for grounds of “Disqualification” and terms for impeachment? Give an example
when such terms were enacted by Congress and impeachment proceedings were enacted. Do you
agree with the decision to impeach? Why/why not?
4.
Why do you think the 22nd Amendment was passed, by whom and for what reason?
5.
Examine the 25th Amendment. Based on its language, can the President resign and then resume
power at a later time? Do you think this is a useful clause? Why/why not? Give an example
when such a clause would be beneficial to the country.
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Assignment #2: Four Case Studies of Presidential Succession
Read the Four Case Studies of Presidential Succession and analyze the video clips to
answer the following questions.
1. Who are the main characters in Case Number 1 and Case Number 2? What are
some similarities/differences between Case Number 1 and Case Number 2? Give
at least two examples of each.
2. Who are the main characters in Case Number 3 and Case Number 4? What are
some similarities/differences between Case Number 3 and Case Number 4? Give
at least two examples of each.
3. Examine the pictures that accompany each Case Study of the Presidential Oath
being given (larger images found on the Primary Resources from the Library
of Congress page) What are some similarities/differences that you notice of the
four? What historical factors might be responsible for the
similarities/differences?
4. All of the Four Case Studies were traumatic events for the American public. Rank
the four Case Studies in order from most traumatic to the least traumatic. Explain
your reasoning for your ordering of the four and offer evidence to support your
argument.
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Assignment #3: Position Paper on Presidential Succession
You are required to write a two-three page essay about which Presidential Succession, of
the four studied, you think was the most successful in fulfilling the Constitutional
requirements about succession while simultaneously helping the American public deal
with trauma that resulted in the succession. You may choose only ONE Case Study. The
format, style and rubric for the assessment of your paper are found on the Rubric page.
You will be stapling the rubric to your completed essay.
You may employ evidence from the video clips, the “Historical Background” reading, the
narrative of each Case Study as well as the speeches that each President gave following
their taking the Oath of the Presidency. Each speech is found at the URL locations listed
below. Be certain that you have read all four before making your decision. NOTE: A
major portion of the Rubric has reference to “the text” as a part of your assessment which
includes the speeches.
Andrew Johnson Speech: http://millercenter.org/scripps/archives/speeches/detail/3555
Harry Truman Speech: https://trumanlibrary.org/ww2/stofunio.htm
Lyndon Johnson Speech:
http://www.lbjib.utexas.edu/johnson/archives.hom/speeches.hom/631127.asp
Gerald Ford Speech: http://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/speeches/74001.asp
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Four Case Studies
Number 1 Andrew Johnson
On April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his forces to Union General Ulysses S.
Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia thereby unofficially ending the bloody four year American
Civil War. Five days later, on Friday evening April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated
by Confederate sympathizer John Wilkes Booth while attending a play in Washington, D.C. Lincoln’s
assassination, the first Presidential assassination in the country’s history, shocked and angered the country
and furthered the existing hatred and distrust that many held toward the conquered South. The issues of
how the South would be reintegrated into the Union, what penalties it would have to pay for the war and
what role and status the newly freed African-American slaves would have all now fell on Vice-President
Andrew Johnson. Johnson, a Tennessean who remained loyal to the Union when the war broke out, took
the Presidential oath in the early morning hours of April 15, 1865. On May 10, 1865, Confederate President
Jefferson Davis was taken into custody by Union soldiers and the Confederate States of America ceased to
exist. The American Civil War was officially over. The task of Reconstruction and reconciliation now was
the responsibility of President Andrew Johnson.
Andrew Johnson taking the Oath of President; April 15, 1865.
Number 2 Harry S. Truman
On April 12, 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt died in Warm Springs, Georgia from a cerebral
hemorrhage. Roosevelt, the only President elected to four terms, had ushered America through the Great
Depression and through the bloody Second World War which was drawing to an end. Vice-President Harry
S. Truman was summoned to the White House upon news of Roosevelt’s death and took the Presidential
oath of office. Following his swearing in, he immediately learned from Secretary of War Henry Stimson of
the Manhattan Project which was a top secret plan to construct an atomic bomb. Truman, only VicePresident for three months, had no knowledge of the atomic bomb plan or any other war plans as Roosevelt
had kept him out of any of the wartime decisions as well as any post-war planning. Allied forces in Europe
were closing in on Hitler’s Berlin and the end of the war there was imminent while American forces in the
Pacific were engaged in some of its bloodiest fighting against Japanese forces on Okinawa. The decision to
either invade the Japanese home islands or to use the atomic bomb still had to be determined. In addition,
the alliance with Joseph Stalin’s Soviet Union was breaking down as reports of Soviet violations of the
February, 1945, Yalta Accords pertaining to a “free” Eastern Europe were being cited each day. The tasks
of ending the war against Hitler in Europe, of defeating the Japanese in the Pacific and establishing a
peaceful postwar world with the communist dictator Joseph Stalin all fell upon President Harry S. Truman.
Harry S. Truman taking the Oath of President; April 12, 1945
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Number 3 Lyndon Baines Johnson
On November 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated while driving in an open limousine in
Dallas, Texas. Kennedy, elected in November 1960, inherited a tense international situation with the Cold
War rivalry between the Soviet Union and the United States growing ever more lethal. Both sides had
doubled their nuclear arsenal and now had the capability of destroying each other with intercontinental and
submarine launched ballistic missiles. The Cold War contest had also spread to Vietnam and Cuba where
the two were fighting a proxy war through different factions. In October, 1962, the world came to the brink
of nuclear Armageddon during the Cuban Missile Crisis and tensions between the two only increased since
those dramatic moments. Vice-President Lyndon Johnson, a Texan, was riding in the motorcade behind the
President when he was assassinated, and some of the public expressed anger and suspicions about his
involvement given his political rivalry with Kennedy prior to his acceptance of the Vice-Presidency. Upon
learning that the President’s wounds were fatal, Johnson immediately boarded Air Force One and requested
a federal judge be brought in to administer the Presidential oath. Johnson feared that Kennedy’s murder
might have been a larger coup attempt by communist or other extremist factions. Only after being sworn in
President Lyndon Baines Johnson, along with the flag draped coffin of the slain John F. Kennedy,
proceeded back to Washington, D.C. where he had to comfort a grief stricken and frightened country.
Lyndon Baines Johnson taking the Oath of President; November 22, 1963
Number 4 Gerald Ford
In November, 1972, President Richard Nixon was re-elected by on e of the largest landslides in history.
However, within a year of his victory, Nixon’s administration was plagued by the Watergate scandal which
many consider one of the greatest threats to the Constitution in the country’s history. Nixon’s involvement
in the attempted cover up of the crime and the subsequent attempts to silence informants galvanized public
attention and virtually paralyzed the federal government for close to two years. Nixon’s Vice-President,
Spiro Agnew, was forced to resign in October, 1973, following his indictment and conviction of tax
evasion while he was Governor of Maryland. Operating under the 1967 25th Amendment of the
Constitution pertaining to the replacement of the Vice-President, Nixon picked Michigan Congressman
Gerald Ford to replace Agnew. Ford’s appointment, although a popular choice, only diverted attention
away from the Watergate for a short period. Throughout 1974 Congress held hearings into the Watergate
scandal and by the summer it had voted to bring three articles of impeachment against President Richard
Nixon. On August 9, knowing there were enough votes in Congress to impeach him, Richard Nixon
became the first American President to resign from the presidency. Vice-President Gerald Ford took the
oath of office in the White House at noon and announced that America’s “long national nightmare is over”.
However, the American public had lost trust in its government with the debacle of the Vietnam War and the
abuse of presidential power during the Watergate scandal still lingering. President Ford would have to
rebuild the trust between the American public and its government.
Gerald Ford taking the Oath of President; August 9,1974
Teaching with Primary Sources
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Teaching with Primary Sources
Illinois State University