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Pence was kept on 'standby' to assume presidency when Trump visited Walter Reed hospital last Nov, says book

Speculation was rife over the president's health after the surprise visit to the medical facility but the White House said all was fine
PUBLISHED SEP 1, 2020
(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

When President Donald Trump paid an unplanned visit to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, speculation over the septuagenarian commander-in-chief’s health spread like a wildfire. The White House explained that it was just a routine annual check-up though not all were convinced. And now, lending credence to the speculation, a new book has claimed that Vice President Mike Pence was put on standby when Trump went to the Bethesda medical facility. 

It was said then that Trump went to Walter Reed for a quick examination as he was getting prepared for a hectic 2020 election season. But the sudden nature of the visit where even the facility staff reportedly had no prior information gave birth to various questions. 

The book penned by Pulitzer-winning New York Times reporter Michael S Schmidt -- ‘Donald Trump V. The United States: Inside the Struggle to Stop a President’ made the revelation about Pence waiting to take over if the No.1 had to undergo a procedure for which he required anesthesia. The book, which also made other revelations about the Trump administration, was set to be out on Tuesday, September 1. 

The revelation about Pence, 61, would certainly make the constitutional experts think. According to Section Three of the 25th Amendment (Presidential Disability and Succession) of the US Constitution: 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.

Nine VPs have replaced presidents because of death while one for resignation

In the history of the presidency, nine vice-presidents have assumed power because of the president’s death while one because of his resignation. Those who became the president because of the incumbent’s death are John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, Chester A Arthur, Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Harry S Truman and Lyndon B Johnson. Gerald Ford is the one who replaced Richard Nixon after the latter stepped down in the wake of the Watergate scandal.

According to an NYT review of the book, Schmidt wrote: “The White House wanted Mike Pence 'on standby to take over the powers of the presidency temporarily if Trump had to undergo a procedure that would have required him to be anesthetized.”

Pence though never had to step in.

(AFP OUT) Former vice president Dick Cheney stands with former president George W Bush  (Getty Images)

There have also been instances where vice presidents chipped in to serve as acting presidents after the incumbent underwent a medical procedure. In 1985, George H W Bush served as the president as Ronald Reagan underwent a colon cancer surgery under anesthesia. In 2002 and 2007, Dick Cheney did the same while George W Bush had a colonoscopy surgery. All three occasions were brief. 

Stephanie Grisham, the then-White House press secretary, said Trump’s Walter Reed visit saw him undergoing a “quick exam and labs” and that he “remains healthy and energetic without complaints”. She also said the president made use of a “free weekend” during his stay in the capital to “begin portions of his routine annual physical exam”.
 
Dr Sean Conley, Trump’s personal physician, also said it was a routine interim check-up and the visit was kept secret because of “scheduling uncertainties”. “Despite some speculation, the President has not had any chest pain, nor was he evaluated or treated for any urgent or acute issues. Specifically, he did not undergo any specialized cardiac or neurologic evaluations,” Conley wrote in the memo which was released a few days later to quell the speculation that the president had been treated for a medical emergency. The full results of Trump’s annual physical were released by the White House in June and it said the president was “healthy”.

Schmidt also revealed in his book that Trump offered the post of the FBI chief to former White House chief of staffs John Kelly after he fired James Comey but on the condition of unflinching loyalty.

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