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"Fasttracking the New President"

By Jack M. Balkin

An op-ed in today's Boston Globe, entitled "Fast track the new president" by a professor and research associate at the Harvard Business School advocates that Obama (or McCain) quickly move into the White House via the 25th Amendment route of a Cheney resignation, the appointment and confirmation of the president-elect (which any sentient being will know on November 5 even without having to wait around for the convening of electors in December unless there is indeed a tie or it's close enough to have a rerun of Florida in 2000, both extraordinarily unlikely events according to every single poll, see, e.g., 538.com). The op-ed begins as follows:

THE NEXT PRESIDENT will be elected on Nov. 4, but will not take office until Jan. 20. Normally, this lag time is not an issue. But with the financial system in meltdown, the "real" economy threatening to follow, and a feckless, lame-duck administration unable to lead, this yawning interval is a problem. If history is any guide, a very big problem.

Consider the election of 1932, perhaps the closest historical analogy to our current situation. The Great Depression was already in full swing when Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected on Nov. 8 to succeed Herbert Hoover. Unfortunately, things went from bad to worse in the four months between Roosevelt's election and inauguration. (At that time, the new president didn't take office until March 4.) During those dreadful days, the index of industrial production dropped to an all-time low. The unemployment rate soared to an all-time high. Twenty-three states intervened in their banking systems with unprecedented force. By the time Roosevelt took office, numerous banks had been closed or placed under increased state regulation. On Inauguration Day itself, New York Governor Herbert H. Lehman declared a two-day bank holiday.

Meanwhile, the federal government was paralyzed. Hoover and Roosevelt could not agree on a joint course of action. The economy continued its historic plunge, and ever more Americans lost not only their incomes but their hope. However, bold responses such as a national banking holiday - not to mention the psychological boost of an inspiring new leader declaring that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself" - would have to wait for March.

January 20 is obviously not so far off as March 4, but the only reason that Inauguration Day is now in January was the wisdom of those who realized that the Constitution was defective and supported the 20th Amendment, which moved up Inauguration Day and, just as importantly, the start of the new Congress to the beginning of January, correcting another truly lunatic feature of the original Constitution. We, however, are totally mired in complacence. I wonder if those who disagree with me would have opposed the 20th Amendment, which, after all, changed very important features of our original Constitution (and if they would have attacked the motives of anyone who did support the 20th Amendment).

Full post as published by Balkinization on October 15, 2008 (boomark / email).