Doctoral candidate Heather Walser recently published an article on the 25th amendment in The Washington Post‘s Made by History blog. The article draws on research Walser conducted at the University of Oklahoma’s Carl Albert Center. Carl Albert was a longtime Democratic politician who served as Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1971 to 1977. Early in Albert’s tenure as speaker, President Richard Nixon nominated Gerald Ford, under the terms of the 25th amendment, to replace Spiro Agnew as vice president following the latter’s resignation. As Nixon faced impeachment at the time, Albert could have used his power as speaker to try to obstruct Ford’s confirmation and orchestrate the impeachment of the president to open a path to the presidency for himself. Walser notes that Albert did not consider this course and instead sought the continuity of government during the crisis. She argues that the current Congress would be wise to do the same and resist the urge to use the 25th amendment to remove the president for short-term gain. Read her article here.