Skip to content Skip to search

Republish This Story

* Please read before republishing *

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Creative Commons license as long as you follow our republishing guidelines, which require that you credit The 19th and retain our pixel. See our full guidelines for more information.

To republish, simply copy the HTML at right, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to The 19th. Have questions? Please email [email protected].

— The Editors

Loading...

Modal Gallery

/
Sign up for our newsletter

Menu

Topics

  • Abortion
  • Politics
  • Education
  • LGBTQ+
  • Caregiving
  • Environment & Climate
  • Business & Economy
View all topics

The 19th News(letter)

News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday.

You have been subscribed!

Please complete the following CAPTCHA to be confirmed. If you have any difficulty, contact [email protected] for help.

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please email [email protected] to subscribe.

This email address might not be capable of receiving emails (according to Bouncer). You should try again with a different email address. If you have any questions, contact us at [email protected].

  • Latest Stories
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Ways to Give
  • Search
  • Contact
Donate
Home

We’re an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. Read our story.

Topics

  • Abortion
  • Politics
  • Education
  • LGBTQ+
  • Caregiving
  • Environment & Climate
  • Business & Economy
View all topics

The 19th News(letter)

News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday.

You have been subscribed!

Please complete the following CAPTCHA to be confirmed. If you have any difficulty, contact [email protected] for help.

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please email [email protected] to subscribe.

This email address might not be capable of receiving emails (according to Bouncer). You should try again with a different email address. If you have any questions, contact us at [email protected].

  • Latest Stories
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Ways to Give
  • Search
  • Contact

We’re an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. Read our story.

The 19th News(letter)

News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday.

You have been subscribed!

Please complete the following CAPTCHA to be confirmed. If you have any difficulty, contact [email protected] for help.

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please email [email protected] to subscribe.

This email address might not be capable of receiving emails (according to Bouncer). You should try again with a different email address. If you have any questions, contact us at [email protected].

Become a member

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

Politics

Kamala Harris is the first woman to officially be acting U.S. president

President Joe Biden briefly transferred power to Vice President Harris while he was under anesthesia. 

Kamala Harris waits to speak during an event.
(Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Amanda Becker

Washington Correspondent

Published

2021-11-19 10:14
10:14
November 19, 2021
am

Republish this story

Share

  • Bluesky
  • Facebook
  • Email

Republish this story

For a short period on Friday morning, the United States for the first time had a woman formally acting as president.

President Joe Biden, who turns 79 on Saturday, briefly transferred power to Vice President Kamala Harris, 57, when he was under anesthesia for a colonoscopy during a routine physical at the Walter Reed Medical Center, White House aides said. 

Harris worked from her office in the West Wing as she prepared for a trip to Columbus, Ohio, to talk about the bipartisan infrastructure package the president signed into law earlier this week. Biden is expected back at the White House in time for the annual pre-Thanksgiving turkey pardon ceremony Friday afternoon. (Peanut Butter and Jelly are the birds getting a reprieve this year).

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

Formal procedures for establishing succession of power when a president dies or is temporarily disabled did not exist until the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1967. Since then, presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush briefly transferred power to their vice presidents. Biden is now the third.

Presidents invoking Section 3 of the 25th Amendment tell congressional leaders that they will be temporarily “unable to discharge the powers and duties of their office” and designate the vice president to perform them in their stead.

Before the 25th Amendment, however, there was Edith Wilson.

Sign up for more news and context delivered to your inbox, daily

You have been subscribed!

Please complete the following CAPTCHA to be confirmed. If you have any difficulty, contact [email protected] for help.

Submitting…

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please email [email protected] to subscribe.

This email address might not be capable of receiving emails (according to Bouncer). You should try again with a different email address. If you have any questions, contact us at [email protected].

Preview of the daily newsletter from The 19th

President Woodrow Wilson had a severe stroke in 1919 and, without clear guidelines about who should serve in his convalescence, his wife Edith Wilson began what she called her “stewardship.” For more than a year, until Woodrow Wilson’s term ended, Edith Wilson reviewed correspondence and decided what should be relayed to her husband. She also helped conceal the extent of his illness. 

The 25th Amendment has made the temporary transfer of power to vice presidents a more routine, and official, affair. George H. W. Bush was acting president for about eight hours while Reagan underwent surgery for colon cancer in 1985. Dick Cheney was acting president for George W. Bush in 2002 and 2007 — both instances lasted just over two hours and were also due to the president’s sedation during colonoscopies.

Harris was acting president for one hour and 25 minutes, the White House said.

Biden’s White House said it will release a written summary of his physical on Friday afternoon. It will be the first update on the president’s health since 2019, during his presidential campaign, when a doctor’s letter said he was healthy and “fit to successfully execute the duties of the presidency.” Biden was the oldest person to be sworn in as U.S. president.

Republish this story

Share

  • Bluesky
  • Facebook
  • Email

Recommended for you

Vice President Kamala Harris talks abortion, voting rights in midterm-focused Florida trip
Marcia Fudge nominated as HUD secretary
Kamala Harris surpasses nearly 200-year-old record for Senate tiebreakers
Susan Rice to be director of White House Domestic Policy Council

The 19th News(letter)

News that represents you, in your inbox every weekday.

You have been subscribed!

Please complete the following CAPTCHA to be confirmed. If you have any difficulty, contact [email protected] for help.

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please email [email protected] to subscribe.

This email address might not be capable of receiving emails (according to Bouncer). You should try again with a different email address. If you have any questions, contact us at [email protected].

Become a member

Explore more coverage from The 19th
Abortion Politics Education LGBTQ+ Caregiving
View all topics

Support representative journalism today.

Learn more about membership.

  • Transparency
    • About
    • Team
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Community Guidelines
  • Newsroom
    • Latest Stories
    • 19th News Network
    • Podcast
    • Events
    • Careers
    • Fellowships
  • Newsletters
    • Daily
    • Weekly
    • The Amendment
    • Event Invites
  • Support
    • Ways to Give
    • Sponsorship
    • Republishing
    • Volunteer

The 19th is a reader-supported nonprofit news organization. Our stories are free to republish with these guidelines.