Frankel Lecture explores transition of presidential power

Three Constitutional luminaries will examine the history, health and welfare of the 25th Amendment during the 14th Annual Houston Law Review Frankel Lecture on Friday, Nov. 6. The Amendment, which spells out when and how a vice-president may succeed to the presidency, has been invoked six times since it was ratified in 1967. Previous transitions of power – including the swearing in of Lyndon B. Johnson hours after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963 – were smooth and orderly even though the exact process had not been constitutionally specified.  The 25th Amendment provided a necessary “road map” for these transitions – and the Frankel Lecture will identify if the “map” requires any updates.

Keynote speaker is Akhil Reed Amar, Sterling Professor of Law and Political Science at Yale Law School, who has written extensively on the Constitution. He is a graduate of Yale College and Yale Law School and has been teaching at both schools since 1985.

Commenting are John D. Feerick, Sidney C. Norris Chair of Law in Public Service at Fordham University School of Law; and Joel K. Goldstein, Vincent C. Immel Professor of Law at Saint Louis University School of Law.

The lecture is 8:30-10:30 a.m., Friday, Nov. 6, at the Doubletree Hotel, 400 Dallas St., Houston, TX, 77002. Attendees will earn two hours of MCLE credit.

For more information and to RSVP, contact Giselle Torres at symposium@HoustonLawReview.org.