 The situation that arose after the incapacity of President Wilson , for which Marshall 's vice @-@ presidency is most remembered , revived the national debate on the process of presidential succession . The topic was already being discussed when Wilson left for Europe , which influenced him to allow Marshall to conduct cabinet meetings in his absence . Wilson 's incapacity during 1919 and the lack of action by Marshall made it a major issue . The constitutional flaws in the process of presidential succession had been known since the death of President William Henry Harrison in 1841 , but little progress had been made passing a constitutional amendment to remedy the problem . Nearly fifty years later , the Twenty @-@ fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed , allowing the vice president to assume the presidential powers and duties any time the president was rendered incapable of carrying out the powers and duties of the office . 
