article_snippet: Hence the need for a vice president at the ready, able to take over at a moment's notice.
article_snippet: In case of a temporary disability -- say, a scheduled surgery under general anesthesia -- the president can hand over control to the president and then take back control when a temporary disability ends.
article_snippet: It is exactly what happened when the president underwent planned colonoscopies in 2002 and 2007.
article_snippet: On both occasions, the president handed the tiller to the president trusted co-pilot, Dick Cheney, and then resumed control when ready, under rules clearly laid out by the Constitution's 25th Amendment -- an amendment drafted and ratified after the shocking assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
article_snippet: But what happens if a president is unable to predict a president own future disability, or unable to recognize a genuine disability when it arises?
article_snippet: The 25th Amendment allows the president to take over control in this situation, but to do so, the president needs the support of a majority of Cabinet officers -- officials previously appointed by the president and thus unlikely to support any inappropriate vice presidential power grab.