Word: anesthesia
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...functioning, and somewhat more smoothly than in similar past crises. As his last official act before being wheeled into the operating room, Reagan at 10:32 a.m. Saturday signed letters authorizing Vice President George Bush to "discharge powers and duties in my stead commencing with the administration of anesthesia," which began 1 hr. 16 min. later. Though Reagan injected some caveats about the application of the 25th Amendment, the message marked the first official transfer of power from a President to his Vice President in the nation's history. Even after he reassumed his official powers almost eight hours later...
...mean you can become George's [First] Lady." Despite the levity, the President was aware that this temporary but official transfer of presidential power, the first known in U.S. history, was a complicated matter with serious implications for the future. During the several hours that he would be under anesthesia, and possibly for some time thereafter, the President would be unable to make a decision or discharge the powers and duties of his office. In the interim, Reagan and his aides knew, they had to establish clearly who would have the ultimate responsibility as Commander in Chief. Beyond that...
...originally drafted in longhand by White House Counsel Fred Fielding in consultation with Attorney General Edwin Meese and White House Chief of Staff Donald Regan. Based on the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, the letter was designed to provide an orderly conveyance of power while Reagan was under anesthesia and at the same time avoid causing undue public alarm by invoking the Constitution...
...letter went on to say that "consistent with my longstanding arrangement with Vice President George Bush, and not intending to set a precedent," Bush was authorized to discharge the powers of the presidency while Reagan was under anesthesia. Saturday evening, after Reagan was once again alert, he signed a second letter that was delivered to Congress affirming his intention to resume his duties. This informal, rather nebulous process carried out by the White House closely paralleled the formal constitutional procedure. "It may not be a formal invocation of the 25th Amendment," said former White House Communications Director David Gergen...
...White House Counsel Fielding and Reagan all believed that the amendment was designed for a longer, more debilitating illness than this one appears to be. They did not want a Reagan precedent to pressure future Presidents into using the amendment on inconsequential occasions--when, say, a President was under anesthesia merely to have some wisdom teeth removed...