Washington Merry-Go-Round

IMMEDIATE RELEASE 28 November 2025
WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND
Today’s Events in Historical Perspective
America’s Longest-Running Column, Founded 1932
Presidents Vance and Arthur
By Douglas Cohn and Eleanor Clift         
 
WASHINGTON – President J.D. Vance – a title that could very soon be real.
Sooner or later, we will know more about Vance, who is likely Trump’s heir apparent in 2028. In the meantime, history buffs can console themselves with the example of President James Garfield’s Vice President Chester Arthur, a machine politician of whom little was expected, but when he was thrust into the presidency upon Garfield’s death, he came to see the light on one of the biggest issues of the day: civil service reform. Before the reform he ended up championing, corruption was the order of the day with patronage-seekers lining up at the White House for what they could get.
If Trump passes the baton to Vance, eventually, the best-selling author and former Ohio senator just might, maybe, perhaps follow the Constitution.
Meanwhile, the bill of goods adds up against Trump. He was restrained in his first term. Now he is pridefully unrestrained calling for the execution of Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., and other Democratic office holders who chose this time to create a video highlighting what every member of the military should know, that they do not have to follow an illegal order, indeed they must not follow an illegal order.
The Senate should have passed a “sense of the Senate” resolution immediately condemning Trump’s overblown and undemocratic response.
The context for their video is the armada Trump sent to the waters off Venezuela and having U.S. sailors shoot civilians in boats without first stopping and inspecting their cargo or following any rule of law. The U.S. admiral in charge of these operations recently resigned, raising questions about the legality of what Trump is doing and may have in mind for future operations.
Some lawmakers objected to Trump’s unhinged order, but not enough to make a difference, though the notion of Trump and Secretary of War Hegseth taking on Kelly, is too ridiculous to take seriously.
Kelly is a genuine war hero who flew multiple combat missions in the first Gulf War, then became a military test pilot and NASA astronaut. His wife, Gabby Giffords, a former member of Congress, was the gunshot victim of political violence.
Trump’s over-the-top rhetoric, his willingness to deploy whatever tools he conjures as commander in chief, including illegal tariffs,  deportations without due process, closing congressionally-approved agencies, prosecuting political enemies, impounding congressionally-approved funding, firing people in violation of the law, deploying Marines domestically in violation of Posse Comitatus, and even threatening to take Greenland by force make him a danger to the democracy he professes to lead.
Further, there is increasing concern about his physical and mental health as his unhinged behavior continues to worsen.
This has stirred talk of the 25th Amendment and potentially removing Trump from office, and what J.D. Vance might be like should he become president. The 25th Amendment requires the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to agree a president is incapacitated. Then Congress must approve, so the odds are high that this will only happen if additional bizarre and illegal activities continue to mount.
As for Vance, Democrats worry he would be worse than Trump. Aligned with billionaire technocrats, he seems more callous than even Trump towards marginal communities even though he came from a background stressed by poverty and addiction.
But then there are Chester Arthur’s footsteps.
 
See Eleanor Clift’s book Selecting a President, and Douglas Cohn’s latest books The President’s First Year: The Only School for Presidents Is the Presidency and World War 4: Nine Scenarios (endorsed by seven flag officers).
Twitter:  @douglas_cohn
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END WASHINGTON MERRY-GO-ROUND