"If the president of the United States must decide within minutes how to respond to a dire emergency, its citizens expect him or her to be mentally and physically competent and able to act wisely. Because the presidency is the world's most powerful office, even the most short-lived lapse in the president's ability to exercise the executive power is dangerous to the nation.".

"In response to an invitation by President Jimmy Carter to the American Academy of Neurology in May 1994, James F. Toole, neurologist, and Arthur S. Link, biographer of Woodrow Wilson, established the Working Group on Presidential Disability whose members include medical doctors, politicians, and former administration members.

This book represents the papers and discussions of the Working Group, as well as its final report on and recommendations for determining how and when the Twenty-Fifth Amendment is to be used. The findings and deliberations of the Working Group were issued in a set of nine recommendations for the effective use of the Twenty-Fifth Amendment, which are included in this book, along with commentary on the recommendations."--BOOK JACKET.