A little more than 30 years ago, Theodore Olson, then in charge of the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, was flipping through his pocket Constitution on the afternoon of March 31, 1981, searching for the 25th Amendment — presidential succession. President Ronald Reagan had been shot and seriously injured, and Olson and other lawyers — including White House Counsel Fred Fielding — were grappling with the legal implications. In his new book Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan (Henry Holt; $27), Washington Post courts reporter Del Quentin Wilber describes the tense moments among administration lawyers as they examined the possible transfer of power to Vice President George H.W. Bush. That afternoon, watching replays of the attempted assassination on television, Attorney General William F. Smith told Olson to find out the power-transfer procedure. There was no precedent. Searching his Constitution, Olson couldn’t find the amendment. Wilber writes that Olson quickly realized his Constitution — with its “dog-eared pages” — was printed before 1967, when the 25th Amendment was ratified. Now a partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Olson says he carries a “fully current” Constitution in his briefcase. At all times. — Mike Scarcella
GRAY POSTS $50 AND SAVES AG A HEADACHE
Washington Mayor Vincent Gray fought the law, and he is proud to say that the law won. Gray and six other city council members were among 41 protestors arrested on April 11 by U.S. Capitol Police during a demonstration against congressional interference in city affairs.
