Full Disclosure by William Safire

[silverscreenselect]

This book was written in 1978 and it's out of print, but used copies are pretty easy to find. It's one of the better political novels I've read and very much on topic today.

The plot involves a Democratic president of the United States in the 1980s who is blinded as a result of a failed assassination attempt. He was flying in a helicopter with the Russian premier and dissidents shot it down, killing the premier. World tensions get worse and the question arises whether the President is still fit to stay in office and whether the Cabinet should invoke the 25th amendment. One problem is that the Vice-President is widely perceived as an incompetent doofus chosen for political reasons. Safire was a conservative, but the book doesn't really get involved with political issues or party politics. Instead, the conflict is among those who support the President, those who worry about elevating the VP, and those who view the crisis as an opportunity for a shortcut to power for themselves.

Safire wrote the book shortly after the 25th amendment was adopted and Gerald Ford succeeded Nixon. This was the first book that really explored how the Amendment would work in practice. Obviously, a lot of material in the book is now dated, but it's a good read, right up there with Advise and Consent and Facing the Lions.