Short of a fatality, this is a complicated process. For the most part, there is little precedent. Yes, Abraham Lincoln became the victim of John Wilkes Booth in Ford’s Theater on April 14, 1865 along with John Fitzgerald, our 35th president came to a tragic end on the streets of Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963.

There are those of us who remember that day and where they were, what they were doing. I was in Latin class in high school, a junior. Short of the various conspiracy theories floating about, Lee Harvey Oswald was given credit for some superb marksmanship, from a distant location all in rapid session. Heck, Charlton Heston would have been proud, under different circumstances. Jack Ruby, some despot from New Orleans gunned down the best witness in a police station during an epic ‘perp walk’
Digging through the archives, James Abrahm Garfield, (1881), the 20th president lasted less than a year in office, 79days, was gunned down in a train station in Washington DC, survived for an extended period but succumbed to complications.
Finally, William McKinley, our 25th president met his demise after 6 months into his second term. McKinley was shot on the grounds of the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York. An anarchist, who was disgruntal for the loss of his job approached McKinley on a receiving line, fired two times leaving the president to die of gangrenous wounds 6 days after having been shot. The assassin, know to us as Czolgosz, an immigrant, was sentenced to die in the electric chair. As a result, the Secret Service was assigned the responsibility of protecting the president.
There are legal remedies, constitutionally and legislatively. Two of these are spelled out and require grown men and women to be reasonable. I am asking a lot here but I’m not paid to play nice.

The 25th Amendment, which has never been tested and rarely discussed (until now). First, a little weasel, such as Mike Pence has to sneak around and convince half of the cabinet that the president is incapacitated physically or just ‘bat-shit’ crazy. None of this need be true, just a majority vote. However, in a white house that has more leaks than a sieve, we would see another Saturday night massacre. In my opinion, the reason that Trump chose Pence for that coveted position was… the lesser of two evils and Trump remains in office. Food for thought, can anyone in an ‘acting’ position be legally eligible to vote? Besides, a lot of skeletons are buried in this administration, and Trump would not hesitate for a New York minute to… .It’s a mafia thing, more precisely, Russian mafia which operates largely out of Queens, NY. Connect the dots.
Now, at the risk of going a little deep into the weeds, there are a few options (tricks) that can be employed. Our “really smart, stable genius” has among other things, the Power of the Pardon. But, we won’t even go there… yet. Since everything has a price, it could become quite useful. All of this 25th Amendment stuff came into being in 1967 as a result of the assassination of JFK.

It reads:
In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President …
During the Nixon administration, vice president Spiro Agnew was caught with his hand in the till, forced out of office. In steps Gerald Ford and to avoid impeachment Richard Nixon resigned, Ford became president. When Gerald Ford became President, the office of vice president became vacant. On August 20, 1974, after considering Melvin Laird and George H. W. Bush, Ford nominated former New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller to be the new vice president.
On December 10, Rockefeller was confirmed 90–7 by the Senate. On December 19, he was confirmed 287–128 by the House and was sworn in to office later that day in the Senate chamber.
Realistically, all of that is too complicated to undertake, even if there was no corruption. Moving on to Case #2…

Impeachment;
First of all, a ‘sub-committee’ in the House of Representatives is selected by the House Judiciary. This becomes serious business. Articles of Impeachment, such as ‘abuse of power’ or ‘corruption’. They must meet the ‘high crimes and misdemeanors’ standards which is ill-defined. Impeachment is a political maneuver, not a trial such as in a court of law. Once a committee vote is taken and passed, the Articles go to the full House for a vote (on each Article). This is as far as the impeachment went, he resigned, thus, he never was impeached.
Once the full House votes, on each article, in the affirmative, then, in this case, the President is impeached. This is similar to an indictment, not a guilty finding. The House then reports, in a rather formal procedure, the findings and charges.
Having been received by the Senate, the actual ‘trial’ begins. A finding of Guilty must be determined by a two-thirds majority. In this case, immediate revocation of the official occurs by notification to the Secretary of State.. Importantly, as this procedure addresses only political questions, the Courts are never involved.
Two thirds is a high bar and currently far beyond reach.

The 2020 Election;
The only thing we can all agree on here is that polls are not votes. The election is 20 months away, November 3, 2020, campaigning has begun and no one can accurately predict who will be the ‘last man standing’. That may well be a woman. It will be a game of attrition depending on financing, skeletons, and early primaries. A candidate can go from hero to zero in a single news cycle.
I have no clue as to whom the Dems will put forth. It’s way to early to go out on that limb. The calculus all points to one goal, who can beat Donald Trump. All indications are that as long as he has an available arena or a microphone in his face, he will continue to vie for a second term.
Anything can happen, anything. A fourth scenario is a possibility as remote as it may seem… Resignation. I will speak to this in a following piece, ‘part 2/2’.