Short thread
1. Former VP chief of staff here.
I remember thinking, when I took over in the summer of 1989 as VP Quayle's chief of staff, how impatient I was with the long, detailed and hypothetical continuity of government (COG) briefings and exercises. I had work to do!

2. I recall saying this in passing to someone in the White House who'd been on VP Bush's staff. He stopped me, took me into his office, and told me in some detail about March 30, 1981. He said I needed to take this seriously. Other stuff seemed urgent, but this was important.

3. So I took COG planning seriously; thankfully it never really came into play. But there were a couple of times when President Bush was ill or looked as if he might have to be hospitalized, and I remember talking with the president's chief of staff about what might happen.

4. These are awkward conversations and there weren't a lot of them. But we knew the importance of signaling continuity of government, of reassuring the country, and of ensuring everyone in government understood the chain of command if the president were briefly out of commission.

5. Before he flies off Monday to his debate, it would seem appropriate for VP Pence to convene a Cabinet meeting (real or virtual), one to which the president could call in for a bit if he's up to it, to make sure everyone is carrying on, and let the country know that's occurred.

6. (By the way, why is the VP flying to Salt Lake City for the debate? I know we have wonderful secure communications and the like--but still...The debate could be held in DC, and the VP could be here in case of foreign policy or other emergencies. That would seem more prudent.)

7. In any case, in all the genuine personal and political drama of the moment, we shouldn't forget about the important continuity of government considerations.

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