Presidential Succession
The wording of the Constitution is somewhat ambiguous when it comes to the subject of replacing the president. All it says is, “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.”
When William Henry Harrison became the first president to die in office, in 1841, no one was sure whether Vice President John Tyler would become president, or whether he would simply be entrusted with discharging the duties of the presidential office. Many in Congress considered Tyler to be the “acting president,” although Tyler himself behaved as though he were the president. Tyler's approach won the day, and he established the precedent that the vice president was to be elevated to president upon the president's death or removal from office.
Which president served the briefest term?
William Henry Harrison was the first president to die in office, and remains the president with the shortest tenure, serving only thirty-one days. The story goes that Harrison caught a severe case of pneumonia while delivering a three-hour inaugural speech in freezing weather without a hat. A half century later, his grandson Benjamin would become the twenty-third president.
What happens if both the president and vice president die at the same time? The Presidential Succession Act of 1947, passed by President Harry S. Truman, established the order of succession should both officials die, resign, or become incapacitated. The Speaker of the House is next in line, followed by the president pro tempore of the Senate. After that, it falls to the cabinet officers according to the order in which their departments were created:
Secretary of State
Secretary of the Treasury
Secretary of Defense
Attorney General
Secretary of the Interior
Secretary of Agriculture
Secretary of Commerce
Secretary of Labor
Secretary of Health and Human Services
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
Secretary of Transportation
Secretary of Energy
Secretary of Education
Secretary of Veterans Affairs
Secretary of Homeland Security
Former Secretary of State Alexander Haig caused a bit of a stir when, in the moments following the 1981 shooting of President Ronald Reagan, he declared at a press briefing that “I am in charge here,” leaving some to believe that he was invoking the Presidential Succession Act of 1947. At the time of Haig's pronouncement, Vice President George H. W. Bush was flying back to the White House on Air Force Two.
