What is the Order of Succession to the U.S. Presidency?
In case the President is removed from Office, or if he dies, resigns or is unable to
discharge the powers and duties of the Presidency, the U.S. Constitution (Article II, Section 1,
Clause 6) provides that the Vice President takes over. To date,
eight presidents have died in office (four by assassination). So what happens if the
Vice President is unable to serve? Here's the order of succession after the President.
William Henry Harrison, 9th president (1841), died April 4, 1841 from pneumonia.
Zachary Taylor, 12th president (1849-50), died July 9, 1850 from food poisoning or cholera.
Abraham Lincoln, 16th president (1861-65), died April 15, 1865 by assassination.
James Abram Garfield, 20th president (1881), died September 19, 1881 from blood poisoning resulting from doctors probing for an assassin's bullet with non-sterile instruments.
William McKinley, 25th president (1897-1901), died September 14, 1901 by assassination.
Warren G. Harding, 29th president (1921-23), died August 2, 1923 from either a heart attack or a stroke depending on the source. Harding's wife refused to allow an autopsy to be performed.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd president (1933-45), died April 12, 1945 from a cerebral hemorrhage.
John F. Kennedy, 35th president (1961-63), died November 22, 1963 by assassination.
Has any president ever died inside the White House?
