Vice Presidents Who Became Presidents

There is some concern out there about the possibility that Sarah Palin may become the next President due to unfortunate circumstances. So how often has that happened?

There have actually been 14 Vice Presidents who became President. In five cases, the Vice President was elected after the President’s term ended. (Interestingly, prior to 1988 when George H.W. Bush was elected, the last time this occured was in 1836.) In four cases, the President was assassinated, in another four cases, the President died of natural causes, and in one case the President resigned.

In addition, there had been some discussion about the possibility of Sarah Palin resigning from the Republican ticket for President. That has only happened once in modern times. The one case of a Vice Presidential candidate dropping out of the race was in 1972, when Thomas Eagleton withdrew as the Democratic nominee with George McGovern, replaced by Sargent Shriver. Eagleton’s resignation from the ticket was related to questions about his mental health. Of course, McGovern lost the election to Richard Nixon.

For interesting lists about Presidents and the U.S. Government, visit the iWeblists US Government pages.

#	Vice Pres.	Method of Succession	Prior President	Year
1	John Adams	Elected	George Washington	1789
2	Thomas Jefferson	Elected	John Adams	1797
3	Martin Van Buren	Elected	Andrew Jackson	1836
4	John Tyler	Death	William Henry Harrison	1841
5	Millard Fillmore	Death	Zachary Taylor	1850
6	Andrew Johnson	Assassination	Abraham Lincoln	1865
7	Chester Arthur	Assassination	James Garfield	1881
8	Theodore Roosevelt	Assassination	William McKinley	1901
9	Calvin Coolidge	Death	Warren Harding	1923
10	Harry Truman	Death	Franklin Roosevelt	1945
11	Lyndon Johnson	Assassination	John F. Kennedy	1963
12	Richard Nixon	Elected	Served under Dwight Eisenhower (1953-1961)	1968
13	Gerald Ford	Resignation	Richard Nixon	1974
14	George H.W. Bush	Elected	Ronald Reagan	1988