THE PRESIDENTIAL LINE OF SUCCESSION: WHO'S NEXT?
Later during his term, Tyler narrowly avoided being killed. He was hosting a party on the Presidential yacht, Princeton. The main event of the evening was to be a test firing of a new naval cannon called the Peacemaker. At the appointed time, the president, members of the cabinet, and various admirals and generals went up on deck and watched the firing. Tyler, of course, had the best position, surrounded by the others. The firing was a great success.
Later in the evening, it was suggested to have a second firing. As the guests went up on deck, Tyler was called back by his fiance, Julia Gardiner. They stayed below decks talking while the Peacemaker was fired again. The Peacemaker exploded, killing a number of people all of whom were standing around the spot where Tyler would have been standing. In addition to a number of military people, the Secretaries of State and Treasury were killed. Had Tyler been up on deck, he would have almost assuredly been killed, and as he had no Vice President (he was himself a Vice President who moved up on the death of President Harrison), we would have seen the legislated line of succession used to designate the next president.
The next problem involving the line of succession took place in 1868. President Andrew Johnson (elected Vice President who moved up to the Presidency on the assassination of Abraham Lincoln) was impeached. As he had no Vice President, the next in line was Senator Benjamin Wade, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate. The Senate acts as the jury in an impeachment trial, and Ben Wade swore to do impartial justice when he would become President if Johnson were convicted. Wade and most of the senators even announced how they would vote before the trial began. Obviously, this presented a serious conflict of interests. Johnson was acquitted by one vote, and finished his term.
In 1886, the second President Succession Act was passed. This removed the conflict of interests that became obvious in the Johnson impeachment by removing members of Congress from the line of succession. The order now went from the Vice President through the cabinet starting with State, Treasury, War, and on through in order of creation.
When Woodrow Wilson ran for re-election in 1916, even he thought he would lose. He wrote a letter to his Vice President asking his agreement to a plan which would have
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