The Case of the Missing Vice Presidents
For a total of 37 years of the 226 years a President of the United States has been in office, there has been no Vice President. The office was simply left vacant when the occupant died, or when he ascended to the Presidency. John Tyler was the first VP to do so with the death of President William H. Harrison, but it was unclear whether the constitution gave him that authority. Some lawmakers believed he should only be an "acting president" and an election called. But nobody stopped him, so when President Zachary Taylor died a few years later, Milliard Fillmore did the same. Not until 1967 was it official that the Vice President got the top job when his boss died.
Neither Tyler nor Fillmore could parlay their unexpected Presidencies into an elected term, nor would they even be nominated, a distinction they share with another unexpected President, Chester Arthur.
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