| Annie: Until the 25th Amendment to the Constitution in 1967, the Vice-Presidency was left vacant if the Vice-President had to succeed to the Presidency. Therefore, John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Andrew Johnson, and Chester Arthur never had Vice-Presidents. Theodore Roosevelt, Calvin Coolidge, Harry Truman, and Lyndon Johnson also all succeeded to the Presidency on the death of a President, and during that term they had no Vice-President either. However, each of these was subsequently elected to a term in his own right, in which he had a Vice-President. The first time the 25th Amendment was invoked to replace a Vice-President was when Gerald Ford was chosen to replace Spiro Agnew, who resigned in disgrace. Shortly thereafter, Ford rose to the Presidency when Nixon resigned in disgrace, and Ford invoked the 25th to make Nelson Rockefeller his Vice-President. Several Vice-Presidents have died in office, all before the 25th was enacted, and thus their office remained vacant for the remainder of their term. A particularly striking example of this was William R. King, who died 45 days after taking office, leaving Franklin Pierce without a Vice-President for almost all of his term in office. |
