Next Wednesday will mark the 18,699th day since a president died in office: 51 years, 11 months, and 5 days. That’s a record. Since John F. Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963, no president has left the White House in a casket. The old record was set during the country’s first half century-plus. From April 30, 1789, when George Washington took the first-ever oath of office, until April 4, 1841, when William Henry Harrison died exactly one month after his inauguration (the predictable result when an old man gives a 90-minute outdoor inaugural address in the freezing rain), not a single president died in office. However, the lack of a presidential death in office until 1841 was actually a problem. Because of sloppy draftsmanship, it wasn’t clear what was supposed to happen if the president died. And, by 1841, none of the original drafters of the document were alive to explain their intent. Did the vice president become president for the remainder of the four-year term or merely acting president until a special election could be called? Here's the the
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