A Brief History
On October 20, 2022, British Prime Minister Liz Truss was obliged to step down after only 49 days as head of government, the shortest reign of any British Prime Minister. Some other incredibly brief stints of being in charge include:
Digging Deeper
William Henry Harrison was President of the US for only 32 days, dying of some sort of cold or illness, possibly contracted from not wearing a coat or hat during his inauguration ceremony and two hour speech during cold and wet weather.
Karl Dönitz got to be in charge of Germany in the final 24 days of World War II after Hitler killed himself.
Several monarchs reigned for less than a day, and Napoleon II, Emperor of the French, lasted about two days.
And the grand prize winner is Louis XIX of France, who got to be King for a rousing 20 minutes in 1830 before heading to Austria and exile, while Luis II of Portugal had a similarly brief 20 minute reign in 1908 before dying from the same attack that killed his father and briefly put Luis on the throne.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: Who is your favorite historical leader?
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Cole, Harry and James Heale. Out of the Blue: The inside story of the unexpected rise and rapid fall of Liz Truss. Harper Collins, 2022.
Padfield, Peter. Dönitz: The Last Führer. Lume Books, 2021.
