A Brief History
On November 6, 1900, William McKinley was re-elected President of the US with Teddy Roosevelt as his running mate. McKinley was assassinated in 1901, making Teddy President. McKinley’s VP from his first term, Garret Hobart, had died in office in 1899 at the age of 55. If Hobart had not died, he very well might have been President.
Digging Deeper
Other VPs who nearly attained the Oval Office include Hannibal Hamlin, Abe Lincoln’s VP from his first term who was replaced by Andrew Johnson for the second Lincoln administration. Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, propelling Johnson to the White House instead of Hamlin.
Franklin Roosevelt replaced VP Henry Wallace on the 1944 ticket with Harry Truman, and when FDR died in 1945 Truman, not Wallace, became President.
If Spiro Agnew had not been forced to resign in 1973, he and not Gerald Ford would have succeeded Richard Nixon as President in 1974 when Nixon resigned.
Question for students (and subscribers): Who else almost became President? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
If you liked this article and would like to receive notification of new articles, please feel welcome to subscribe to History and Headlines by liking us on Facebook and becoming one of our patrons!
Your readership is much appreciated!
Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Purcell, L Edward. Vice Presidents: A Biographical Dictionary. Facts on File, 2010.
Strock, Ian Randall. Ranking the Vice Presidents: True Tales and Trivia, from John Adams to Joe Biden. Carrel Books, 2016.
The featured image in this article, a 1900 Republican campaign poster for the US presidential election, with portraits of President William McKinley and Vice Presidential candidate Theodore Roosevelt at center, is in the public domain in the United States. This applies to U.S. works where the copyright has expired, often because its first publication occurred prior to January 1, 1928, and if not then due to lack of notice or renewal. See this page for further explanation.
You can also watch video versions of this article on YouTube.
