If the president dies, the vice president immediately becomes president. The Twenty-Fifth Amendment, which was ratified in 1967, formally established this process and created procedures for other situations in which a president can no longer serve, including resignation or disability. It also set rules for filling a vacancy in the vice presidency.
In 1963, Senator Birch Bayh of Indiana explained the importance of the proposed amendment: “The accelerated pace of international affairs, plus the overwhelming problems of modern military security, make it almost imperative that we change our system to provide for not only a President but a Vice President at all times.”
If the vice president must take over as president, then someone else needs to become vice president. In the past, the vice-presidential role remained empty until an election could be held. Today, the new president nominates a vice president, who must then be approved by a majority vote in both the House and Senate.
Throughout American history, eight vice presidents have taken control of the executive branch due to a president’s death: John Tyler took over for William Henry Harrison in 1841; Millard Fillmore took over for Zachary Taylor in 1850; Andrew Johnson took over for Abraham Lincoln in 1865; Chester A. Arthur took over for James Garfield in 1881; Theodore Roosevelt took over for William McKinley in 1901; Calvin Coolidge took over for Warren Harding in 1923; Harry S. Truman took over for Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1945; and Lyndon B. Johnson took over for John F. Kennedy in 1963.
Both sitting and former presidents are typically honored with elaborate funeral ceremonies after their deaths. According to the White House Historical Association, “Presidential and state funerals are an important tradition in which family, friends, and the nation can mourn the loss of those who served as President of the United States.”
