Accidental Presidents

1. Succession and Democratic Theory
Philip Abbott

Part I. Independent Strategies

2. John Tyler “I can never consent to being dictated to”
Philip Abbott

3. Millard Fillmore “God save us from Whig Vice Presidents”
Philip Abbott

4. Andrew Johnson “I care not about my dignity”
Philip Abbott

5. Theodore Roosevelt “There’s only one life between that madman and the presidency”
Philip Abbott

Part II. Homage Strategies

6. Chester A. Arthur “He isn’t Chet anymore, he’s the president”
Philip Abbott

7. Harry S. Truman “I felt like the moon, the stars, and all the planets had fallen on me”
Philip Abbott

8. Lyndon Baines Johnson “For millions of Americans I was still illegitimate, a naked man with no presidential covering, a pretender to the throne, an illegal usurper”
Philip Abbott

Part III. Minimalist Strategies

9. Calvin Coolidge “I thought I could swing it”
Philip Abbott

10. Gerald Ford “I am acutely aware that you have not elected me as your President”
Philip Abbott

11. Conclusion: Refounding Succession
Philip Abbott

Avainsanat: History, History of the Americas, European Politics, Political History, Political Science, US Politics