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Show Two Americans Have Been Called "President-for-a-Day' Bljt Their Right to That Honor Is Doubtful Even though authorities on constitutional con-stitutional history will not allow David Rice Atchison and Thomas White Ferry the distinction of being "Presidents for a day," they probably will admit that there was another man who has a right to that title IF the claim is made with certain reservations. His name was Samuel Johnston and he came from North Carolina. Caro-lina. "Never heard of him!" you exclaim. ex-claim. Probably not, but the f 3 rf Torn "1 i t-i f- that he was an American President for just one day, July 9, 1781 but, let it be added immediately, imme-diately, he was "President "Presi-dent of the United States in Congress Assembled" nr V ELMO SCOTT WATSON Western Newspaper Union TINETY years ago uus month the United , N states had a President :r one day-that is, it had if c;u believe the inscription on !r: statue which stands in alattsburg, Mo. His name aas David Rice Atchison and e statue was erected in 192d t,cause many Missounans ee.lieved that he was entitled uiti the distinction of being Sted among the Chief Exec-n Exec-n ives of the nation even tough that claim to fame is sed up on a technicality. at Phitielphia on July 4, 1876. Granj term of office expired at midght on March 3, 1877. Norma'; his successor, Rutherford Ruther-ford Blayes, would have been inauguied at noon on March 4. But agl March 4 fell on a Sunday Sun-day soayes did not take the oath office until Monday noon, March j So by the same process proc-ess ofeasoning which gave Atchisohe distinction of being "Presic for a day," Ferry, who wacting vice president" was alS one-day President. At least oiictionary of American biograp makes the assertion that Fewas "President of the United es for the time inter-vening'Jetween inter-vening'Jetween the end of Grant'sm and Hayes' inauguration. inaugu-ration. I e if it i- I Samuel "President of Johnston the Continental Continent-al Congress Under the Articles of Confederation." Confedera-tion." And that is very different from "President of the United States of America." V5 tre is how it came about: Technically, President James . hi Polk's erm of office exP'red Vt March 3, 1849, and, according custom, his successor, Gen. chary Taylor should have been iugurated on March 4. But .-.irch 4 came on a Sunday and Itfcause of this fact Taylor did t take the oath of office until mday, March 5. I According to the familiar story, led upon a contemporary Itement in the Congressional be. on March 3 George M. -l ( f t My DAVID R. ATCHISON the stroke of that hour Zachary Taylor became President even though he did not take the oath of office until two days later. Atchison's friends claimed for him not only the honor of having been President for a das 'but also that he was "the only President who had never been elected to either that office or the vice-presidency; vice-presidency; the only President from a state west of the Missis- nd the only President ujaic uue ui uiose who believet David R. Atchison of Miss was "President for a day" yould accord the same I honor tomas White Ferry of Michigj Agaimay be said that the man thjnored needs no such dubiousinction to make him memor For Ferry, like Atchison, At-chison, a distinguished career. ca-reer. Is born in Mackinac, Mich., ;i, 1826, the son of a Presbyi minister who had establia mission to the In-I The Articles of Confederation were adopted by the Continental congress on November 15, 1777. They did little more than put into definite written form the principles on which the new nation, na-tion, brought into being by the Declaration of Independence, had theretofore been conducted. But, at least, they were a start toward a framework of government. Two days later these articles were sent to the various states with a plea for their speedy adoption. adop-tion. Some of the states assented assent-ed to this readily enough, some ratified the articles with certain reservations, while others, led by Maryland, held back until their views in regard to disposing of western lands should be agreed to. Finally on March 1, 1781, the Maryland delegates to congress, John Hanson and Daniel Carroll, placed their signatures on the document. At this, time Samuel Huntington Hunting-ton of Connecticut was President of the Continental congress, having hav-ing been chosen to that office on September 28, 1779. There was no new election of a President when the articles were finally ratified on March 1 and on July 6 President Huntington gave notice no-tice to his colleagues that the state of his health would no longer long-er permit him to serve in that office. Declined the Honor. So on July 6 congress chose as his successor Samuel Johnston of North Carolina. Evidently Johnston John-ston didn't care for the honor, for on the following day he offered of-fered his resignation, offering "such reasons as were satisfac- who never signed his name as such." The claim in regard to the vice presidency is somewhat more valid than that of Presi dent for a day." It was based upon these facts: When Franklin Pierce became President in 1853 Atchison was still a member of the senate. William R. King, who was elect-led elect-led vice president with Pierce, died in Cuba before he could be sworn into office and act as presiding pre-siding officer of the senate. Atchison At-chison was chosen president pro tempore, which made him presiding pre-siding officer of that body and as such was "acting vice presi- a fnr the statement that ? Bllas, vice president under k, announced in the senate, r which he was presiding, nirPfhe close of my official term D ng near at hand, I conform ;Omf0ltan established and convenient ,: hctice by withdrawing from 1,18 1 deliberations of this body, -reupon Senator Thomas Hart : iton of Missouri moved that pain an jf idndua 2 Bay k :epeat f , . Slaw? he was "the only President from a state west of the Mississippi that, of course, was no longer valid when Herbert Hoover was elected in 1928. As a matter of fact, Atchison had a career distinguished ! enough to guarantee his being remembered, even without the claim that he had been President Presi-dent for a day." Born at Frog-town, Frog-town, Fayette county, Kentucky, RUlRD B. HAYES dians sland of Michilli-mackhhe Michilli-mackhhe father later movedid Haven, Mich., tory, according to the contemporary contem-porary record, and his resignation resigna-tion was accepted. Thus he became be-came the "President for a day" of the Continental congress and, in accordance with the manner in which such officers signed documents doc-uments (although there is no record rec-ord that he signed one) was "President of the United States in Congress Assembled." On July 10, the day Johnston resigned, Thomas McKean of Delaware was 1 you to r Aspirii THOMAS W. FERRY inoPtoii colleague, Senator David R. hison, be appointed president backedne senate pro tem. laslargelv the terms of president rongmedi President Dallas S wled on March 3 and the term e sure yoPresident-elect Taylor did not 1 in until March 5, when he was jgS&gurated, it has been contend-Eisthat contend-Eisthat Atchison was legally DSTgaaSfeident for that one day, Sun-Siii, Sun-Siii, March 4, 1849, even though on August ii, lorn, iic vc for David Rice, a pioneer Presbyterian Pres-byterian minister in that state, because his father, a man of strict religious convictions, hoped the boy would become a clergyman. clergy-man. However, young Atchison chose to become a lawyer and studied for that profession. A Famous Senator Admitted to the bar in 1830, he began practicing in Liberty coun-" coun-" tv Missouri, and at the age of 27 he was elected to the state legislature. When he was 33 he was appointed judge of! Platte wnere quired extensive holdingberland and engaged en-gaged jnber business. Youij grew up under frontiers in that region with lhunity for securing secur-ing ani. For a time he was a a store in Elgin, 111., tiled to Grand Haven Ha-ven tcf his father and brothelumber business. Showittude for politics, he wad member of the board sors and county clerk county on the Whig :n he was only chosen President Presi-dent of congress con-gress and served until John Hanson was elected as his successor on November 5, 1781. Hanson Han-son was elected elect-ed for a definite def-inite term of . one year and fevas not sworn in. This claim based upon the presidential session act, passed in 1792, -h provided that in case of orthy death, removal, resignation ;hing whe:nabmty of both the President Plautus. the vice president, the presi- 1 of the senate should act as sident until "the disability be oved or a President shall be ABOjSV early edition of the Bio-' Bio-' phical Congressional Direc- Tl IT I 1774-1911. backed up this county and within the same yeai he was appointed United States senator. For 14 years from 1841 to 1855, he was one of the best-known best-known members of the upper house of congress. Upon his re-I re-I tirement from public life he devoted de-voted his time to agriculture and died in Clinton county, Missouri, January 26, 1886. ! Despite the fact that the "President "Pres-ident for a day" distinction has been given to Atchison, and a .ILWCWXWW-WWI 21 yei Twoer he was sent to thejlature as a Re-public856 Re-public856 to the state senators later he was Michiforite son" for the ncs vice president and rit with Abraham Lincot out to Hanni-val Hanni-val Hfune. When his term Senate ended he returrjmber business, althout years he was a mqhe Republican state mittee. Escort served from November 5, John Hanson 1781, to November No-vember 4, 1782. Because of this fact and because it is said that ll B fm by saying about his elec- , as president of the senate Y.ln a tts tem "This office made him ?sician and "fsident of the United States "vcing Sunday, March 4, 1849, as (IE, SENSiBilcrai Taylor was not sworn 1,7 "fatty . office until the following KSlnTV and the official Missouri id vegetables j or 1928 declared that he Ly SVteispoo:: "technically President of the ,ter every mooted States until after the for-"TuTiTA for-"TuTiTA inauguration of President miia. .Jor March 5." " N N - " ' ' i i I v Vl f y -iss v A Vs , " I ftN s S . J . - ' , ...... ; . ii -y -i -riwjfifni n 11111 In jwas appointed to re state on the boards 0f the National Nation-al Soliery at Gettysburg Gettys-burg owing year he was fcngress. He servecper of the con-gressi;tee con-gressi;tee which ac-comp?y ac-comp?y of the martyred mar-tyred pringfield, 111., for bu.866 he was a delegsyalist convention conven-tion ir where he further fur-ther i reputation by his ab, EleCss three times as a I, he was later advaniate where he servel Duflervice in the irnot int on.j Not Legally President. Lcti". minC."M.pwever, a later edition of the 8rrnW'ctory took the distinction where wealthy y from him by eliminating '."isan.a"''; reference to his having been .fcwrsesident for a day." It says ,Yrs-anir$ he was "re-elected president : and feel heaUt'tempore of the senate March get Kruschcn but thig faiung 0n Sun- i j:j 1 ; , until TVTon. 1- aftt.vn.l.n.-- , ZACHARY TAYUK tne Articles of Confederation, "the first Constitation of the United States," did not come into effect until his election, the claim has been made that John Hanson, Han-son, rather than George Washington, Wash-ington, should be regarded as the "first President of the United States." This theory was pretty effectively effec-tively demolished during the Washington bicentennial celebration celebra-tion in 1932 when the Carnegie Institution of Washington issued an article by Dr. Edmund C. Burnett Bur-nett of the institution's division of historical research which bore the title of "Who Was the First President of the United States?" After considering all the evidence evi-dence in regard to Hanson's right to be considered the first President, Presi-dent, Doctor Burnett says: "The evidence is conclusive that no president of the Continental Con-tinental congress, by whatever name it may be designated, whether 'the congress,' as it first called itself, or 'the United States in congress assembled,' as it came later to be called, was ever President of the United States. And this is true for this best of reasons, among others: because no such office as President of the United States existed until it was created by the federal constitution, constitu-tion, framed in 17S7 and adopted in 1788. "There is therefore only one rational conclusion that can be reached, and that is, that George Washington was the first President Presi-dent of the United States." I he did not qualify until Mon- March 5, 1849, and was Si C A I ore not le8ally President O f U tempore on Sunday, March lic,i Therefore he was not legally ll OLfdent f lhe Uniled states' M VrfV Dst historians support that prif. of the matter. They base i IOC oPinion uPon the provision A ,e Constitution which requires the President's oath of office monument erected to nm ma...., because of it, he wa not the only man for whom tat claim could be made. In som) respects it could more justifiaby be applied ap-plied to Thomas WhiteFerry a United States senator fbm Michigan Mich-igan when a situation (miliar to I that 'of 1840 arose in lt7. When Vice Presidat Henry Wilson died in NovemSer, 18,5, senai-feen president pro tfter the death of Vi Wilson was "actijdent" which, as Did, led to the clairi'presjfjent for a da,e administrations! administra-tions! Hayes. He was re-election to the Sput his efforts to wi resulted not only ut also in dis-asterer dis-asterer business whiciaced in the hand disappointment disappoint-ment abroad and spenh travel. He resufes operations upon failed to re-cove'osperity. re-cove'osperity. He nevetived with an auntth in Grand HavQ, isf6. i I ! i Ferry was chosen prescient pro tempore of the senaj and as such was "acting vice Resident He presided over the ftayes-Til-den electoral contest k the impeachment im-peachment trial of J W. Belknap, Bel-knap, secretary of wj, and at 16 joint meetings of the two I houses of congress. the absence ab-sence of President Grt, he further fur-ther discharged the diies of his temporary ofttce by formally I opening the Centennial xposition be taken "before he enter SSI FIE"1 the execution of his office" ..A "before he shall become mf SV.'idcnt." John Marshall, fa-i fa-i fiSyrs chief justice of the Su- " ne court, once declared that ve you anything, t(jrm of tne actual Presi-i Presi-i house y0",; will expire and that of the tr?deJue I'ostisident-elect commence at 12 edad. ine t g ht q he thir(J of .hWalotSffoh." Therefore James K. Btofutwh was President until mid-n mid-n no longer h't, March 3, 1840, and on |