Speaking of Harry Truman, was he the last president not to have a vice president?

[mahatmakanejeeves]

I mean, for more than a few minutes.

I posted a couple pictures of him here: Photos from Michael Beschloss. Then it was off to Wikipedia. His entry says, in part:

Harry S. Truman



33rd President of the United States

In office
April 12, 1945 – January 20, 1953
Vice President: None (1945–1949)[a]
Alben W. Barkley (1949–1953)

{snip}

Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884 – December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States from 1945 to 1953, succeeding upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt after serving as vice president. He implemented the Marshall Plan to rebuild the economy of Western Europe, and established the Truman Doctrine and NATO.

He had no VP for his first term.

There's a footnote to that factoid, but I didn't pursue it. What was it, the 25th Amendment that remedied that situation?

I know I could look it up, but....

[Shrek]

1. Depends on the duration you're willing to consider

Both Nixon (after Agnew's resignation) and Ford (after his accession to the presidency) went without a VP for a while.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

3. Yeah, come to think of it. But that was cleared up in a few days? Weeks at most?

Not just left to stay that way from April 12, 1945, through January 20, 1949, nearly four years.

[Shrek]

5. Couple of months for Ford

Less than a month for Nixon.

[trackfan]

2. I don't think Johnson had one until Jan. 1965

25th amendment was ratified in 1967.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

4. Hmmmmm. That one should be within my memory. No VP from

November 22, 1963 through January 20, 1965, over a year.

[Scoopster]

6. I believe it was Nixon.

Gerald Ford, who was House Minority Leader at the time, became VP after Spiro Agnew resigned. The vice presidency was vacant for a couple days before Ford was nominated, and it was almost two months before he was confirmed.

[Otto Lidenbrock]

11. Nixon actually wrote to House Minority Leader Ford to recommend possible VPs.

Nixon rejected those recommendations and chose Ford himself. How history could have been different.

[Drunken Irishman]

7. Coolidge didn't have a VP from 1923-1925...

Truman's gap, 1945-1949 (roughly four years) appears to be one of the longest (and longest for a modern presidency). Here's a list of other VP vacancies:

Ford (Aug-Dec, 1974)
Nixon (Oct-Dec, 1973)
LBJ (1963-1965)
Taft (1912-1913)
Teddy Roosevelt (1901-1905)
Cleveland (1885-1889)
Garfield (1881-1885)
Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)
Pierce (1853-1857)
Fillmore (1850-1853)
Tyler (1841-1845)
Madison (1814-1817)
Madison (1812-1813)

Lots of vacancies in the 1800s - almost all for generally the same amount of time (four years). Madison had two vacancies.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

9. So both forty-five and forty-six years ago today, we had no vice president. NT

[underpants]

10. I had no idea there were vacancies

Thanks

[Wounded Bear]

12. Yeah, that's because it not really a "chain of command" situation...

where the 'next person' in line steps up when a VP leaves for whatever reason.

There were some around here thinking if we could pick off Trump and Pence in this fiasco, then Speaker Pelosi would step in as the next president, but it doesn't quite work that way.

Even with the 25th Amendment defining the chain of succession in emergencies, it doesn't follow that Ms Pelosi would become VP if we ousted Trump and promoted Pence.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

8. This would make a great Final Jeopardy answer. NT