Evening star. [volume], January 18, 1953, Page 21, Image 114

About Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972

Image provided by: Library of Congress, Washington, DC

                
the President you never heard of by Lester David
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SENATOR ATCHISON: Was he
the President for 24 hours?
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Who was President of the United States . 'T*
March 4,- 1849? It’s a question that J
historians are still battling about ’
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When Dwight D. Eisenhower
takes the oath of office on
Tuesday, he will be listed as the 34th
President of the United States. But
won’t he actually be the 35th? His
torians are at odds because of the
strange case of the Lost President.
The case has been bothering re
searchers for 45 years, ever since a
long-forgotten quirk in American
history was unearthed, unsettling
everyone who thought that all our
Presidents were present and
accounted for.
Back in 1908, a Philadelphia news
paper exploded a bombshell with the
claim that a tall, florid, 200-pound
senator named David Rice Atchison
had been President for 24 hours in
1849, and thus was entitled toa place
in the roster of Chief Executives.
This was the evidence:
The terms of James K. Polk and
his vice-president, George M. Dallas,
expired at noon on March 4. General
Zachary Taylor, elected the year
before, was to be sworn in at that
hour. But Inauguration Day fell on
a Sunday and Taylor, a religious
man, refused to take the oath until
the following day.
The office of President was vacant
and the Vice-President had also
ended his term. By the Succession
Act of 1792, then in effect, the Sen
ate’s temporary head automatically
took the helm. And thus, the news
paper asserted, David Rice Atchison
became the 12th President of the
United States, serving from noon
March 4 until noon March 5 in 1849.
A Negative Vote
The claim seemed irrefutable.
Atchison’s life story was included in
various biographical listings of pres
idents.
Atchison’s place seemed secure
until G. H. Haynes, a well-known
historian, rocked the boat in 1925
with an article in the “American
Historical Review.”
Mr. Haynes pointed out sternly
that Atchison’s term as senator ex
pired with the end of the 30th Con
gress on March 4, that even though
he had been re-elected, bis next term
did not begin until noon March 5.
So, Mr. Haynes said succinctly,
“During the hours of Sunday
afternoon and Monday morn
ing, neither he nor anyone else
was president of the Senate pro
tem. That office was vacant.”
Scholars agreed that Mr. Haynes
had something there. They went
through the records again, expung
ing references to “President Atchi
son.” It looked bad far Atchison.
But only for a while. In July of
1930, Theodore C. Atchison, a New
York lawyer and distant relation,
reopened the case in the “Missouri
Historical Review.” He found proof
that Atchison had been elected tem-
porary Senate president on Marcß2.
The action dearly meant, claimed
Theodore Atchison, that David
Atchison’s term was to bridge the
disputed day, that he was to head '
the Senate until the new Vice-
President took over.
Some historians agreed. Others
did not. And the argument contin
ues until the present day.
Debate Qvm Oar
Professor Allan Nevins of Colum
bia University calls it an “absurd
claim,” declaring: "Polk was Presi
dent until the incoming President
was sworn in.” On the other hand,
the 1951 edition of the “Encytto
paedia Americana” says Atchison
was the "legal President” that day.
Holman Hamilton in his recent
biography of Zachary Taylor be
lieves Taylor was Chief Executive
even though he hadn’t taken the
oath, but Professor Robert V. Remini
of Fordham University says: “Since
Taylor didn’t take office, we did
have an interregnum and thus Atch
ison might be called chief officer
for those twenty-four hours.”
That’s how matters stand.
Atchison’s immortality is secure.
He gave his name to the city of
Atchison, Kan., and the county of
Atchison, Mo.
But was he ever President?
21