Acting President of the United States On April 4, 1841, only one month after his inauguration, President William Henry Harrison died. He was the first U.S. president to die in office. Afterward, a constitutional crisis ensued over the Constitution's ambiguous presidential succession provision (). Shortly after Harrison's death, his Cabinet met and decided that Vice President John Tyler would assume the responsibilities of presidency under the title "Vice-President acting President". Instead of accepting the Cabinet's proposed title, however, Tyler asserted that the Constitution gave him full and unqualified powers of the office and had himself sworn in immediately as President, setting a critical precedent for an
Oath of office of the Vice President of the United States Oath of office of the Vice President of the United States The oath of office of the Vice President of the United States is the oath or affirmation that the Vice President of the United States takes upon assuming the vice-presidency but before he or she begins the execution of the office. Just before the president-elect takes the oath of office on Inauguration Day, the vice president-elect will step forward on the inaugural platform and repeat the oath of office. Although the United States Constitution——specifically sets forth the oath required by incoming presidents, it does not do so for incoming