Speaker of the United States House of Representatives by the President "pro tempore" of the Senate and by the heads of federal executive departments. To date, the implementation of the Presidential Succession Act has never been necessary and no Speaker has ever acted as President. Implementation of the law almost became necessary in 1973 after the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew. At the time, many believed that President Richard Nixon would resign because of the Watergate scandal, allowing Speaker Carl Albert to succeed to the Presidency. However, before he resigned, Nixon appointed Gerald Ford as Vice President in accordance with the Twenty-fifth Amendment. Nevertheless, the United States
Female president of the United States in popular culture began in 2012, Julia Louis-Dreyfus plays vice President Selina Meyer, who becomes the 45th president of the United States after the sitting president resigns to look after his mentally ill wife. Her successor as United States president, Laura Montez, played by Andrea Savage, is also a woman. In the Netflix TV series "House of Cards", which began in 2013, Robin Wright plays Claire Underwood, who becomes the United States president after the resignation of her husband Frank Underwood. In the 2014-2015 NBC TV series "State of Affairs", Alfre Woodard plays Constance Payton, the first black female president of the United