Acting Vice President

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Before the Presidential Succession Act of 1886, there were many different times when the Vice Presidency was vacant due to death/resignation/succession to the Presidency. As the only two constitutional duties associated with the Office of the Vice President are to preside over the Senate and to fill in when there is a vacancy in the Presidency, the President Pro Tempore of the United States would be referred to as the Acting Vice President when there was a vacancy in the Vice President's office, as he would be next in line to the presidency and he was now the presiding officer in the senate. At social occasions they may even be referred to as Mr. Vice President. Since the Presidential Succession Act of 1886 the Vice President's office has been vacant many times but the Secretary of State could not be Acting Vice President because he would not be the Presiding officer of the senate, the same is true with the Speaker of the House after the Presidential Succession Act of 1947. Theoretically if the Vice President's office and Speaker of the House's chair were both vacant at the same time, the President Pro Tempore could become Acting Vice President. No Acting Vice President has ever succeeded to the Presidency, Benjamin Wade was the closest as he would have become President had Andrew Johnson been removed from office in 1868. None of the people who have served as Acting Vice President have been officially recognized as such by any known Historical Organization.

[edit] List of Acting Vice Presidents

• William H. Crawford April 20, 1812- March 4, 1813
• John Gaillard November 23, 1814- March 4, 1817
• George Poindexter December 28, 1832- March 4, 1833
• Samuel L. Southard April 4, 1841- May 23, 1842
• Willie Person Mangum May 23, 1842- March 4, 1845
• William R. King July 9, 1850- December 20, 1852
• David Rice Atchinson December 20, 1852- March 4, 1853
• David Rice Atchinson April 18, 1853- December 4, 1854
• Lewis Cass December 4, 1854
• Jesse D. Bright December 5, 1854- June 9, 1856
• Charles E. Stuart June 9, 1856- June 11, 1856
• Jesse D. Bright June 11, 1856- January 6, 1857
• James M. Mason January 6, 1857- March 4, 1857
• Lafayette S. Foster April 15, 1865- March 3, 1867
• Benjamin Wade March 3, 1867- March 3, 1869
• Thomas Ferry November 27, 1875- March 4, 1877
• Thomas F. Bayard October 10, 1881- October 13, 1881
• David Davis October 13, 1881- March 3, 1883
• George F. Edmunds March 3, 1883- March 3, 1885
• John Sherman December 7, 1885- November 18, 1886 (De Facto Vice President) Although after the the Presidential Succession Act of 1886 which designated the Secretary of State as next in line to the presidency after the Vice President made the office of Acting Vice President obsolete it is still worth noting for the sake of knowledge, who the de facto Vice Presidents were who would have become President had that office become vacant. After the Presidential Succession Act of 1947, the Speaker of the House became next in line.
• Thomas F. Bayard November 18, 1886- March 4, 1889
• John Hay November 21, 1899- March 4, 1901
• John Hay September 14, 1901- March 4, 1905
• Philander C. KnoxOctober 30, 1912- March 4, 1913
• Charles Evan Hughes August 2, 1923- March 4, 1925
• Edward Stettinius, Jr. April 12, 1945- June 27, 1945
• Henry Morgenthau June 27, 1945- July 3, 1945*
• James F. Byrnes July 3, 1945- January 21, 1947
• George Marshall January 21, 1947- July 18, 1947
• Joseph Martin July 18, 1947- January 20, 1949**
• John McCormack November 22, 1963- January 20, 1965
• Carl Albert October 10, 1973- December 6, 1973
• Carl Albert August 9, 1974- December 19, 1974

*  Morgenthau, as Secretary of the Treasury, was briefly next in line while 
   Jimmy Byrnes was being confirmed as Secretary of State by the Senate
** Martin was Speaker of the House, as were McCormack and Albert