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William Henry Harrison
Harrison caught a fatal chill the day he was sworn into office while delivering an overly long inaugural address. Harrison died just 31 days after his inauguration, making his presidency the shortest in U.S. history. He was the first U.S. president to die in office. John Tyler became president after his death. -
Zachary Taylor
Taylor died from cholera morbus, and today, the prevalent theory is that Taylor suffered from gastroenteritis, an illness exacerbated by poor sanitary conditions in Washington. Millard Fillmore took over after his death. -
Abraham Lincoln
In Ford's Theatre, President Abraham Lincoln was sitting in a rocking chair during a production of Our American Cousin, when he was assassinated. Booth had been part of a conspiracy to kidnap Lincoln, but when there was no hope for the Confederacy, Booth “was so against the idea of equality, he so embraced white supremacy, that he thought it was grounds for killing Lincoln.” Andrew Johnson became president after his death. -
James A. Garfield
Garfield's assassin was Charles J. Guiteau, who wanted revenge against Garfield for an imagined political debt and to elevate Chester A. Arthur to the presidency. Guiteau was convicted of Garfield's murder and executed by hanging one year after the shooting. Chester A. Arthur was then the president after his death. -
William McKinley
Czolgosz had lost his job during the economic Panic of 1893 and turned to anarchism, a political philosophy adhered to by recent assassins of foreign leaders. He regarded McKinley as a symbol of oppression and was convinced that it was his duty as an anarchist to kill him. Theodore Roosevelt took over after his death. -
Warren Harding
He died of an apparent heart attack and was succeeded by Vice President Calvin Coolidge. -
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Roosevelt won reelection in 1944 but died in 1945 after his physical health seriously and steadily declined during the war years. Since then, several of his actions have come under substantial criticism, including his ordering of the internment of Japanese Americans in concentration camps. Harry S. Truman became president after his death. -
John F. Kennedy
At approximately 12:30 p.m., local time, President John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a motorcade with his wife, Jacqueline Kennedy, Texas Governor John Connally, and his wife, Nelly Connally. He was shot by former U.S. Marine Lee Harvey Oswald. Lyndon B. Johnson took over after his death. -
Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon resigned because he knew he was going to be impeached if he didn't. He was apart of the Watergate Scandal. The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States. Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. took over for him after his resignment.